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i need to know if getting engaged at 16 to an 18 year old is legal in ga
My boyfriend and I have been together for year, he said on out second year he was going to purpose to me. I just want to know if its legal in the state of Georgia to get ENGAGED (not married)?
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A person can be engaged indefinately as it is not a legal contract. I guess it depends on your intent, do you intend to have a very long term engagement, or do you actually desire to marry before you turn 18 and can do so as an adult now?
You should require no permission for getting engaged. However in Georgia, there are laws that will allow a 16 year old to marry but only with parents permission, with only a few exceptions. See the following link for Georgia law on that:
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I feel much the same though as adviceman for the same reasons, at 16, 18, 20 or sometimes even into early twenties, a marriage is not likely to last. On your end of it, being once the same age, I can remember feeling like I knew everything and while I was a lot more mature than my peers/others my age, I can see in looking back, that maturity didn't save me from making bad decisions based on inexperience, or being naive. There is a lot to say for the experiences over time.
Another thing I wish to mention is that a certain part of the brain in young people, the frontal lobe, is not going to be done growing until you reach into your mid 20's or beyond. No big thing? Not really, because the lack of a completely mature frontal lobe means a person's reasoning and decision making is severely affected in the negative. But I suppose that is something you are going to have to learn the hard way if you marry early as I did. I married at 20 and it was still a grave mistake. The nice church going guy I married was totally wrong for me in so many ways and not only that, the stress of having to be an adult, marriage, etc... brought out mental illness in him, undiagnosed and I was an abused wife for many years. No, that might not happen to you.
If you decide you want to be engaged for two years and marry once you turn 18, that works legally. If you want to actually marry beforehand, you'd better hope the parents think very highly of him and will support you marrying a few years earlier. You have about 10 years to go before your mind is likely to have the decision making abilities of a mature adult. So making any big life decisions like this needs a mature brain and thats where your parents come in.
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An engagement is a promise, though not a legal one, or a contract and has nothing to do with sexual consent. In GA you are above the age of consent to consent to sexual intercourse and contact though you are still considered a minor under the law.
This puts you in a Catch 22 position of the law saying one thing but still under the direct control of your parents who if they wish can separate you from your boyfriend. For bid you to have any contact with him and take out a restraining order against him having any contact with you.
I would suggest that you both put the brakes on any engagement. Marriage at a young age such as when it is legal for you to do so, age 18 which would make him 20. Rarely are long lasting marriages. If this is a relationship that is meant to be it should stand the test of time and you going on to college and getting a degree which is important to your future well being. He should also go on to college.
With the two of you finishing college and having degrees you will be in a position to have a better life together. Hopefully able to afford all the things your parents have provided for you and more. That is the American dream.
In today's world and that of tomorrows world without a college degree you are looking at one frustration after another trying to just exist. Right now the infatuation of being engaged is very compelling. Don't let compulsion over ride good common sense for if you do the road ahead can be extremely bumpy
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You can be engaged.
An engagement isn't really a legal arrangement in and of itself. You can say you are engaged the same way you can say you'll travel to Europe - when you are legally allowed to do that. It's just a private promise made between two people. But calling yourself engaged wont change any other laws that apply to you and his relationship, including age of consent rules, or your own parents ability - legally - to separate you.
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