Marriage.—While no age is fixed by statute as to when males or females may conclude marriage, in case of a marriage under the age of 18 years for males and 16 years for females a divorce can be obtained for fraud for want of age, in the absence of voluntary ratification after reaching that age.
Parental consent is required for males under 21 years and females under 18 years.
Impediments.—Degrees of consanguinity: A man may not marry his mother, father’s sister, mother’s sister, sister, daughter or the daughter of his son or daughter. A woman may not marry her father, father’s brother, mother’s brother, brother, son, or the son of her son or daughter. Degrees of affinity: A man may not marry his father’s wife, son’s wife, son’s daughter, wife’s daughter, or the daughter of his wife’s son or daughter. A woman may not marry her mother’s husband, daughter’s husband, husband’s son, or the son of her husband’s son or daughter.
Marriages between whites and negroes or mulattoes are prohibited.
Causes for Divorce.—They are adultery, bigamy, desertion for two years, habitual drunkenness for two years, extreme cruelty, or conviction after marriage of a crime, followed by continuous imprisonment for two years.
The causes for divorce from bed and board are the same, with the addition of one other, namely, hopeless insanity of the husband.
A marriage may be annulled for any of the following causes, existing at the time of the marriage: Incurable physical impotency; consanguinity; a former husband or wife living at the time of the marriage; fraud, force or coercion; insanity of either party; minority of either party, unless the marriage be confirmed after reaching proper age, to wit.: wife, 16 years; husband, 18 years.
Florida.
Marriage.—In order to be valid marriages must be celebrated before a qualified clergyman, judge, magistrate or notary public.