HB 60 - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0003
05/04
HOUSE BILL 60
AN ACT raising the minimum age of marriage.
SPONSORS: Rep. Levesque, Straf. 4; Rep. Grassie, Straf. 11; Rep. Walz, Merr. 23; Rep.
Altschiller, Rock. 19; Rep. Rung, Hills. 21; Rep. Petrigno, Hills. 23; Rep. Ruprecht,
Graf. 3; Rep. Wazir, Merr. 17; Rep. Frost, Straf. 16; Rep. T. Smith, Hills. 17
COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill raises the minimum age of 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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
 HB 60 - AS INTRODUCED
21-0003
05/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT raising the minimum age of marriage.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 Marriage; Age. Amend RSA 457:4 to read as follows:
2 457:4 Marriageable. [No person below the age of 16 years shall be capable of contracting a valid
3 marriage, and all marriages contracted by such persons shall be null and void.] No individual
4 under the age of 18 shall be granted a marriage license.
5 2 Prohibitions. Amend RSA 457:8 to read as follows:
6 457:8 Prohibitions. No town clerk shall issue any certificate for the marriage of any person
7 below the age of [consent] 18, and no magistrate or minister of religion shall solemnize the marriage
8 of any such person, if such clerk, magistrate or minister knows or has reasonable cause to believe
9 that such person is below such age[, unless permission for such marriage has been given under this
10 subdivision]. No magistrate or minister of religion shall solemnize any marriage by proxy.
11 3 Repeal. The following are repealed:
12 I. RSA 457:6, relative to a marriage petition by a party under age.
13 II. RSA 457:7, relative to grounds for granting a marriage petition by a party under age.
14 III. RSA 5-C:45, relative to the marriage license of a party under age.
15 4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2022.


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 457:4, 457:8
latest version: 457:4, 457:8