Child marriage becomes a legal loophole in custody fights

By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Supreme Court is considering a case where one parent allowed a teen to marry, rendering custody agreements moot. The youth slipped through a common legal loophole in child marriage laws across the United States: It often only takes one parent’s consent for a teen to marry. It’s difficult to determine how many minors are married by a parent seeking to void custody agreements, in part because family court proceedings are often sealed. But Unchained At Last, an organization that seeks to end forced and child marriages, estimates nearly 300,000 minors were married in the U.S. for various reasons between 2000 and 2018.