A bill in Florida made some noise recently—well, more than usual legislative noise, honestly—before it quietly stalled out in the Senate. It got people asking a surprisingly common question: can you legally marry your first cousin in Florida? The short answer, at least for now, is yes… but the longer answer drifts a bit.
The proposal, known as HB 733, was introduced by Anne Gerwig back in December. On paper, it wasn’t really about cousins at all—at least not primarily. It focused on healthcare changes, workforce adjustments, Department of Health stuff… the kind of policy that rarely trends. But tucked inside, almost like an afterthought, was a provision that would make it illegal to marry your first cousin.
And that’s where things got interesting.
The bill spelled it out in legal language—basically saying that people who share a grandparent couldn’t marry. In other words, it would have banned anyone trying to marry their first cousin in the state. If passed, marriages like that after July 1, 2026, wouldn’t even be recognized legally. Not partially, not conditionally—just not at all.
Now, Florida already bans close-family marriages. You can’t marry siblings, parents, grandparents, nieces, nephews… that part isn’t new. This bill would’ve simply extended the rule to include first cousins. A small tweak on paper, but socially? Kind of a big deal, depending on who you ask.
Oddly enough, the bill itself passed through the Senate without opposition. No drama there. But once it bounced back to the House, it lost momentum and died.
So as things stand, yes, you can still legally marry your first cousin in Florida. That hasn’t changed.
And Florida isn’t alone.
There are currently 17 states where it’s still legal to marry your first cousin, though some come with quirks or exceptions. The list looks like this:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Vermont
- Virginia
- North Carolina (allowed, but not for double first cousins)
So depending on where you are, the idea of choosing to marry your first cousin is either perfectly legal… or completely off-limits. It’s one of those patchwork laws that feels oddly inconsistent, like daylight savings or fireworks regulations—different rules, different states, same country.
Anyway, for now, Florida stays on the “legal” side of that divide.