§ 19-3-3.Degrees of relationship within which intermarriage prohibited; penalty; effect of prohibited marriage
Chapter 3. Marriage Generally · Article 1. General Provisions · Last amended 1968 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-3-3
Plain-English Summary
This section defines the “prohibited degrees” that Code Section 19-3-2 refers to. It lists six relationships, by blood or by marriage: father and daughter or stepdaughter; mother and son or stepson; brother and sister, whether of the whole blood or the half blood; grandparent and grandchild; aunt and nephew; and uncle and niece.
Subsection (a) is a criminal provision. A person who marries someone on that list, knowing about the relationship, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than three years. The knowledge element matters: the crime requires that the person knew of the relationship.
Subsection (b) addresses the marriage itself. Marriages that subsection (a) declares unlawful are void from their inception — legally, they never existed as valid marriages. Code Section 19-4-1 lets the superior court annul void marriages, though not where children are born or are to be born of the marriage, and Code Section 19-4-2 lets the parties file for annulment or, if grounds exist, divorce. Code Section 19-3-5 doesn’t list this defect among those that later ratification can cure: for marriages void for inability to contract, its ratification rule names only paragraphs (1) through (3) of Code Section 19-3-2, not the prohibited-degrees paragraph.
Relationships not on the list — first cousins, for example — aren’t covered by this section.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can first cousins marry in Georgia?
This section doesn’t prohibit it. The list of barred relationships covers father and daughter or stepdaughter, mother and son or stepson, brothers and sisters of the whole or half blood, grandparent and grandchild, aunt and nephew, and uncle and niece. First cousins don’t appear on it.
Can you marry a stepchild in Georgia?
No. The list includes father and stepdaughter and mother and stepson, because the prohibition covers relationships by marriage as well as by blood. A person who knowingly enters such a marriage faces imprisonment of not less than one nor more than three years, and the marriage is void from its inception.
What is the penalty for marrying a close relative in Georgia?
Imprisonment for not less than one nor more than three years, for a person who marries someone on the section’s list knowing of the relationship. The criminal penalty depends on that knowledge. Separately, the marriage itself is void from its inception under subsection (b).
Are half-siblings allowed to marry in Georgia?
No. The section bars marriage between a brother and sister “of the whole blood or the half blood,” so sharing one parent is enough. Such a marriage is void from its inception, and knowingly entering it is punishable by one to three years in prison.
Can a marriage between close relatives be fixed later?
Not under Code Section 19-3-5. Its ratification rule — later free consent plus cohabitation — covers marriages void for unsound mind, age, or a prior undissolved marriage under paragraphs (1) through (3) of Code Section 19-3-2. It doesn’t reach the prohibited degrees, and this section makes those marriages void from their inception.
Amendment History
Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 814; Laws 1886, p. 30, § 1; Laws 1916, p. 51, § 2; Laws 1968, p. 1249, § 1.
Formerly Code 1863, §§ 1655, 4418; Code 1868, §§ 1699, 4459; Code 1873, §§ 1700, 4533; Code 1882, §§ 1700, 4533; Civil Code 1895, § 2413; Penal Code 1895, § 380; Civil Code 1910, § 2932; Penal Code 1910, § 371; Code 1933, §§ 26-5702, 53-105; Code 1933, § 26-9905.