Reducing the age of marriage: conditions 2021

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Love has no age restrictions, and teenage acceleration leads to early sexual relationships and, as a result, to pregnancy.

What should Romeo and Juliet do in the 21st century? Try to hide everything from others or openly seek the right to marry before reaching the age of 18?

We will talk about when it is allowed to lower the threshold and what rights mature children have in this article.

Basic information

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, the age of marriage occurs upon reaching 18 years of age ( Article 13 of the RF IC ). However, no upper limit for this age is established. A significant difference in the age of people who get married is also unimportant for the state.

The marriageable age of 18 is in force in many countries. This threshold is determined by the following reasons:

a person reaches physiological maturity at the age of 18: a girl can conceive, bear and give birth to a baby, and her health will suffer less damage than if pregnancy occurred at a younger age;
From the age of 18, citizens also reach mental maturity: if they decide to register a marriage, they are ready to take responsibility for their family and actions, raise children and care for them.

For the state, marriage registration is carried out to create a family and have children. For this reason, it is interested in adult, responsible people becoming spouses. At the same time, sometimes teenagers under 18 years of age also register marriage.

In exceptional situations, the age of marriage can be reduced to 16 years. The decision on this is made by territorial administrative bodies. Subjects of the Russian Federation have their own laws that may establish a list of circumstances for lowering the marriageable age.

Commentary to Art. 13 IC RF

1. Commented on Article 13 of the IC of Russia sets the age of marriage at 18 years for both men and women, since it is from the age of 18 that a citizen has full civil legal capacity, i.e. the ability, through one’s actions, to acquire and exercise civil and other rights, including those related to marriage, to create civil responsibilities for oneself and to fulfill them (Article 21 of the Civil Code). An important factor is that by the age of 18, the physical condition of the future spouses reaches the required development, which is of great importance for the birth and upbringing of healthy offspring. There is no age limit for marriage.

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2. The legislative establishment of the age of consent as a measure to abolish child marriages and the provision, if necessary, of appropriate penalties is prescribed, in particular, by the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages (concluded in New York on December 10, 1962 within the framework of the UN ), according to Art. 2 of which it is not permissible to marry a person under the prescribed age, unless the competent authority, in the interests of the parties to the marriage, allows an exception to this age rule for serious reasons.

In furtherance of this provision, the legislator allows for the possibility of lowering the marriageable age of those entering into marriage. At the same time, local authorities can reduce the age of marriage of future spouses to 16, and in the presence of special circumstances - even less than years.

3. Currently, the minimum age when, under special circumstances, it is possible to obtain permission to marry, is set at 14 years (laws of the Republic of Adygea, the Republic of Tatarstan, Vladimir, Vologda, Kaluga, Magadan, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Oryol, Sakhalin, Tambov, Tula, Tyumen regions, Jewish Autonomous Region, Khanty-Mansiysk and Chukotka Autonomous Okrugs) or at 15 years (laws of the Murmansk, Ryazan, Tver, Chelyabinsk regions, Kabardino-Balkarian and Karachay-Cherkess Republics).

Reducing the marriageable age to the specified limits is a forced, extreme measure, applies equally to both spouses and is permitted primarily in cases of pregnancy of the future spouse, the birth of a child, or a threat to the life of one of the parties. Some laws of the constituent entities of the Federation clarify that special circumstances that give the right to permission to marry to citizens of the Russian Federation aged 14 to 16 years are late stages of pregnancy (law of the Republic of Adygea), the presence of pregnancy (22 weeks or more), the termination of which is contraindicated by the conclusion of a medical commission or is impossible due to the desire of both parties to preserve it (law of the Murmansk region).

Other reasons for lowering the marriageable age include the groom's conscription to serve in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (the law of the Vologda region), improvement of living conditions for herself and the unborn child of a pregnant minor who is in difficult financial or other extreme conditions (orphan, incomplete family, dysfunctional family environment, etc.) (law of the Murmansk region).

Permission to marry for persons under 16 years of age is, as a rule, issued by a resolution of the local administration.

In some subjects of the Federation, permission to marry the specified persons is given by the governor (laws of the Ryazan, Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod regions), a member of the government authorized by the governor of the region (law of the Moscow region), and the president of the republic (law of the Republic of Adygea).

With the permission of local government bodies, a marriage can be concluded with a person who has reached the age of 16, if such a minor is declared fully capable due to emancipation (Article 27 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), i.e. if he works under an employment contract or, with the consent of his parents, adoptive parents or guardian, is engaged in entrepreneurial activity. Local governments have the right to allow persons over 16 years of age to marry in any other cases that they consider valid.

The relevant decision must indicate: to whom and by how many years (months) the marriageable age is reduced in connection with the intention to marry a specific person. If a local government body refuses to issue a marriage license to persons under the age of majority, interested citizens are given the right to appeal such a refusal on the basis of Chapter 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation (see also the commentary to Article 11 of the RF IC).

Marriage registration of persons whose marriageable age has been reduced in accordance with the procedure established by law is carried out on a general basis.

4. Not only those getting married themselves, but also their parents, guardians, trustees, other persons and institutions who are raising minors can apply to lower the age of consent (clause 2 of Article 123, clause 1 of Article 147 SK and commentary to them). However, in the latter case, it is also necessary to obtain the consent of the persons entering into marriage.

The decrease in the marriageable age of those entering into marriage is associated with the acquisition of full legal capacity by the latter. At the same time, the legal capacity acquired as a result of marriage is retained in full even in the event of divorce before the spouses (or one of them) reaches 18 years of age. At the same time, when declaring a marriage invalid, the court may decide that the minor spouse loses full legal capacity from the moment determined by the court (Article 21 of the Civil Code).

Circumstances for lowering the marriageable age

The age is reduced to 16 years if serious reasons are identified. Mainly these include the following:

pregnancy, birth of a baby;
established family relationships with a person under marriageable age;
an immediate threat to the life of one of the couple.

In some situations, it is permissible to lower the age of consent to 14 years. According to the above circumstances, marriage can be registered from the age of 14, if citizens have a child together, one of them is in danger, or the girl is carrying a baby. A similar provision applies in the Moscow region, Tatarstan, Kaluga and Vladimir regions.

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In the Novgorod region there is another reason for lowering the marriageable age to 16 years. They are called up for military service.

In Adygea, you can register a marriage from the age of 14 under the following circumstances:

a minor girl gave birth to a child;
The girl was diagnosed with late pregnancy.

In some regions of the Russian Federation, marriage is allowed from the 22nd week of pregnancy for a minor.

Procedure for carrying out the procedure

A prerequisite for reducing the age of marriage is the consent of the parents and the young spouses themselves. It is drawn up in writing and certified by a notary. In the absence of parents, consent is given by the guardianship authority or adoptive parents .

If future newlyweds have such a document in their hands, they should draw up a corresponding petition addressed to the local authorities. Moreover, not only they themselves, but also their parents (guardians) can apply. The law does not impose strict requirements on the form and content of this document. It is compiled taking into account the standard rules of official document flow.

The form has a “header”, which indicates the name of the local government body, full name, address and passport details of the applicants. The word “Application” is written in the center of the form, and the essence of the requirement is reflected below. At the end there is a date and signatures of the authors.

The following are attached to the application:

written permission from parents;
a document giving grounds for lowering the marriageable age - a certificate of pregnancy, a birth certificate of a child of a minor, a decision of an authorized body on the emancipation of a teenager, etc.;
copies of passports of future spouses - in their absence, copies of birth certificates are attached;
information about the registration of marriage of parents of minors - a certificate of divorce can also be attached;
death certificate of father and/or mother - if the parents or one of them are not alive;
certificate of residence - each applicant submits a certificate in his own name;
written consent of the minors themselves;
information from the educational institution;
consent of the guardianship authority – if teenagers or one of them are being raised in an orphanage.

The application with attached papers is considered within 30 calendar days . In some municipalities, such requests are processed faster. The application can be submitted in the following ways:

personally;
through the MFC;
through the portal of State and municipal services.

Based on the results of the consideration, the authorized body approves a resolution or permit to reduce the marriageable age. The document must reflect the time period for which the legal limit is reduced. For example, if a minor applicant is 15 years old, then it is indicated that the age of marriage is reduced by 3 years.

After receiving such permission, future newlyweds can apply to the local registry office to register their marriage. The list of documents required for this procedure is determined independently by the authorities of each region. Common to everyone in this sense are only passports (birth certificates for minors) and permission to marry from an authorized body.

Grounds for refusal

It is not allowed to register a marriage if the following circumstances are identified:

one of the minors is already officially married;
the guy and the girl are close relatives to each other, the adoptive parent and the adopted child;
one of the couple has been diagnosed with a mental disorder, as a result of which he becomes incapacitated.

If local authorities unreasonably refuse to issue a permit, then minors have the right to appeal their decision by initiating legal proceedings.

Legal consequences

If a minor has registered a marital union, then he acquires full legal capacity. If the spouses divorce, and the citizen is still under 18, he will no longer become incapacitated. As a result, the teenager acquires and enjoys civil rights, and also fulfills civic responsibilities.

An exception is the recognition of a marriage as invalid in court. In this case, the person may become incapacitated again.

If teenagers cohabit and call themselves “common-law spouses”, this does not lead to any legal consequences, rights or responsibilities. In the Russian Federation, only a union that was officially registered in the registry office is recognized as a marriage.

Commentary on Article 13 of the RF IC

1. In paragraph 1 of the commented article, the marriageable age is set at 18 years. It should be noted that, unlike the legislation of pre-revolutionary Russia, the upper limit of marriageable age has not been established. A large difference in the age of persons entering into marriage has no legal significance.

Thus, if the legislation of the country of which the person entering into marriage is a citizen (subject) provides for a different age for marriage than in the Russian Federation, then the registry office authorities must still register such a marriage.

2. As follows from paragraph 2 of the commented article, if there are good reasons, local government bodies at the place of state registration of marriage have the right, at the request of persons wishing to get married, to allow persons who have reached the age of sixteen years to get married. The usual grounds on which petitions are filed to lower the age of marriage are the woman’s pregnancy, the birth of a child, and the actual marriage relationship.

The procedure and conditions under which marriage, as an exception and taking into account special circumstances, may be permitted before reaching the age of sixteen years, may be established by the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. To date, a number of subjects of the Federation have adopted such laws (these include the Moscow Region, Novgorod Region, Rostov Region, etc.).

It should be noted that the marriage of a minor leads to the fact that in addition to family legal capacity, he also acquires full civil capacity. In the event of divorce, the legal capacity of the minor is retained.

Additional features and nuances

If local administrative authorities have issued a permit, this does not oblige teenagers to register a union - they have the right to refuse to conclude it at any time.
If one of the couple is a foreigner, then when issuing a marriage license, the legislation of his country is used. For example, if the girl is a citizen of Germany, and the guy is Russian, then the requirements of the German Civil Code are observed in relation to the future wife, and the requirements of the RF IC are observed in relation to the spouse.
Registration of marriage of minors is carried out according to the standard procedure. It is necessary to submit a joint application to the registry office, attaching to it the appropriate permission from the administrative authorities. After 1 month, the marriage will be registered. But in exceptional situations, registration of a marital union is permissible before the expiration of 1 month or directly on the day of filing the application.

Let's sum it up

Thus, the legislation of the Russian Federation and the laws of its constituent entities establish a list of grounds for reducing the age of marriage to 16 or 14 years. When a permit is issued, adolescents receive full legal capacity, which they retain in the event of a divorce until they reach adulthood.

Having permission from local administrative authorities does not oblige teenagers to register a marriage - they have the right to refuse their decision at any time. If authorized persons unreasonably refused to issue consent, then this decision can be appealed in court.

Yulia Gromovenko
Practicing lawyer. Graduate of the Department of Commercial Law and Fundamentals of Law, Faculty of Law, Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. Currently an expert author on legal websites. Author's page

Article 13 of the RF IC. Marriage age

New edition of Art. 13 IC RF

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1. The age of marriage is set at eighteen years.

2. If there are valid reasons, local government bodies at the place of residence of persons wishing to get married have the right, at the request of these persons, to allow persons who have reached the age of sixteen to marry.