Can 17-years of age, get married, without consent?

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loveyou

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I'm a 17-year old female. Is there any way where I can get married without parental consent? The reason why is as follows, my father physically and emotionally abused me two times. I have been going out with my boyfriend for two and a half years. He is 19-years old and has been there for me throughout all these personal problems that I've had. He has given me protection, love, and anything that he was able to offer me to make my life a little better. We don't think, we know and we are positive that we want to spend the rest of our lives together. I'm four and a half months away from turning 18. DCFS has custody of me right now, is there any way that they can give me the consent to get married? Please help me!
 
Your age is the point. You need parental consent. The fastest and easiest solution for you is to what until you are 18 then you won't have to ask anybody.
Four months is nothing... wait it out.

(750 ILCS 5/203) (from Ch. 40, par. 203)
Sec. 203. License to Marry. When a marriage application has been completed and signed by both parties to a prospective marriage and both parties have appeared before the county clerk and the marriage license fee has been paid, the county clerk shall issue a license to marry and a marriage certificate form upon being furnished:
(1) satisfactory proof that each party to the marriage will have attained the age of 18 years at the time the marriage license is effective or will have attained the age of 16 years and has either the consent to the marriage of both parents or his guardian or judicial approval; provided, if one parent cannot be located in order to obtain such consent and diligent efforts have been made to locate that parent by the consenting parent, then the consent of one parent plus a signed affidavit by the consenting parent which (i) names the absent parent and states that he or she cannot be located, and (ii) states what diligent efforts have been made to locate the absent parent, shall have the effect of both parents' consent for purposes of this Section;
(2) satisfactory proof that the marriage is not prohibited; and
(3) an affidavit or record as prescribed in subparagraph (1) of Section 205 or a court order as prescribed in subparagraph (2) of Section 205, if applicable.
With each marriage license, the county clerk shall provide a pamphlet describing the causes and effects of fetal alcohol syndrome.
(Source: P.A. 86‑832; 86‑884; 86‑1028.)
 
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If they send you out of state, you still aren't 18 for another 4 months.
You wouldn't get permission from the court within 4 months, and if your parents were consenting then you wouldn't be here asking, so just wait it out. What's the hurry? It's a terrible idea anyway. If you really love each other then you would have the common sense to wait until you are older... the younger you are when you get married the more likely you are to be divorced with kids within a few years.
 
I would agree with Moose, it is hardly worth the effort over 4 months. If they send you to a state that allows you to marry at 16 that would do it. Where are your family members and we can look it up. But be nice, you are asking for free advice and being pissy.
 
Well, maybe not. If DCFS is making an out of state placement, they will still have jurisdiction as the child will be a ward of the state - the state of Illinois. If Illinois washes their hands of jurisdiction, then the parents would likely regain custody and they, too, live in Illinois.

So, even if the minor is placed out of state, I doubt she could get married before her 18th birthday anyway.

And for DCFS to grant permission for a minor to marry your parents would likely have to agree to this, or, the court would have to remove their parental rights - effectively granting you emancipation.

Loveyou, as others have suggested, wait the four and a half months. What's the rush?

And should we post the statistics of marriage success rates at even 18 and 19? Suffice it to say that the odds are not very good. And relationships forged on the fires of personal tragedies often tend not to survive when the external pressures have diminished and new ones are applied. But, I know you will not be receptive to reason because you are in love. And that's fine. When you are 18, get married, and best of luck to you. Hopefully you will be an exception to the rule.
 
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Most teenagers claim to be "emotionally abused" and some may have been smacked a time or two. Hardly a brutal environment. But, if DCFS has taken you out of the home, then I suppose there is something to the allegations. Either that, or they have custody because you have run away from home.

In any event, in four months you can play house and live as you will. Hopefully you will go to school and continue your education before you start having babies. Chances are the two of you will be relying on others for your subsistence so even if you marry, you will not be on your own, so to speak. At your ages I doubt that you will have a whole lot that either of you earn yourselves, so that will add a lot of new strain to the relationship without the common bond of dislike for your parents. Without that common thread, you will have to rely on something else to be the glue that binds the two of you. This is one of the reasons why so many marriages similar to yours tend to fail.

You can get out of a situation without shacking up or getting married. Many of us were out on our own at 18 but not married. Life is tough enough on your own. Trying to build and maintain a relationship - and the likely child(ren) that will result - just builds even more strain.

Good luck in four months.
 
well we can go live in our own not with an extreme income but my bf is a supervisor in a store and his income is about 15,000 a year which is ok for a decent life.
 
Ok i Understand but if you were to live what i have had to live you to would try to get away.

If you run off with him then he can get busted for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, if nothing else.

Whatever is going on, it probably isn't half as bad as you think. Every kid thinks their parents are terrible people and mean for having rules and expectations.

Go talk to a recruiter... Joint the Navy! See the world!
 
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If you run off with him then he can get busted for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, if nothing else.

Whatever is going on, it probably isn't half as bad as you think. Every kid thinks their parents are terrible people and mean for having rules and expectations.
I guarantee that my oldest teenager (a son) thinks he is emotionally abused. God forbid he has to go to school on time, hold down a job, do chores, and be in at a reasonable hour set by us parents! Dear God! :eek: To hear him tell it, we are keeping him from "being a kid" by making him come in at 11 PM, and making him work ... even though we tell him that he does not HAVE to work, but if he wants to drive he has to pay for gas and insurance.

We also do not let him go to certain parties, and if I suggest I might stop by some party he is going to, he gets all offended and his eyes bug out. If he doesn't want me to come by, then he can't go.

It is the nature of being a teen to dislike the rules.
 
well we can go live in our own not with an extreme income but my bf is a supervisor in a store and his income is about 15,000 a year which is ok for a decent life.

A supervisor making less than $8 an hour? You must have no idea what expenses are awaiting you on your own.
 
Dear loveyou,

What you just do not know is that NONE of us are even a little bit against you. We have all been there. We have all been under someone's thumb and sure that we could do better on our own. Believe us, it will come soon enough. At your age 4 months seems like an eternity, we just know you can just about hold your breath for 4 months no matter how bad it is. It certainly isn't worth going out of your way to get married.

Good luck, I wish you everything that you want, in a way that it will last. You have it all coming, just be patient.
 
well like you all said we might think its emotional distress but in some cases it is. my father has beat me twice one if dose time he left me unconscious, the second time which was 3 days ago left me a big bruise in my arm, and i had to go to the hospital. what do u say to that?
 
I say that is good reason for the state to take custody of you... where is mom?

None of this is reason for you to get married and doesn't give you some loophole around the age requirement.

Your father should face criminal charges for abuse if that is what he has done.
 
well like you all said we might think its emotional distress but in some cases it is. my father has beat me twice one if dose time he left me unconscious, the second time which was 3 days ago left me a big bruise in my arm, and i had to go to the hospital. what do u say to that?
Were the police called? Is that why DCFS is involved?

Like Moose said, though, it still is not a license to get married underage. It's potentially good cause to remove you from the home, but not relevant to the issue of allowing you to get married. And if you were to try and seek emancipation (assuming it is available in your state) you would likely BE 18 before a court would render that decision.
 
well we can go live in our own not with an extreme income but my bf is a supervisor in a store and his income is about 15,000 a year which is ok for a decent life.

ah trust me I have been there. I got married right out of high school,and had children. Trust me when I say this $15000 a year sounds like a lot, but not nearly enough to survive on.
Me and my "love" were divorced 3 years later, and I found myself going about it that hard way to fix my mistakes, going to school and taking care of myself would have been a lot easier if I got myself together before trying to play house.
I wish you the best of luck its really tough out there, I hope you won't be in for a rude awakening.
 
ah trust me I have been there. I got married right out of high school,and had children. Trust me when I say this $15000 a year sounds like a lot, but not nearly enough to survive on.
Me and my "love" were divorced 3 years later, and I found myself going about it that hard way to fix my mistakes, going to school and taking care of myself would have been a lot easier if I got myself together before trying to play house.
I wish you the best of luck its really tough out there, I hope you won't be in for a rude awakening.
Thank you for the voice of experience. If only more youngsters heard stories like yours, they would not be so rash. It takes a great deal of chutzpah to pull yourself out of these holes, so congratulations on getting on track.

- Carl
 
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