N.M. Stat. § 40-1-6 (2026)

A. The county clerk shall not issue a marriage license to an unemancipated person
sixteen or seventeen years of age, and no person authorized by the laws of this state to
solemnize marriages shall knowingly unite in marriage any person sixteen or seventeen
years of age, unless the minor first receives the written consent of each of the minor's
living parents as shown on the minor's certificate of birth, or the district court has
authorized the marriage of such person upon request of a parent or legal guardian of
the person for good cause shown, and a certified copy of the judicial authorization is
filed with the county clerk.

    B. The county clerk shall not issue a marriage license to any person under sixteen
years of age, and no person authorized by the laws of this state to solemnize marriages
shall knowingly unite in marriage any person under sixteen years of age, unless the
children's or family court division of the district court has first authorized the marriage of
the person upon request of a parent or legal guardian of the person in settlement of
proceedings to compel support and establish parentage, or where an applicant for the
marriage license is pregnant, and a certified copy of the judicial authorization is filed
with the county clerk.

History: Laws 1876, ch. 31, § 2; C.L. 1884, § 993; C.L. 1897, § 1426; Code 1915, §
3431; Laws 1923, ch. 100, § 2; C.S. 1929, § 87-107; 1941 Comp., § 65-106; Laws
1953, ch. 112, § 1; 1953 Comp., § 57-1-6; Laws 1972, ch. 97, § 70; 1975, ch. 32, § 2;
repealed and reenacted by Laws 2013, ch. 144, § 4.

                                      ANNOTATIONS

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 2013, ch. 144, § 4 repealed former 40-1-6 NMSA
1978, and enacted a new section, effective June 14, 2013.

Cross references. — For age of majority, 18 years, see 28-6-1 NMSA 1978.

For jurisdiction of children's court to authorize marriage of minor, see 32A-1-8 NMSA
1978.

Knowledge of person's age not element of offense. — The marrying of a female
under 15, prohibited by this section (before its amendment), the penalty for which was
provided by 40-1-8 NMSA 1978, belonged to that class of statutory misdemeanors
where knowledge of the person's age and an intent to marry one under age is not a
necessary element of the offense. Territory v. Harwood, 1910-NMSC-029, 15 N.M. 424,
110 P. 556, 29 L.R.A. (n.s.) 504.

Such marriages to be declared void by court. — Section 40-1-9 NMSA 1978 (before
its amendment) did not make the marriages of males under 18 or females under 15
voidable for they were declared void by this section (before its amendment), but merely
provided that they should be declared void by court decree, and rendered less harsh the
operation of the statute upon participants in such illegal marriages and their possible
and innocent offspring without affecting the liability of the presiding official. Territory v.
Harwood, 1910-NMSC-029, 15 N.M. 424, 110 P. 556, 29 L.R.A. (n.s.) 504.

Law reviews. — For article, "Annulment of Marriages in New Mexico: Part II - Proposed
Statute," see 2 Nat. Resources J. 270 (1962).

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 52 Am. Jur. 2d Marriage § 14.

Attack on marriage of a child after his death, 47 A.L.R.2d 1393.

Marriage as affecting jurisdiction of juvenile court over child, 14 A.L.R.2d 336.

55 C.J.S. Marriage § 11.