SB 359 - VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES

03/07/2024   0863s

2024 SESSION

24-2834

05/08

SENATE BILL 359

AN ACT raising the age of marriage to 18 years of age.

SPONSORS: Sen. Altschiller, Dist 24; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Rep. Long, Hills. 23; Rep. Grossman, Rock. 11; Rep. O'Neil, Rock. 29; Rep. Levesque, Straf. 4; Rep. Petrigno, Hills. 43

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

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ANALYSIS

This bill changes the minimum age for marriage from 16 to 18 years of age.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/07/2024   0863s 24-2834

05/08

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four

AN ACT raising the age of marriage to 18 years of age.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1   Marriageable.   Amend RSA 457:4 to read as follows:

457:4 Marriageable.  No person below the age of [16] 18 years shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage, and all marriages contracted by such persons shall be null and void.

2  Age of Consent for Marriage.  Amend RSA 457:5 to read as follows:

457:5  Of Consent.  The age of consent shall be in the male and in the female, 18 years. [Any marriage contracted by a person below the age of consent, except as hereinafter provided, may in the discretion of the superior court be annulled at the suit of the party who at the time of contracting such marriage was below the age of consent, or at the suit of his or her parent or guardian, unless such party after arriving at such age shall have confirmed the marriage.]

3  Prohibitions.  Amend RSA 457:8 to read as follows:

457:8  Prohibitions.  No town clerk shall issue any certificate for the marriage of any person below the age of [consent] 18, and no magistrate or minister of religion shall solemnize the marriage of any such person, if such clerk, magistrate, or minister knows or has reasonable cause to believe that such person is below such age[, unless permission for such marriage has been given under this subdivision].  No magistrate or minister of religion shall solemnize any marriage by proxy.  

4  Powers and Duties of Guardians of the Person of the Minor.  Amend RSA 463:12, III(e) to read as follows:

(e)  Consent to the[ marriage or] adoption of the minor as provided in RSA 170-B:5 [and RSA 457:6].

5  Repeal.  The following are repealed:

I.  RSA 457:5-a, relative to petition for annulment.

II.  RSA 457:6, relative to a marriage petition by a party under age.

III.  RSA 457:7, relative to grounds for granting a marriage petition by a party under age.

IV.  RSA 457:28, relative to marriage applications for a party under age.

V.  RSA 457:28-b, relative to destruction of petitions by parties under age.

VI.  RSA 547:3, II(c), relative to waivers for marriage of minors.

VII.  RSA 5-C:45, relative to the marriage license of a party under age.

VIII.  RSA 5-C:41, XIV, relative to marriage registration forms.

6  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.