S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  10685

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              June 13, 2016
                               ___________

Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON  RULES  -- (at request of M. of A. Paulin,
  Titus, Simon, Dinowitz, Steck, Seawright, Hevesi, Zebrowski,  Solages,
  Abinanti, Colton, Raia, Graf, Crouch, Galef, Lawrence, Thiele) -- read
  once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary

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:

  Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1, and subdivisions 2, 3 and 4
of  section  15 of the domestic relations law, paragraph (a) of subdivi-
sion 1 as amended by chapter 415 of the laws of 2014, subdivision  2  as
amended  by chapter 126 of the laws of 1984, subdivision 3 as amended by
section 5 of part W2 of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003 and subdivision 4
as amended by chapter 424 of the laws of 1990, are amended  to  read  as
follows:
  (a) It shall be the duty of the town or city clerk when an application
for  a  marriage  license  is  made to him or her to require each of the
contracting parties to sign and verify a statement or  affidavit  before
such  clerk  or  one  of  his  or her deputies, containing the following
information. From [the groom] PARTY ONE:  Full name [of husband],  place
of  residence,  social security number, age, occupation, place of birth,
name of father, country of birth, maiden  name  of  mother,  country  of
birth,  number  of  marriage. From [the bride] PARTY TWO:  Full name [of
bride], place of residence, social  security  number,  age,  occupation,
place of birth, name of father, country of birth, maiden name of mother,
country  of  birth,  number  of  marriage.  BOTH  PARTIES  SHALL ALSO BE
REQUIRED TO PRESENT TO THE CLERK DOCUMENTARY PROOF OF AGE IN THE FORM OF
AN ORIGINAL OR CERTIFIED COPY OF A  BIRTH  RECORD,  A  CERTIFICATION  OF
BIRTH  ISSUED  BY  THE  STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, A LOCAL REGISTRAR OF
VITAL STATISTICS OR OTHER PUBLIC OFFICER CHARGED WITH SIMILAR DUTIES  BY
THE LAWS OF ANY OTHER STATE, TERRITORY OR COUNTRY, A BAPTISMAL RECORD, A
PASSPORT,  AN  AUTOMOBILE  DRIVER'S  LICENSE,  ANY  GOVERNMENT OR SCHOOL
ISSUED IDENTIFICATION CARD THAT CONTAINS A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE  APPLICANT,
A  LIFE INSURANCE POLICY, AN EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATE, A SCHOOL RECORD, AN

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD15848-04-6

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IMMIGRATION RECORD, A NATURALIZATION RECORD, A COURT RECORD OR ANY OTHER
DOCUMENT OR RECORD ISSUED BY A GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY, SHOWING THE DATE  OF
BIRTH OF SUCH PARTIES. The said clerk shall also embody in the statement
if  either  or  both  of  the applicants have been previously married, a
statement as to whether the former [husband or husbands  or  the  former
wife or wives] SPOUSE OR SPOUSES of the respective applicants are living
or dead and as to whether either or both of said applicants are divorced
persons,  if so, when and where and against whom the divorce or divorces
were granted and shall also embody therein a  statement  that  no  legal
impediment  exists  as  to  the right of each of the applicants to enter
into the marriage state. The town or city clerk  is  hereby  given  full
power  and  authority to administer oaths and may require the applicants
to produce witnesses to identify them or either of them and may  examine
under  oath  or  otherwise  other  witnesses  as to any material inquiry
pertaining to the issuing of the license, and  if  the  applicant  is  a
divorced person the clerk may also require the production of a certified
copy  of  the decree of the divorce, or proof of an existing marriage of
parties who apply for a license to be used for a  second  or  subsequent
ceremony; provided, however, that in cities or towns the verified state-
ments and affidavits may be made before any regular clerk or designee of
the clerk's office.
  2. If it appears from the affidavits and statements so taken, AND FROM
THE  DOCUMENTARY  PROOF  OF  AGE  PRESENTED,  that the persons for whose
marriage the license in question is demanded are  legally  competent  to
marry,  the said clerk shall issue such license [except in the following
cases.  If it shall appear upon an application  that  the  applicant  is
under eighteen years of age, before the town or city clerk shall issue a
license,  he  shall  require  documentary proof of age in the form of an
original or certified copy of a birth record, a certification  of  birth
issued  by  the  state  department of health, a local registrar of vital
statistics or other public officer charged with similar  duties  by  the
laws of any other state, territory or country, a baptismal record, pass-
port,  automobile  driver's  license,  life insurance policy, employment
certificate, school record, immigration record, naturalization record or
court record, showing the date of birth of such minor. If  the  town  or
city  clerk  shall be in doubt as to whether an applicant claiming to be
over eighteen years of age is actually over eighteen years  of  age,  he
shall,  before  issuing such license, require documentary proof as above
defined].
  3. If it shall  appear  upon  an  application  of  the  applicants  as
provided  in this section or upon information required by the clerk that
either party is at least [sixteen] SEVENTEEN  years  of  age  but  under
eighteen years of age, then the town or city clerk before he shall issue
a license shall require:
  (A) the written consent to the marriage from both parents of the minor
or minors or such as shall then be living, or if the parents of both are
dead,  then  the  written  consent  of the guardian or guardians of such
minor or minors. If one of the parents has been missing and has not been
seen or heard from for a period of one year preceding the  time  of  the
application  for the license, although diligent inquiry has been made to
learn the whereabouts of such parent, the town or city clerk may issue a
license to such minor upon the sworn statement and consent of the  other
parent.  If the marriage of the parents of such minor has been dissolved
by decree of divorce or annulment, the consent of the parent to whom the
court  which  granted  the  decree has awarded the custody of such minor
shall be sufficient. If there is no parent or guardian of the  minor  or

A. 10685                            3

minors  living  to  their  knowledge  then  the town or city clerk shall
require the written consent to the marriage of the  person  under  whose
care  or government the minor or minors may be before a license shall be
issued.  If  a parent of such minor has been adjudicated an incompetent,
the town or city clerk may issue  a  license  to  such  minor  upon  the
production  of a certified copy of such judgment so determining and upon
the written consent of the other parent. If there  is  no  other  parent
whose  consent  is required by this section, then and in such event, the
town or city clerk shall require the written consent of the guardian  of
such minor or of the person under whose care or government the minor may
be  before  a  license shall be issued. The parents, guardians, or other
persons whose consent it shall be necessary to obtain and file with  the
town  or  city  clerk  before  the license shall issue, shall personally
appear and acknowledge or execute the  same  before  the  town  or  city
clerk,  or  some  other  officer authorized to administer oaths and take
acknowledgments provided that where such affidavit or acknowledgment  is
made  before an official other than an officer designated in section two
hundred ninety-eight of the real property law as authorized to take such
affidavit or acknowledgment if a conveyance of real property were  being
acknowledged  or  proved, or if a certificate of authentication would be
required by section three hundred ten of the real property law to  enti-
tle  the instrument to be recorded if it were a conveyance of real prop-
erty, the consent when filed must have attached thereto a certificate of
authentication[.]; AND
  [3. If it shall appear upon an application for a marriage license that
either party is under the age of sixteen years, the town or  city  clerk
shall  require,  in  addition  to  any  consents  provided  for  in this
section,]
  (B) the written approval and consent of a justice of the supreme court
or of a judge of the family court, having jurisdiction over the town  or
city  in  which  the  application is made, to be attached to or endorsed
upon the application, before the license is issued. The application  for
such  approval and consent shall be heard by the judge at chambers.  THE
JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT AND THE JUDGE OF  THE  FAMILY  COURT  SHALL
APPOINT  AN ATTORNEY FOR THE CHILD FOR EACH MINOR PARTY IMMEDIATELY UPON
THE APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL AND CONSENT. THE  ATTORNEY  FOR  THE  CHILD
MUST  HAVE  RECEIVED TRAINING IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INCLUDING A COMPONENT
ON FORCED MARRIAGE. All papers and records pertaining to any such appli-
cation shall be sealed by him and withheld from  inspection,  except  by
order of a court of competent jurisdiction.  BEFORE ISSUING APPROVAL AND
CONSENT,  THE  JUSTICE  OF  THE SUPREME COURT OR THE JUDGE OF THE FAMILY
COURT MUST HAVE AN IN  CAMERA  INTERVIEW,  SEPARATELY  WITH  EACH  MINOR
PARTY, AND MUST MAKE THE FOLLOWING AFFIRMATIVE FINDINGS:
  (I)  THAT  IT  IS  THE  MINOR'S OWN WILL THAT THE MINOR ENTER INTO THE
MARRIAGE;
  (II) THAT THE MINOR IS NOT BEING COMPELLED AGAINST HIS OR HER WILL  BY
FORCE, THREAT, PERSUASION, FRAUD, COERCION OR DURESS; AND
  (III)  THAT  THE  MARRIAGE WILL NOT ENDANGER THE MENTAL, EMOTIONAL AND
PHYSICAL SAFETY OF THE MINOR. IN MAKING SUCH FINDINGS, THE  COURT  SHALL
CONSIDER,  AMONG  OTHER RELEVANT FACTORS, THE AGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE
PARTIES INTENDING TO BE MARRIED, WHETHER  THERE  IS  A  POWER  IMBALANCE
BETWEEN  THE  PARTIES  INTENDING  TO BE MARRIED, WHETHER THE PARTIES ARE
INCAPABLE OF CONSENTING TO A MARRIAGE FOR WANT OF UNDERSTANDING, WHETHER
THERE IS A HISTORY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND  WHETHER
THERE  IS  A  HISTORY  OF  DOMESTIC  VIOLENCE BETWEEN A PARTY AND EITHER
PARTIES' FAMILY MEMBERS. NEITHER CURRENT OR  PAST  PREGNANCY  OF  EITHER

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INDIVIDUAL,  NOR  THE  WISHES  OF  THE PARENTS OR LEGAL GUARDIANS OF THE
MINOR INTENDING TO BE MARRIED SHALL BE THE SOLE  BASIS  FOR  CONSENT  OR
APPROVAL UNDER THIS SUBDIVISION.
  4.  IF IT SHALL APPEAR UPON AN APPLICATION FOR A MARRIAGE LICENSE THAT
EITHER PARTY IS UNDER THE AGE OF SEVENTEEN YEARS, THEN THE TOWN OR  CITY
CLERK SHALL NOT ISSUE A LICENSE TO MARRY.
  5.  Before  issuing any licenses herein provided for, the town or city
clerk shall be entitled to a fee of thirty dollars, which sum  shall  be
paid  by the applicants before or at the time the license is issued. Any
town or city clerk who shall issue a license to marry any persons one or
both of whom shall not be at the time of the marriage under such license
legally competent to marry without first requiring the parties  to  such
marriage to make such affidavits and statements or who shall not require
the  production  of  documentary  proof  of  age or the procuring of the
approval and consents provided for by this  article,  which  shall  show
that  the  parties  authorized by said license to be married are legally
competent to marry, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and  on  conviction
thereof  shall  be  fined in the sum of one hundred dollars for each and
every offense. On or before the fifteenth day of each month,  each  town
and  city  clerk,  except in the city of New York, shall transmit to the
state commissioner of health twenty-two dollars and fifty cents  of  the
amount  received  for  each  fee collected, which shall be paid into the
vital records management account as provided  by  section  ninety-seven-
cccc  of  the  state  finance  law.  In any city the balance of all fees
collected for the issuing of a marriage license, or  for  solemnizing  a
marriage,  so  far  as collected for services rendered by any officer or
employee of such city, shall be paid monthly into the city treasury  and
may  by  ordinance  be credited to any fund therein designated, and said
ordinance, when duly enacted, shall have the force of law in such  city.
Notwithstanding  any  other provisions of this article, the clerk of any
city with the approval of the governing body  of  such  city  is  hereby
authorized  to designate, in writing filed in the city clerk's office, a
deputy clerk, if any, and/or other city  employees  in  such  office  to
receive  applications  for,  examine applications, investigate and issue
marriage licenses in the absence or inability of the clerk of said  city
to act, and said deputy and/or employees so designated are hereby vested
with all the powers and duties of said city clerk relative thereto. Such
deputy  and/or  employees  shall  perform said duties without additional
compensation.
  [4.] 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the  city
clerk  of  the  city  of  New  York,  before issuing any licenses herein
provided for, shall be entitled to a fee of twenty-five  dollars,  which
sum shall be paid by the applicants before or at the time the license is
issued and all such fees so received shall be paid monthly into the city
treasury.
  S 2. Section 13-b of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter
652 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
  S 13-b. Time within which marriage may be solemnized. A marriage shall
not  be  solemnized  within  twenty-four hours after the issuance of the
marriage license, unless authorized by an order of a court of record  as
hereinafter  provided,  nor shall it be solemnized after sixty days from
the date of the issuance  of  the  marriage  license  unless  authorized
pursuant  to  section  three  hundred fifty-four-d of the executive law.
Every license to marry hereafter issued by a  town  or  city  clerk,  in
addition to other requirements specified by this chapter, must contain a
statement  of  the day and the hour the license is issued and the period

A. 10685                            5

during which the marriage may be solemnized. It shall be the duty of the
clergyman or magistrate performing the  marriage  ceremony,  or  if  the
marriage is solemnized by written contract, of the judge before whom the
contract  is  acknowledged,  to  annex  to  or endorse upon the marriage
license the date and hour the marriage is solemnized. A judge or justice
of the supreme court of this state or the county judge of the county  in
which  either  party  to  be married resides, or if such party is [under
sixteen] AT LEAST SEVENTEEN years of age, the judge of the family  court
of  such  county,  if it shall appear from an examination of the license
and any other proofs submitted by the parties that one of the parties is
in danger of imminent death, or by  reason  of  other  emergency  public
interest will be promoted thereby, or that such delay will work irrepar-
able  injury  or  great hardship upon the contracting parties, or one of
them, may, UPON MAKING AFFIRMATIVE FINDINGS UNDER SUBDIVISION  THREE  OF
SECTION FIFTEEN OF THIS ARTICLE, make an order authorizing the immediate
solemnization  of the marriage and upon filing such order with the cler-
gyman or magistrate performing the marriage ceremony, or if the marriage
is to be solemnized by written contract, with the judge before whom  the
contract  is  acknowledged,  such  clergyman or magistrate may solemnize
such marriage, or such judge may take such acknowledgment  as  the  case
may  be,  without waiting for such three day period and twenty-four hour
period to elapse. The clergyman, magistrate  or  judge  must  file  such
order  with  the  town  or city clerk who issued the license within five
days after the marriage is solemnized.   Such town or  city  clerk  must
record and index the order in the book required to be kept by him OR HER
for recording affidavits, statements, consents and licenses, and when so
recorded  the  order  shall  become a public record and available in any
prosecution under this section. A person who shall solemnize a  marriage
in  violation  of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon
conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of fifty dollars for each
offense, and in addition thereto,  his  OR  HER  right  to  solemnize  a
marriage shall be suspended for ninety days.
  S 3. Section 15-a of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter
126 of the laws of 1984, is amended to read as follows:
  S  15-a.  Marriages of minors under [fourteen] SEVENTEEN years of age.
Any marriage in which either party is under the age of [fourteen] SEVEN-
TEEN years is hereby prohibited. Any town or city clerk who shall  know-
ingly issue a marriage license to any persons, one or both of whom shall
be  at the time of their contemplated marriage actually under the age of
[fourteen] SEVENTEEN years, shall be guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  and  on
conviction thereof shall be fined in the sum of one hundred dollars.
  S  4.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately  and shall apply to
licenses issued on and after such effective date and to  marriages  that
have not been solemnized prior to such effective date.