Georgia rewrote its marriage-age law in 2019, and the new scheme is stricter than what it replaced. If you are working from an older source, it is wrong.
The Default Is Eighteen
OCGA 19-3-2(a)(2) requires that a person be “at least 18 years of age” to be able to contract marriage, “[e]xcept as provided in subsection (b).”
Seventeen, With Four Conditions
A seventeen-year-old may marry only on documentary proof of emancipation, by operation of law or by court order under Article 10 of Chapter 11 of Title 15. Where the emancipation came by petition, a certified copy of the order is the proof. OCGA 19-3-2(b) then requires all of the following:
- At least 15 days must have passed since the emancipation occurred.
- “The older party to the marriage contract shall not be more than four years older than the younger party.”
- Each party who is 17 must present a certificate of completion of premarital education under OCGA 19-3-30.1.
That education is at least six hours on marital issues, taken together as a couple, completed within the 12 months before the license application. OCGA 19-3-30.1(a).
A Hard Floor at Seventeen
OCGA 19-3-2(c) is categorical: “No license provided for under Article 2 of this chapter shall be issued for the marriage of any party who is under 17 years of age.”
There Is No Pregnancy Exception
This is the point most often gotten wrong. Nothing in the current OCGA 19-3-2 excepts a pregnant applicant. Traces of the old practice survive elsewhere, including a reference in OCGA 19-3-45 to “physician’s certificates of pregnancy,” but they create no exception to the age rules.
The 2019 Act also named these age limits in the statute barring Georgia residents from evading Georgia marriage law by marrying in another state. OCGA 19-3-43(a).
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!