Annanan1

How do minors get married in California?.?

I am writing a novel it is set in early 90's US and i am from UK. I have some questions. I have two charecters 16 year olds, girls is pregante with his kid they want to get married. I have research about what is required of them legally, but can anyone tell exactly what happens if they need to appear before a court and what that court dose/say etc any thing else that might be usful. he has legel gaurdian she has mother but dose not live with her lives with her gran.
ta for any help

lin

My guess is that google would help you more than opinions from writers.

I do know this much, though.

In California, if either the bride or groom is under 18, at least one of the minor's parents, or legal guardian, must appear with the couple. The couple must also schedule an appointment with a counselor and then appear before a superior court judge.

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PageOfCups

Wouldn't it vary from state to state? A lot of laws in America seem to do that.

lin

They sure do. In South Carolina all you need to get married at 14 is a letter from your father saying he's through with you.

But she asked about California. It's up in the heading, so you might have missed it, like I did at first.

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Annanan1

Thanks.
I have done quite a bit of research but i cannot find anything anywhere that says what happens when they go to court. Things like how long they are there whether or not they have to appear in person if so do they have to make a case for themselves. Dose the person giving consent need to attend aswell that sort of thing. Any help would be most appreciated, as i have an idea for a scene set there but i need to know what is going on to do it.

Ta Wendy.

lin

Okay, now you're definitely into Google territory.
Let me suggest search terms such as "family court" "legal age" "California law" "minors marry" etc.

My experience with California courts is that they have become very attuned to children's rights. The judge will often appoint an attorney to represent children's rights in their parents's divorces, for example.

Based on what I've seen in family courts, the judge would probably, upon decision to refer the kids to a counselor, set a future date for his decision based on a written report by a court-appointed youth social worker, who the kid could see privately.

It's not like they drag it out in open court. Bad for drama, good for justice.

If anything fishy came to light in that interview--a hestitant young girl being pressured to marry by a weird church let's just say--it would automatically trigger investigations from Child Protective Services. CPA, and referrals to CPA, tend to err on the side of taking action, not shining it on. As you saw in the news from Texas, they tend to want to round kids up first and sort it out later.

That's not always a good thing. If I were you, I'd dig into that Texas deal, where the court overturned the decision to remove the kids from the church compound... note the happy looks on the girls faces as the skip out of the courthouse, by the way.

There is certainly a LOT of room for powerful creative work and complex legal/moral issues in all this.

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Mike C

One of my clients is a Child Advocate, so she may know. She's also a writer. You can contact her via her website - Welcome to the world of Jennifer Jefferson

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