A common-law marriage in Colorado between a 14-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl is possible in the wake of an appellate court ruling Thursday.That's the potential fallout from a Colorado Court of Appeals decision that overturned a lower court finding that 15 is too young for a girl to enter into common-law union.
"This is a real shocker," said Stephen Harhai, a Denver attorney and past chairman of the family law section of the Colorado Bar Association. "Under this action, this means your 12-year-old can, with whomever, say, 'I intend to be married to you,' and that's it, (they're) married. That's a little shocking."
The decision by a three-judge panel reversed a Weld County case in which a judge ruled that a 15- year-old girl was too young to consent to a common-law marriage.
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