Marriage

Marriage is a formalization, usually by a government or church, of a romantic relationship, usually one that is intended to be of long-term or permanent duration. The minimum age of marriage, the number of allowable spouses and the availability of homosexual marriage vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. New Hampshire Revised Statute 457:4 provides, "No male below the age of 14 years and no female below the age of 13 years shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage that is entered into by one male and one female, and all marriages contracted by such persons shall be null and void. No male below the age of 18 and no female below the age of 18 shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage between persons of the same gender, and all marriages contracted by such persons shall be null and void."

Libertarians favor the establishment and regulation of marriage through voluntary contract rather than statute.