MARRIAGE; MODIFY AGE REQUIREMENT S.B. 209 (S-2)-217 & 246:
SUMMARY OF BILL
REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE
Senate Bill 209 through 211 (Substitute S-2 as reported)
Senate Bill 212 (Substitute S-1 as reported)
Senate Bill 213 (Substitute S-2 as reported)
Senate Bill 214 through 217 (as reported without amendment)
Senate Bill 246 (as reported without amendment)
Sponsor: Senator Sarah E. Anthony (S.B. 209, S.B. 210, S.B. 217)
Senator Sylvia Santana (S.B. 211)
Senator Veronica Klinefelt (S.B. 212)
Senator Rosemary Bayer (S.B. 213)
Senator Ruth Johnson (S.B. 214)
Senator Mark E. Huizenga (S.B. 215)
Senator Erika Geiss (S.B. 216)
Senator Roger Victory (S.B. 246)
Committee: Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety
CONTENT
Senate Bill 209 (S-2) would amend Public Act (PA) 352 of 1921, which prohibits the marriage of an individual under 16 years of age, to increase, from 16 years to 18 years, the minimum age for an individual to get married in Michigan, and to void any marriage entered into by an individual under 18 years of age. The bill would not apply retroactively.
Senate Bill 210 (S-2) would amend PA 128 of 1887, which requires parties to be married to obtain a marriage license and establishes the minimum age to contract into a marriage, to do the following:
-- Delete a provision allowing a person who was at least 16 years of age but less than 18 years of age to contract into a marriage with the written consent of one of his or her parents or legal guardian.
-- Modify the population requirement for a county that wished to impose a marriage license fee or nonresident marriage license fee different in amount than the license fees specified in the Act.
Senate Bill 211 (S-2) would amend PA 180 of 1897, which governs the issuance of marriage licenses and certificates without publicity, to delete provisions allowing an individual under marriageable age to consent to contract into a marriage with the written consent of his or her parents or legal guardian.
Senate Bill 212 (S-1) would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code to delete a provision allowing a guardian to consent to a minor ward's marriage and to modify the statutory will form to include the changes proposed in various bills in this package.
Senate Bill 213 (S-2) would amend PA 293 of 1968, which, among other things, establishes the conditions for emancipation of minors, to specify that a minor would be considered emancipated if the minor were validly emancipated in another state.
Senate Bill 214 would amend the Revised Statutes (RS) 84 of 1846 (Of Divorce) to delete a provision prohibiting a marriage from being annulled when it appears that the parties, after they had attained the age of consent, had freely cohabited as husband and wife.
Senate Bill 215 would amend PA 125 of 2001, which prescribes the rights and responsibilities of hotel and bed and breakfasts with respect to renting or leasing rooms to minors, to modify a provision allowing a hotel or bed and breakfast to require that an individual provide documentary evidence confirming the age of an individual renting or leasing a room or documentary evidence of the emancipation of a minor.
Senate Bill 216 would amend the Safe Families for Children Act to prohibit a parent from authorizing to consent to the marriage of a child who was under the legal age of marriage.
Senate Bill 217 would amend the Michigan Penal Code to modify various provisions to delete reference to spouses under age 16.
Senate Bill 246 would ament PA 160 of 1919, which releases legally married minors from parental control and determines their marital rights and duties, to make various language and grammatical changes.
Senate Bill 209 is tie-barred to House Bill 4294, 4295, 4296, and 4297.
Senate Bill 210 is tie-barred to Senate Bill 211 and 212, and House Bills 4293 and 4296.
Senate Bill 211 is tie-barred to Senate Bill 211 and 212, and House Bills 4293 and 4296.
Senate Bill 212 is tie-barred to House Bill 4293.
Senate Bill 246 is tie-barred to Senate Bill 209, 210, 211, and 212
Senate Bills 209, 210, 211, 212, and 246 are companion bills to House Bills 4293, 4294, 4295, 4297 and 4296, respectively.
551.103 (S.B. 210)
551.201 (S.B. 211)
700.2519 et al. (S.B. 212)
722.4 & 722.4e (S.B. 213)
552.34 (S.B. 214)
428.304 (S.B. 215)
722.1555 (S.B. 216)
750.13 et al. (S.B. 217)
551.251 (S.B. 246)
BRIEF RATIONALE
According to testimony, people under the age of 18 getting married is not uncommon and only requires the consent of one parent. Some people have concern that minors getting married leads to negative health and societal outcomes. Accordingly, it has been suggested that the minimum age for an individual to get married be increased to 18.
Legislative Analyst: Tyler P. VanHuyse
FISCAL IMPACT
Senate Bill 209 (S-2) through Senate Bill 211, and Senate Bill 246 would not have a fiscal impact on State government. There could be some positive fiscal impact on county clerks or probate judges in the form of reduced costs, as the bills would eliminate procedures by which minors 16 or older may acquire a marriage license with parental consent in written form. Senate Bills 213 (S-2) through Senate Bill 217 would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.
There would likely be long-term, indirect benefits to the State in the form of income tax. Research has shown that girls who marry before 18 years old are less likely to engage in higher education and more likely to fall into poverty. Related costs to the State could include mental health and public assistance costs, increased social services costs, and court proceeding costs as child marriage correlates to higher rates of divorce and domestic violence.
Date Completed: 6-21-23 Fiscal Analyst: Joe Carrasco, Jr.
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.