The following chart provides a brief overview of the age of consent for marriage in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico as well as links to relevant statutes. For more details on a state's marriage age ...

Getting married is a big step in life and a very personal decision, but often people may not be aware of what it means from a legal standpoint. After all, when you get married you're taking on the responsibility to care ...

State and federal laws concerning same-sex marriage has a relatively brief history, beginning with the first lawsuit in 1971 and ending with the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage nationwide. However, prior to the Court's landmark ruling in Obergefell, an ...

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is a law that, among other things, prohibited married same-sex couples from collecting federal benefits. It was overruled on June 26, 2015 by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. This ruling cited ...

The "traditional" definition of marriage historically excluded gay and lesbian couples, leading to a passionate same-sex marriage debate that raged for many decades. As time passed, however, more states bestowed upon same-sex couples the same rights and responsibilities as traditional married couples, ...

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) decision, same-sex marriage is now protected federally in all 50 states. In addition to Obergefell clearing the way for same-sex couples to get married throughout the United States, unions that couldn't be finalized ...

Brief History of Common Law Marriage Historically, most marriages were what we would today call "common law" marriage, since they were not officially recognized by government or church officials. But despite this lack of official record, common law marriages usually ...

The concept of common law marriage has been recognized for many generations in the United States, currently in nine states and the District of Columbia. More than half of the states stopped recognizing common law marriage, as early as 1646 (Massachusetts) and ...

Marriage carries certain legal implications with respect to property, money, and debt. Being legally married means your spouse's income (and debt) are now yours. If one of you runs up a huge credit card bill, you are both on the ...

Money continues to be the number one cause for divorce in the U.S. In order to avoid marriage money problems, it pays to sit down and have a serious financial conversation with your new partner. It may not be pretty ...