Cushman v. Cushman

Citations

• 80 Wash. 615
• 142 P. 26
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 1602

Syllabus

<p>Marriage—-Validity—Annulment—Infants—Age of Consent— Statutes—Construction. Tlie common law age of consent to marry, of 14 years for males and 12 for females, is not changed by Rem. & Bal. Code, § 7150, providing that marriage is a civil contract that may be entered into by males of the age of 18, and § 7162, authorizing the annulment of a marriage if either party was incapable of consenting thereto for want of legal age, and § 7164, providing for licenses to marry when under age upon the written consent of the parents, if the female be over fifteen years of age; since the statute permitting marriage was only cumulative of the common law and nowhere prohibits the marriage of minors, or changes the common law rule, and since the regulations as to the issuance of licenses do not affect the marriage status, and the requirement of parental consent recognizes that infants are capable of giving their own consent, under common law rules (Mount, J., dissenting).</p>