Wisconsin Law Does Not Allow Minors to Consent to Their Own Marriage

Every person in Wisconsin is required to consent to their own marriage, with one exception--children. When parents consent to a legal union of their minor, they leave a 16 or 17-year-old in the hands of an adult. When that child wants out, there is no checkbox for "married underage" for divorce or annulments, even after becoming an adult.

Over 300 children aged 16 and 17 have been married in the past decade in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau shows 89% were married to adults. According to Wisconsin's law, not one of those children had to consent to their marriage. Instead, their parents or guardian was allowed to consent for them. While the number of child marriages has dropped from its 1995 peak, vulnerable minors are still left unprotected. There was a chance to put a protection in place as recently as March 2026, but a bill that would have allowed minors the explicit right to divorce and banned marriage under 18 across the board died by inaction.

Currently, under Wisconsin statute 765.02(2), a marriage license may be issued to a child aged 16 or 17 with the consent of an approved adult, signed at the time of application. If no parent or guardian is available, Wisconsin’s own DHS handbook suggests that a probate court may substitute and give consent. At no time during the process is the minor asked or required to sign consent to their own marriage. There is no statute in existence currently that allows the minor to seek divorce or annulment based on age. AB656, the bill that died by inaction, would have filled that gap.

When a child lives within a marriage they did not consent to, they're more likely to experience abuse, poverty, and lack of education. According to the International Center for Research on Women, women married before 19 are 50% more likely to drop out of high school, and those married before 16 are 31% more likely to live in poverty. Wisconsin law currently offers no way for a minor to escape that cycle on the basis of age or lack of consent.

March 2026 isn’t the first time legislation addressing this problem has been introduced and killed without so much as a hearing. The opposition argues for parental rights, and the proposed bill addresses a minor’s options to leave a marriage, but neither has addressed why minors aren’t required to consent to their own marriage.

With the 2025-26 legislative session ending in March, Wisconsin Statute 765.02(2) remains unchanged. Whether action will be taken depends on who sits in Wisconsin lawmakers’ chambers after the November 2026 election and if they will finally answer the question no one seems to be asking: why isn’t a child required to consent to their own marriage?

Sources: Wisconsin Statute 765.02(2); Wisconsin Department of Health Services County Clerk Vital Records Handbook; Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau data; International Center for Research on Women, 2020; Wisconsin Assembly Bill 656 (2025-26 session). Additional context on legislative history sourced from Wisconsin Watch reporting by Gus Pirlot, published June 4, 2026.

Honey May Conroy is an independent investigative journalist based in Madison, Wisconsin. She can be reached at honeymayconroy.com.