Marrying Your Cousin in Minnesota: Is It Legal? Some of the rules may leave one confused. Do you, therefore, get a license to marry your cousin in Minnesota? What does the law allow in 2024? What are the specific provisions if you wish to marry someone in your family?
Minnesota’s Law on Marrying First Cousins
It is against the law in Minnesota for first cousins to get married. This is one of the strictest rules in the United States. Minnesota Statutes say that siblings, half-siblings, and first cousins can not get married to each other.
This can be attributed to genetic health risks, social stigma, and the need for clear boundaries in family relationships. The law is mainly regarding first cousins, and marriages between them are restricted.
The one important exception, however is older people: first cousins over 65 are allowed to marry if one or both of them can prove they cannot have children. This exception springs from a feeling of genetic risk for the children.
By ensuring that infertility is a factor, the law allows first cousins who want to marry late in life, when children are no longer an issue.
Second Cousins and Beyond: What’s Legal
Second cousins and others who are more distantly related can legally marry, but for Minnesota, it is still not legal for first cousins to get married.
It is actually pretty common for second- or third-degree cousins to get married. It is also legal and generally a good thing. As a result, the law is not as strict when it comes to closer family relations because there are not as many genetic concerns.
In reality, Minnesota’s policy is to let cousins who are some distance apart get married. This way, the law limits the formation of closer family ties.
This fits with a less open-minded view on family relationships compared to states where cousin marriages are more common.
Why Do These Laws Exist?
Laws that make it illegal for cousins to get married come from both scientific and social concerns.
In past, there was a greater emphasis put on preventing genetic conditions that may occur due to the marriage between closely related families, especially the first cousins.
There is now evidence from studies which show that children born to the first cousins are at a slightly higher risk of having birth defects, but not to any great degree. Still, this concern has led to stringent measures in many states as a way of protecting the society.
Other social and cultural factors must also be there. For instance, most societies usually frown at cases of close relatives marrying each other. That too affects the law.
How Does Minnesota’s Laws Rank Compared to Other States?
Minnesota law is harsher than other states but compared to others, not as harsh. For example, some states like California and New York allow first cousins to marry without any restrictions.
On the other hand, Kentucky and Texas, for example, do not permit these kinds of marriages at all. What Minnesota does with respect to cousins who are over 65 and are unable to have children is quite unusual, but it can actually prove workable in certain cases.
A total of about 24 states either permit cousin marriages under certain conditions or have placed no restrictions at all on this practice within the United States as a whole.
The remaining 19 states, among which is Minnesota, prohibit or restrict it to some extent. This patchwork of rules still shows that different places have different notions related to cousin marriage.
Conclusion
In Minnesota, first cousins cannot get married in a regular situation unless they are over 65 years of age and cannot produce children. But if they are second cousins or more remotely related, Minnesota law puts no bars on their marriage.
This is a means of balanced genetic health and respect for the rights of free consenting adults in decisions about marriage later in life.
