Marrying Your Cousin in North Carolina: Is It Legal? The rules about marriage may vary depending upon where you live, specially when it involves marrying a cousin. Unlike many things that go with dwelling in the US, state rules decide whether cousin marriages are legal or not; thus, it can be confusing.
State rules regarding marriage do exist in North Carolina. If you plan to marry your cousin, you should know what the law says.
Is It Legal To Marry Your Cousin In North Carolina?
In North Carolina, you can marry your first cousin. First cousins may get married in North Carolina but cannot in some states, where it is illegal or difficult to do so.
This means that the cousins may obtain legal marriages in the state as long as both persons are legal ages and not married to somebody else.
However, when planning cousin weddings in North Carolina, there are a few things to keep in mind.
About Double Cousins
When two people are connected through both sides of their families, they are referred to as double cousins. In this case, two siblings from one family marry two siblings from another family.
This makes their children double cousins. North Carolina law says that first cousins can not get married, but double first cousins can.
The fact that double cousins share more genetic material than first cousins probably has something to do with this limit. The goal of this rule is to lower the chance of genetic problems that could happen from these kinds of unions.
Understanding the General Marriage Laws in North Carolina
To fully understand the rules about cousin marriages in North Carolina, it helps to know more about marriage laws in general. Here are some of the general requirements:
Minimum age: To get married without parental permission, a person must be at least 18 years old. If you are 16 to 18 years old and want to get married, you need your parents’ permission.
If you are 14 or 15, you can only marry only under certain conditions: if you are pregnant or if the court so orders.
No polygamy: you cannot marry more than one wife/husband at the same time.
Same-sex marriage: since a major decision was reached by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, same-sex marriage is legal in all the 50 states across America – even North Carolina and South Carolina have joined in the fray.
Debate Surrounding Cousin Marriages
Cousin marriages have been a source of discussion and cultural variation for a long time. In the past, it was more usual for cousins to get married.
This was especially true in royal or aristocratic families, where wealth and power were kept within the family.
Today, cousin marriages occur less often in the U.S. but are still practiced frequently in other parts of the world, especially some Middle Eastern and South Asian countries.
Perhaps cousin marriages are not as trendy in the U.S. because people fear for DNA risks. Children born to first cousins are a little more likely to have genetic disorders than children born to parents who are not connected.
But new study has shown that this risk is not very big, though it exists. Studies indicate that the opportunity for birth defects is about 4-7% higher in children of first cousins than 3-4% higher in children of unrelated couples.
Even though it poses not much of a danger, cousin marriages remain to be considered bad in most places, and some states have laws that prohibit or limit cousin marriages greatly.
Other States’ Laws about Cousin Marriage
North Carolina does not care if cousins get married at all, unlike some other states. For instance:
First cousins are not allowed to get married in states such as Kentucky, Texas, and West Virginia.
Allowable but with restrictions: Some states like Arizona and Illinois let cousins get married, but they have to follow specific rules, like getting genetic therapy or not being able to have kids together.
Some states have no restrictions for marrying first cousins, such as North Carolina, California, New York, and Georgia.
Conclusion
If you wish to ask whether you can marry your cousin in North Carolina, the short answer is yes; only if your cousin is a first cousin and not a double first cousin. Compared to other states, North Carolina law does not put many limits on cousin weddings.
