NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5524B Revised 5/30/17
SPONSOR: Paulin TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the domestic relations law, in
relation to increasing the age of consent for purposes of marriage to
the age of seventeen
PURPOSE:
To Prohibit marriage of minors under seventeen years of age and to amend
the process to obtain court approval for marriage of persons at least
seventeen years of age but under-eighteen years of age.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends subdivisions 1(a), 2 and 3 of section 15 of the
domestic relations law, paragraph (a) of subdivision 1, as amended by
chapter 415 of the laws of 2014, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 126
of the laws of 1984 and subdivision 3 as amended by section 5 of part W2
of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003, to provide that the town or city
clerk shall require each applicant for a marriage license to present
documentary proof of age as set forth in subdivision 1(a). If it shall
appear from the affidavits and statements taken and from the documentary
proof of age presented that the persons for whose marriage a license is
demanded are legally competent to marry, such clerk shall issue the
license. In cases where it shall appear that either party is at least
seventeen years of age but under eighteen years of age the process by
which the written approval of a justice of the supreme court or a judge
of the family court having jurisdiction over the town or city in which
the application is made must be obtained is amended to provide for,
among other things: (i) the appointment of an attorney for the child for
each minor party which attorney shall have received training in domestic
violence including a component on forced marriage; and (ii) prior to the
justice of the supreme court or the judge of the family court issuing
approval, such justice of the supreme court or judge of the family court
shall (1) provide notification to each minor party of his or her rights,
including but not limited to, in relation to termination of the
marriage, child and spousal support, domestic violence services and
access to public benefits and other services, which notification shall
be developed by the office of court administration in consultation with
the office for the prevention of domestic violence, (2) conduct, with
respect to each party, including a minor party, a review of related
decisions in court proceedings initiated pursuant to article ten of the
family court act, and all warrants issued under the family court act,
reports of the statewide computerized registry of orders of protection
under section two hundred twenty-one-a of the executive law, and reports
of the sex offender registry under section one hundred sixty-eight-b of
the correction law, and (3) hold an in camera interview, separately with
each minor party, and make written affirmative findings specified in
subdivision 3, taking into consideration, among other relevant factors,
the factors set forth in said subdivision 3. The wishes of the parents
or legal guardians of the minor intending to be married shall not be the
sole basis for consent or approval under this subdivision. This section
further provides that upon the approval of the justice of the supreme
court or the judge of the family court of the application to marry, each
minor party shall have all the rights of an adult, including the right
to enter into a contract, except for those specific constitutional and
statutory age requirements such as, but not limited to, voting, use of
alcoholic beverages, and other health or safety statutes relevant to him
or her because of his or her age.
Section two amends section 13-b of the domestic relations law, as
amended by chapter 652 of the laws of 2007, to allow the solemnization
of marriage permitted under this section of a party to be married to at
least seventeen years of age in lieu of under sixteen upon making writ-
ten affirmative findings required under subdivision 3 of section 15 of
the domestic relations law.
Section three amends section 15-a of the domestic relations law, as
amended by chapter 126 of the laws of 1984, to increase the age of
minors who are prohibited from marrying to under seventeen from under
fourteen.
Section four provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
As highlighted in a New York Times Op-Ed (Fraidy Reiss, "America's
Child-Marriage Problem," Oct. 13, 2015), a survey by the Tahirih Justice
Center identified 3,000 known or suspected cases of forced marriage in
the United States between 2009 to 2011, many of which involved girls
under age 18. Parents force their children into marriages, citing
reasons such as protecting "family honor," controlling the child's
behavior and/or sexuality, and enhancing the family's status. Such
reasons are reminiscent of the reasons for allowing girls age fourteen
and over but under age sixteen to marry with court approval in 1929. The
occurrence of child marriage is not limited to a particular culture or
religion, but is widespread in the United States (Reiss). Child marriage
or forced marriage, or both, occur in families across faiths, including
Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Orthodox Jew, Mormon and
Unification Church (2011 National Survey Results, Tahirih Justice
Center). Tactics such as threats of ostracism, beatings or death are
used to force children to marry against their will.
According to Reiss, data from the State Department of Health reveal that
in the period 2000-2010, 3,853 children were married in New York. In
2013 alone, there were 80 marriages in New York, outside of New York
City, where at least one party was under age eighteen (New York State
Department of Health Table 46: Marriages by Age of Bride and Age of
Groom - New York State Exclusive of New York City).
Based on anecdotal evidence, we have learned that the court approval
process under current law for the authorization of marriage of persons
under sixteen years of age has not provided adequate protections for a
child against abuse and fraud on the part of parents or guardians to
force a child into marriage. This legislation will strengthen the proc-
ess as applied to marriage of persons at least seventeen but under eigh-
teen years of age by requiring, among other things: (i) the appointment
of an attorney for the child who must have received training in domestic
violence including a component on forced marriage; (ii) the court
conducting, with respect to each party, including a minor party, a
review of related decisions in court proceedings initiated pursuant to
Article 10 of the Family Court Act, and all warrants issued under the
Family Court Act, reports of the orders of protection registry, and
reports of the sex offender registry; (iii) the court holding an in
camera interview, separately and alone with each minor party; and (iv)
the court making specific written affirmative findings.
We have learned further that marriage at any age before 18, undermines
girls' health, education and economic opportunities, and increases their
likelihood of experiencing violence. Clinton Foundation & Gates Founda-
tion, No Ceilings: The Full Participation Report: Highlights (Mar.
2015), at p. 3, available at
http://noceilings.org/report/highlights.pdf.
As a matter of public policy, no parent or court should be permitted to
bind a child under the age of seventeen to a contract where the child
lacks the capacity as well as the opportunity to consent.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.10685, referred to judiciary.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law and shall apply to licenses issued on and after such effec-
tive date and to marriages that have not been solemnized prior to such
effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5524--B
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 10, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, DINOWITZ, LAVINE, SEAWRIGHT, SIMON,
STECK, TITUS, ZEBROWSKI, ABINANTI, HEVESI, COLTON, ENGLEBRIGHT, GALEF,
GJONAJ, GOTTFRIED, JAFFEE, McDONALD, SOLAGES, THIELE, GRAF, CROUCH,
LAWRENCE, McDONOUGH, RAIA, FAHY, TITONE, D'URSO, DE LA ROSA, SKARTA-
DOS, MAYER, JENNE, SEPULVEDA, MOSLEY, ROSENTHAL, WALKER, SIMOTAS,
MOYA, HUNTER, HARRIS, QUART, BARRON, BLAKE, JOYNER, AUBRY, RIVERA,
LENTOL, VANEL, WILLIAMS, WEPRIN, BICHOTTE, STIRPE, OTIS, RODRIGUEZ,
PICHARDO, PRETLOW, LUPARDO, WRIGHT, M. G. MILLER, BENEDETTO, HOOPER,
CARROLL, ORTIZ, RICHARDSON, CUSICK, DAVILA, ABBATE, ARROYO, BRINDISI,
GUNTHER, COOK, DenDEKKER, LIFTON, WALLACE, DICKENS, KAVANAGH, CRESPO,
BRAUNSTEIN, MURRAY -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. DILAN, GIGLIO,
GLICK, HYNDMAN, JEAN-PIERRE, MAGEE, PERRY -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Judiciary -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee --
again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted
as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the domestic relations law, in relation to increasing
the age of consent for purposes of marriage to the age of seventeen
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1, and subdivisions 2, 3 and 4
2 of section 15 of the domestic relations law, paragraph (a) of subdivi-
3 sion 1 as amended by chapter 415 of the laws of 2014, subdivision 2 as
4 amended by chapter 126 of the laws of 1984, subdivision 3 as amended by
5 section 5 of part W2 of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003 and subdivision 4
6 as amended by chapter 424 of the laws of 1990, are amended to read as
7 follows:
8 (a) It shall be the duty of the town or city clerk when an application
9 for a marriage license is made to him or her to require each of the
10 contracting parties to sign and verify a statement or affidavit before
11 such clerk or one of his or her deputies, containing the following
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07462-09-7
A. 5524--B 2
1 information. From [the groom] party one: Full name [of husband], place
2 of residence, social security number, age, occupation, place of birth,
3 name of father, country of birth, maiden name of mother, country of
4 birth, number of marriage. From [the bride] party two: Full name [of
5 bride], place of residence, social security number, age, occupation,
6 place of birth, name of father, country of birth, maiden name of mother,
7 country of birth, number of marriage. Both parties shall also be
8 required to present to the clerk documentary proof of age in the form of
9 an original or certified copy of a birth record, a certification of
10 birth issued by the state department of health, a local registrar of
11 vital statistics or other public officer charged with similar duties by
12 the laws of any other state, territory or country, a baptismal record, a
13 passport, an automobile driver's license, any government or school
14 issued identification card that contains a photograph of the applicant,
15 a life insurance policy, an employment certificate, a school record, an
16 immigration record, a naturalization record, a court record or any other
17 document or record issued by a governmental entity, showing the date of
18 birth of such parties. The said clerk shall also embody in the statement
19 if either or both of the applicants have been previously married, a
20 statement as to whether the former [husband or husbands or the former
21 wife or wives] spouse or spouses of the respective applicants are living
22 or dead and as to whether either or both of said applicants are divorced
23 persons, if so, when and where and against whom the divorce or divorces
24 were granted and shall also embody therein a statement that no legal
25 impediment exists as to the right of each of the applicants to enter
26 into the marriage state. The town or city clerk is hereby given full
27 power and authority to administer oaths and may require the applicants
28 to produce witnesses to identify them or either of them and may examine
29 under oath or otherwise other witnesses as to any material inquiry
30 pertaining to the issuing of the license, and if the applicant is a
31 divorced person the clerk may also require the production of a certified
32 copy of the decree of the divorce, or proof of an existing marriage of
33 parties who apply for a license to be used for a second or subsequent
34 ceremony; provided, however, that in cities or towns the verified state-
35 ments and affidavits may be made before any regular clerk or designee of
36 the clerk's office.
37 2. If it appears from the affidavits and statements so taken, and from
38 the documentary proof of age presented, that the persons for whose
39 marriage the license in question is demanded are legally competent to
40 marry, the said clerk shall issue such license [except in the following
41 cases. If it shall appear upon an application that the applicant is
42 under eighteen years of age, before the town or city clerk shall issue a
43 license, he shall require documentary proof of age in the form of an
44 original or certified copy of a birth record, a certification of birth
45 issued by the state department of health, a local registrar of vital
46 statistics or other public officer charged with similar duties by the
47 laws of any other state, territory or country, a baptismal record, pass-
48 port, automobile driver's license, life insurance policy, employment
49 certificate, school record, immigration record, naturalization record or
50 court record, showing the date of birth of such minor. If the town or
51 city clerk shall be in doubt as to whether an applicant claiming to be
52 over eighteen years of age is actually over eighteen years of age, he
53 shall, before issuing such license, require documentary proof as above
54 defined].
55 3. If it shall appear upon an application of the applicants as
56 provided in this section or upon information required by the clerk that
A. 5524--B 3
1 either party is at least [sixteen] seventeen years of age but under
2 eighteen years of age, then the town or city clerk before he shall issue
3 a license shall require:
4 (a) the written consent to the marriage from both parents of the minor
5 or minors or such as shall then be living, or if the parents of both are
6 dead, then the written consent of the guardian or guardians of such
7 minor or minors. If one of the parents has been missing and has not been
8 seen or heard from for a period of one year preceding the time of the
9 application for the license, although diligent inquiry has been made to
10 learn the whereabouts of such parent, the town or city clerk may issue a
11 license to such minor upon the sworn statement and consent of the other
12 parent. If the marriage of the parents of such minor has been dissolved
13 by decree of divorce or annulment, the consent of the parent to whom the
14 court which granted the decree has awarded the custody of such minor
15 shall be sufficient. If there is no parent or guardian of the minor or
16 minors living to their knowledge then the town or city clerk shall
17 require the written consent to the marriage of the person under whose
18 care or government the minor or minors may be before a license shall be
19 issued. If a parent of such minor has been adjudicated an incompetent,
20 the town or city clerk may issue a license to such minor upon the
21 production of a certified copy of such judgment so determining and upon
22 the written consent of the other parent. If there is no other parent
23 whose consent is required by this section, then and in such event, the
24 town or city clerk shall require the written consent of the guardian of
25 such minor or of the person under whose care or government the minor may
26 be before a license shall be issued. The parents, guardians, or other
27 persons whose consent it shall be necessary to obtain and file with the
28 town or city clerk before the license shall issue, shall personally
29 appear and acknowledge or execute the same before the town or city
30 clerk, or some other officer authorized to administer oaths and take
31 acknowledgments provided that where such affidavit or acknowledgment is
32 made before an official other than an officer designated in section two
33 hundred ninety-eight of the real property law as authorized to take such
34 affidavit or acknowledgment if a conveyance of real property were being
35 acknowledged or proved, or if a certificate of authentication would be
36 required by section three hundred ten of the real property law to enti-
37 tle the instrument to be recorded if it were a conveyance of real prop-
38 erty, the consent when filed must have attached thereto a certificate of
39 authentication[.
40 3. If it shall appear upon an application for a marriage license that
41 either party is under the age of sixteen years, the town or city clerk
42 shall require, in addition to any consents provided for in this
43 section,]; and
44 (b) the written approval [and consent] of a justice of the supreme
45 court or of a judge of the family court, having jurisdiction over the
46 town or city in which the application is made, to be attached to or
47 endorsed upon the application, before the license is issued. The appli-
48 cation for such approval [and consent] may be made by either minor party
49 to the proposed marriage and shall be heard by the judge at chambers.
50 The justice of the supreme court or the judge of the family court shall
51 appoint an attorney for the child for each minor party immediately upon
52 the application for approval. The attorney for the child must have
53 received training in domestic violence including a component on forced
54 marriage. All papers and records pertaining to any such application
55 shall be sealed [by him] and withheld from inspection, except by order
A. 5524--B 4
1 of a court of competent jurisdiction. Before issuing any approval, the
2 justice of the supreme court or the judge of the family court shall:
3 (i) provide notification to each minor party of his or her rights,
4 including but not limited to, rights in relation to termination of the
5 marriage, child and spousal support, domestic violence services and
6 access to public benefits and other services, which notification shall
7 be developed by the office of court administration, in consultation with
8 the office for the prevention of domestic violence;
9 (ii) with respect to each party, including a minor party, conduct a
10 review of related decisions in court proceedings initiated pursuant to
11 article ten of the family court act, and all warrants issued under the
12 family court act, and reports of the statewide computerized registry of
13 orders of protection established and maintained pursuant to section two
14 hundred twenty-one-a of the executive law, and reports of the sex offen-
15 der registry established and maintained pursuant to section one hundred
16 sixty-eight-b of the correction law; and
17 (iii) have an in camera interview, separately with each minor party,
18 and make the following written affirmative findings:
19 A. that it is the minor's own will that the minor enter into the
20 marriage;
21 B. that the minor is not being compelled by force, threat, persuasion,
22 fraud, coercion or duress; and
23 C. that the marriage will not endanger the mental, emotional or phys-
24 ical safety of the minor.
25 In making such findings, the court shall consider, among other rele-
26 vant factors, the age difference between the parties intending to be
27 married, whether there is a power imbalance between the parties intend-
28 ing to be married, whether the parties are incapable of consenting to a
29 marriage for want of understanding, whether there is a history of domes-
30 tic violence between the parties and whether there is a history of
31 domestic violence between a party and either parties' or legal guardi-
32 ans' family members. The wishes of the parents or legal guardians of the
33 minor intending to be married shall not be the sole basis for approval
34 under this subdivision.
35 Upon the approval of the justice of the supreme court or the judge of
36 the family court of the application to marry, each minor party shall
37 have all the rights of an adult, including the right to enter into a
38 contract, except for those specific constitutional and statutory age
39 requirements such as, but not limited to, voting, use of alcoholic
40 beverages, and other health or safety statutes relevant to him or her
41 because of his or her age.
42 4. Before issuing any licenses herein provided for, the town or city
43 clerk shall be entitled to a fee of thirty dollars, which sum shall be
44 paid by the applicants before or at the time the license is issued. Any
45 town or city clerk who shall issue a license to marry any persons one or
46 both of whom shall not be at the time of the marriage under such license
47 legally competent to marry without first requiring the parties to such
48 marriage to make such affidavits and statements or who shall not require
49 the production of documentary proof of age or the procuring of the
50 approval and consents provided for by this article, which shall show
51 that the parties authorized by said license to be married are legally
52 competent to marry, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction
53 thereof shall be fined in the sum of one hundred dollars for each and
54 every offense. On or before the fifteenth day of each month, each town
55 and city clerk, except in the city of New York, shall transmit to the
56 state commissioner of health twenty-two dollars and fifty cents of the
A. 5524--B 5
1 amount received for each fee collected, which shall be paid into the
2 vital records management account as provided by section ninety-seven-
3 cccc of the state finance law. In any city the balance of all fees
4 collected for the issuing of a marriage license, or for solemnizing a
5 marriage, so far as collected for services rendered by any officer or
6 employee of such city, shall be paid monthly into the city treasury and
7 may by ordinance be credited to any fund therein designated, and said
8 ordinance, when duly enacted, shall have the force of law in such city.
9 Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, the clerk of any
10 city with the approval of the governing body of such city is hereby
11 authorized to designate, in writing filed in the city clerk's office, a
12 deputy clerk, if any, and/or other city employees in such office to
13 receive applications for, examine applications, investigate and issue
14 marriage licenses in the absence or inability of the clerk of said city
15 to act, and said deputy and/or employees so designated are hereby vested
16 with all the powers and duties of said city clerk relative thereto. Such
17 deputy and/or employees shall perform said duties without additional
18 compensation.
19 [4.] 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the city
20 clerk of the city of New York, before issuing any licenses herein
21 provided for, shall be entitled to a fee of twenty-five dollars, which
22 sum shall be paid by the applicants before or at the time the license is
23 issued and all such fees so received shall be paid monthly into the city
24 treasury.
25 § 2. Section 13-b of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter
26 652 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
27 § 13-b. Time within which marriage may be solemnized. A marriage shall
28 not be solemnized within twenty-four hours after the issuance of the
29 marriage license, unless authorized by an order of a court of record as
30 hereinafter provided, nor shall it be solemnized after sixty days from
31 the date of the issuance of the marriage license unless authorized
32 pursuant to section three hundred fifty-four-d of the executive law.
33 Every license to marry hereafter issued by a town or city clerk, in
34 addition to other requirements specified by this chapter, must contain a
35 statement of the day and the hour the license is issued and the period
36 during which the marriage may be solemnized. It shall be the duty of the
37 clergyman or magistrate performing the marriage ceremony, or if the
38 marriage is solemnized by written contract, of the judge before whom the
39 contract is acknowledged, to annex to or endorse upon the marriage
40 license the date and hour the marriage is solemnized. A judge or justice
41 of the supreme court of this state or the county judge of the county in
42 which either party to be married resides, or if such party is [under
43 sixteen] at least seventeen years of age, the judge of the family court
44 of such county, if it shall appear from an examination of the license
45 and any other proofs submitted by the parties that one of the parties is
46 in danger of imminent death, or by reason of other emergency public
47 interest will be promoted thereby, or that such delay will work irrepar-
48 able injury or great hardship upon the contracting parties, or one of
49 them, may, upon making written affirmative findings under subdivision
50 three of section fifteen of this article, make an order authorizing the
51 immediate solemnization of the marriage and upon filing such order with
52 the clergyman or magistrate performing the marriage ceremony, or if the
53 marriage is to be solemnized by written contract, with the judge before
54 whom the contract is acknowledged, such clergyman or magistrate may
55 solemnize such marriage, or such judge may take such acknowledgment as
56 the case may be, without waiting for such three day period and twenty-
A. 5524--B 6
1 four hour period to elapse. The clergyman, magistrate or judge must file
2 such order with the town or city clerk who issued the license within
3 five days after the marriage is solemnized. Such town or city clerk
4 must record and index the order in the book required to be kept by him
5 or her for recording affidavits, statements, consents and licenses, and
6 when so recorded the order shall become a public record and available in
7 any prosecution under this section. A person who shall solemnize a
8 marriage in violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
9 and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of fifty dollars
10 for each offense, and in addition thereto, his or her right to solemnize
11 a marriage shall be suspended for ninety days.
12 § 3. Section 15-a of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter
13 126 of the laws of 1984, is amended to read as follows:
14 § 15-a. Marriages of minors under [fourteen] seventeen years of age.
15 Any marriage in which either party is under the age of [fourteen] seven-
16 teen years is hereby prohibited. Any town or city clerk who shall know-
17 ingly issue a marriage license to any persons, one or both of whom shall
18 be at the time of their contemplated marriage actually under the age of
19 [fourteen] seventeen years, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on
20 conviction thereof shall be fined in the sum of one hundred dollars.
21 § 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
22 have become a law and shall apply to licenses issued on and after such
23 effective date and to marriages that have not been solemnized prior to
24 such effective date.
