Is it Legal to Marry Your Cousin in Texas? Kinda

(Jacksonville, Texas) - I am getting ready to get married in September. Her name is Amber and she has become the perfect mate for me. I can't wait to marry her and spend the rest of my life with her.

The one thing she is not is any relation to me. But if we were to happenstance find out we were related, could we still get married. Well, in Texas, depending on the circumstance, we probably could.

Marriage Laws in Texas

Who can marry who has been at the center of numerous debates for many years now. Believe it or not, it has actually been perfectly legal in all 50 states to marry your cousin until the last 30 years or so. For Texas, it was 1997 when laws were passed on the legality of marrying within a family.

Texas Family Law Code § 6.201

A marriage is void if one party to the marriage is related to the other as:

• An ancestor or descendant, by blood or adoption
• A brother or sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption
• A parent's brother or sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption
• A son or daughter of a brother or sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption

So basically you can't marry a first cousin in the state of Texas. But what if there's an attraction between second, third, and so on, cousins? Well, in Texas, and across the entire United States, it is legal to marry.

Jokes Getting Old About the South

The south has been, and still is, the target of marrying your cousin jokes. However, four other southern states have outlawed marrying your cousin:

• Arkansas
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• Oklahoma

And in about a third of the United States, it is perfectly legal to marry your cousin, many of those states are the ones that constantly joke about cousins marrying in the south. I guess it's true that if you joke about something a lot, you're probably the one that likes to do it.

• Alaska
• Alabama
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington D.C.

As I like to say, you do you, boo. I have never had the desire to look for love at a family reunion. I found that outside the family in my wonderful fiancé.

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