Is it legal to marry your first cousin in KY, IN and IL?

Before going into too much detail, I want to clarify something that is perfectly clear. I didn’t write this article because I have eyes for none of my first cousins. I have been married for 20 years to a woman with whom I have no blood relationship. Although, if you believe we are all descended from Adam and Eve, you could say we are all related by blood. But we will not go down that road. No, the reason I wrote this article is because of a reddit graphic user, you / homesteader recently shared in the Kentucky subreddit. The one that shows in which states you can marry your first cousin without stipulations, which ones you can with certain stipulations, and which ones you absolutely cannot no matter how badly you want to. I have to admit, as a homesteader, I was surprised by the responses for our part of the country.

Can you marry your first cousin in Indiana, Kentucky or Illinois?

Chances are, if you go back far enough in your family tree, you probably have parents who married despite being related by blood. I guess depending on what state they lived in, it was never illegal or wasn’t when they walked down the aisle.

Not to play into stereotypes, but there were a few states where marrying your first cousin is perfectly legal that didn’t surprise me, namely Alabama and Georgia. However, there were a few that were surprising. New York, Vermont and California are all apparently totally cool with first cousins ​​getting married. Love is love, I guess.

Two states that allow it, each has its own unique stipulation. Minnesota is only good with this if the cousin is “once removed”, and Maine will only allow it after the cousins ​​kiss. genetic counselingwhich basically means that they have to meet with a professional who will explain to them the potential genetic problems that their children could have if they decide to have them.

Here’s how it breaks down for our three Midwestern states.

Indiana

It’s true. Hoosier State is fine with you and a first cousin deciding to spend the rest of your life in marital bliss, but there’s a catch. According Indian code 31-11-1-2:

Two (2) individuals cannot marry if they are more closely related than first cousins. However, two (2) individuals may marry if they are (1) first cousins; and (2) both at least sixty-five (65) years old.

So, if you are under 65, you will have to keep this love a secret.

Illinois

Like Indiana, Lincoln Country also allows first cousins ​​to marry. But, you must first meet specific criteria. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5/212 (a)(4)(i) and (ii) States:

a marriage between first cousins ​​is not prohibited if:
(i) both parties are 50 years of age or older; Where
(ii) either party, at the time of applying for a marriage license, presents for filing with the clerk of the county in which the marriage is to be solemnized, a certificate signed by a licensed physician stating that the party to the proposed marriage is definitively and irreversibly sterile.

Simply put (as I read it, anyway) you either have to wait until you’re both 50 before you can swap rings, or you can do it sooner if one of you is unable to produce children.

Kentucky

I mean no disrespect to our neighbors south of the Ohio River, but as a native of Hoosier, the joke has always been that the Commonwealth is only populated by inbred hillbillies. I know that’s not the case, and I have several friends who live in Kentucky. Plus, my sister married a Kentucky native, so it’s all fun, right? Anyway…of our three states, Kentucky is one of 23 states where you can’t marry a first cousin, no matter what.

According Revised Statutes of Kentucky Title XXXV. Domestic Relations § 402.010:

(1) No marriage may be contracted between persons who are closer to each other by consanguinity*, whether of full blood or mixed blood, than first cousins.
(2) Marriages prohibited by subsection (1) of this section are incestuous and void.

*a relative or a link

Notice that it says the two individuals can’t be closer than first cousins. So, as long as you aren’t first cousins, you can go to the courthouse and have your lovebirds’ marriage license drawn up.

Check out the Reddit chart below to see how things are going in the rest of the country.

[Sources: Reddit / CDC / Indiana General Assembly / Illinois General Assembly / Kentucky General Assembly]

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