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Fact check: Are there exceptions allowing minors to marry in California in 2025?
Executive Summary
California law changed in 2024–2025: minors who are not emancipated generally cannot marry or enter into a domestic partnership, but emancipated minors remain exempted, so limited exceptions continue to exist. Advocacy groups and investigative reports published in October 2025 assert broader loopholes and have highlighted lingering county-level guidance and historical forms that contribute to confusion about whether any age floor remains in practice [1] [2] [3].
1. What claimants said — alarm about “no minimum age” persists and why it matters
Advocates and reporters asserted in October 2025 that California was among states still allowing child marriage through exceptions, with some organizations saying the state had “no absolute minimum age” because judicial and parental consents could be used to authorize marriages of minors [2] [4] [5]. These claims frame the issue as a human-rights and child-protection problem and press the governor and legislature to eliminate all exceptions. The advocacy angle is explicit: groups such as Unchained At Last call for an 18‑only marriage age with no exceptions to protect girls from coercion [5]. Reporting and advocacy pieces published in October 2025 emphasize statistical prevalence across states to underline urgency and to push policy change, which explains the strong tone and the sustained public attention [4] [2].
2. What the legislature actually changed — SB 575 and its narrow exemption
California passed SB 575 in 2024, and legislative analyses explain the bill’s core effect: raising the marriage age to 18 for unemancipated minors, thereby prohibiting marriages or domestic partnerships for minors who are not emancipated [1] [6]. The statutory framework leaves a defined pathway for emancipated minors to contract marriage or domestic partnership, so the law does not create an absolute, across‑the‑board prohibition for every person under 18. Legislative sponsors and committee materials framed the bill as a protection against coercion and abuse by rescinding previous authority that allowed parental and judicial approvals to authorize under‑18 marriages [6]. The statutory change aligns California with other states that now ban most under‑18 marriages while retaining emancipation exceptions [7].
3. How procedures and official forms create practical confusion at the county level
County-level materials and Judicial Council forms still show the procedural history: the FL-910 “Request of Minor to Marry or Establish a Domestic Partnership” form and county clerk pages historically required parental consent and a court order, confirming the old pathway for under‑18 marriage that advocates highlighted [3] [8]. As of early 2025 some county webpages continued to list the prior steps required if either party was under 18, which created practical ambiguity and helped fuel media claims that California “allows” child marriage without a clear minimum age [8]. Legal guides summarizing Family Code provisions reflected the legislative update that now conditions marriage on emancipation except where specifically permitted; however, outdated guidance and public-facing forms have sustained confusion among advocates and reporters [9] [3].
4. Reconciling reporting, advocacy, and statutory reality — whose framing is accurate?
Advocacy groups and investigative outlets in October 2025 were correct to spotlight lingering loopholes and state histories: prior to SB 575, California had no absolute minimum age and allowed parental and judicial exceptions, and those facts explain the urgency of the October coverage [2] [4]. The current statutory reality after SB 575, however, prohibits marriage for unemancipated minors while permitting emancipated minors to marry, so the absolutist phrasing “no minimum age” no longer reflects post‑2024 law unless one focuses on the emancipation carve‑out [1] [7]. Both perspectives are factual but address different frames: advocates emphasize past loopholes and residual administrative artifacts; the legislature and statutory text emphasize the 18‑year floor for unemancipated persons with an emancipation exception [6] [9].
5. Bottom line for a person seeking a definitive answer today and policy implications
As of 2025, the legal bottom line is clear: unemancipated minors cannot marry or enter into domestic partnerships in California; emancipated minors may. Public confusion persists because of historical practice, reporting that highlighted the pre‑SB 575 landscape, and county or Judicial Council materials that either predate changes or reference emancipation procedures [1] [3] [2]. Policymakers and advocates differ on whether eliminating the emancipation exception is necessary to fully protect minors; that debate drives continued advocacy for a total ban and explains why coverage remains active [5] [7]. For individuals and officials, the practical step is to consult current Family Code text and county clerk guidance reflecting SB 575 and emancipation law before drawing conclusions [9] [8].