A person in Kentucky, as in the rest of the United States, becomes a legal adult at age 18. This means that they’re free to do as they please, without parental permission. In the scope of teen marriage, then, most of these marriages happen at 18 or 19 years old.
However, it’s worth noting that a person can get married at 17 under Kentucky law. They just need to have judicial approval. This is not common, to be sure, but it can happen.
When looking at divorce statistics, the intricacies of the law matter. You see, the odds of divorce go up the younger someone is when they get married. Getting married at 17 could give someone the highest statistical chances of ending that marriage in divorce, even if it takes years for it to happen.
As people grow older, those divorce odds tend to fall. This trend continues until their early 30s. It’s at this point that things reverse, and the odds climb again.
This isn’t to say that people should not get married young if it’s what they want to do. You can always find examples of people who married young and stayed married for the next 60 years. It can work and it has.
However, these couples do need to know what the divorce odds look like so that they can consider their future. Does it make more sense to use a prenup when getting married young? Do children factor into the equation? Can they afford both marriage and divorce if it happens quickly? Anyone entering or leaving a relationship needs to ask these questions and learn about their legal rights.