Which US states in 2025 allow 16-year-olds to marry with judicial consent?

1. Why the question matters now — a patchwork of reform and persistence

The national picture in 2025 is deeply mixed: advocacy groups and state legislatures have steadily closed loopholes while many states retain exceptions that let 16‑year‑olds marry with a judge’s sign‑off. A comparative review of recent materials shows lawmakers in some states enacted outright bans effective in 2025 — New Hampshire’s 2025 ban was reported as making it the 13th state to eliminate child marriage — while other states either preserved or historically allowed judicial exceptions ^[3]. Meanwhile, a formal analysis published in October 2025 concludes that 34 states continue to allow child marriage via legal exceptions, signaling that judicial consent pathways remain common and not yet uniformly curtailed ^[1]. The result is a dynamic policy environment where state statutes, court practices, and recent reforms interact to produce widely varying outcomes for 16‑year‑olds.

2. States that explicitly allow no minimum age or broad judicial exceptions — the hard facts

A 2025 legal analysis lists California, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma among jurisdictions that did not set a statutory minimum age for marriage and therefore have permitted marriages of minors with parental or judicial approval in some circumstances; such provisions effectively allow judicial consent for 16‑year‑olds where courts approve ^[1]. Another compilation from early 2025 enumerates a large set of states that, as of that publication, had frameworks allowing minors — including 16‑year‑olds — to marry with parental consent and/or judicial approval; that list includes states across the West, Midwest and South such as Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas, among many others ^[2]. These sources together confirm multiple states still had statutory paths that enabled 16‑year‑olds to marry when a judge or court clerk consented, though the exact procedures and limits (age gaps, emancipation, pregnancy exceptions) differ state by state ^{[1] [2]}.

3. States that moved to ban under‑18 marriage and the direction of reforms

Reform momentum in 2024–2025 is substantial: several states passed laws to make 18 the minimum marriage age without exceptions, and advocates pushed federal measures too. New Hampshire’s 2025 change was highlighted as a recent example of states ending judicial exceptions ^[3]. The February–May 2025 trackers and advocacy reports emphasize a steady increase in bans and the closing of judicial loopholes; they also note that some reforms still allow narrow exceptions such as emancipation or pregnancy in a few jurisdictions ^{[2] [4]}. The net effect is a shrinking but not eliminated set of judicial consent pathways; policy change is incremental and state‑by‑state rather than uniform.

4. Why source lists differ — methodologies, cut‑off dates and caveats

The variation among published lists stems from differences in data cut‑off dates, inclusion rules for exceptions (parental vs. judicial consent), and whether a state’s recent legislative changes were fully implemented when authors compiled their data. One source explicitly reports its snapshot in October 2025 and finds 34 states with exceptions; earlier February–May 2025 compilations enumerate specific states that at that moment allowed 16‑year marriage with approval, but these lists can quickly become outdated as legislatures act ^{[1] [2] [5]}. Analysts also diverge on whether to count emancipation, pregnancy, or “Romeo‑and‑Juliet” age‑gap provisions as exceptions; counting choices materially change which states appear to permit 16‑year‑olds to marry with judicial consent ^{[1] [2]}.

5. What the evidence omits and the practical next steps for verification

Public reports and state‑by‑state compilations provide a clear directional sense but rarely capture every statutory nuance or very recent legislative change. The available analyses repeatedly emphasize the need to verify current state family codes and recent bills because statutes were actively changing through 2024–2025 and some states implemented bans in 2025 ^{[3] [1]}. For someone needing a definitive list for a specific state, the next step is to consult the state’s current marriage statutes and recent legislative histories or contact a family‑law attorney; the published summaries are authoritative snapshots but not substitutes for up‑to‑the‑minute statutory checks ^{[2] [4]}.