Quick summary: Guatemala’s minimum marriage age is 18 (Código Civil (Civil Code), Art. 81, amended by Decreto 8-2015), with no exceptions: Art. 83 prohibits authorising a marriage involving anyone under 18 “de manera alguna” [in any way]. Among the age provisions, Decreto 13-2017 repealed the exception for minors who had reached 16 (Art. 82), judicial authorisation (Art. 84), and numerals 1 and 2 of Art. 89 (parental consent; 16 for males and 14 for females). Absolute impediments include close kinship and being married or in a unión de hecho (legally recognised de facto union) with someone else (Art. 88); such a marriage is insubsistente (cannot legally subsist) under Art. 144.
This page explains the age requirements and impediments in the Código Civil (Decreto-Ley 106). For the procedure and documents, see civil marriage registration; for wedding expenses, see civil wedding costs.
The current age rule
Art. 81 (amended by Article 1 of Decreto 8-2015) sets the minimum age in these terms:
“Se establece los dieciocho (18) años de edad, como la edad mínima para contraer matrimonio.”
[Eighteen (18) years of age is established as the minimum age for marriage.]
Art. 83 (amended by Article 3 of Decreto 8-2015 and Article 2 of Decreto 13-2017):
“No podrán contraer matrimonio ni autorizarse de manera alguna, el matrimonio de menores de dieciocho (18) años de edad.”
[Anyone under eighteen (18) may not marry, nor may their marriage be authorised in any way.]
Article 83 has two parts: anyone under 18 cannot marry, and no one can authorise that marriage, even with permission from parents or a judge.
What was repealed and when
The CENADOJ edition, whose internal title page states it was updated to 8 August 2025, retains the repealed provisions with annotations. Their status is:
| Article | What it used to say | Status in the CENADOJ edition |
|---|---|---|
| Art. 82, Excepción de edad (age exception) | Minors who had reached sixteen could marry exceptionally and for justified reasons (wording under Decreto 8-2015) | Repealed by Article 1 of Decreto 13-2017 |
| Art. 84, Autorización judicial (judicial authorisation) | An application to authorise the marriage of minors who had reached sixteen was submitted to the competent judge (wording under Decreto 8-2015) | Repealed by Article 3 of Decreto 13-2017 |
| Art. 89, numeral 1 | Marriage involving someone under eighteen could not be authorised without the express consent of their parents or guardian | Repealed by Article 4 of Decreto 13-2017 |
| Art. 89, numeral 2 | Marriage involving a male under sixteen or a female under fourteen could not be authorised, except where the female had conceived and those exercising patria potestad (parental authority) or guardianship consented | Repealed by Article 4 of Decreto 13-2017 |
| Art. 89, numeral 3 | A woman had to wait three hundred days from the dissolution of a marriage or unión de hecho, or from a declaration that the marriage was void, subject to exceptions | Declared unconstitutional by the Corte de Constitucionalidad (Constitutional Court), judgment of 1 June 2010, case 794-2010, and repealed by Article 1 of Decreto 27-2010 |
None of these rules remains in force according to that edition. Text allowing marriage at 16 or 14 with permission reflects the wording before those reforms.
Absolute impediments (Art. 88)
Article 88 identifies those with absolute impediments to marriage:
- Blood relatives in the direct line and, in the collateral line, siblings and half-siblings.
- Ascendants and descendants who have been related by afinidad (affinity through marriage).
- People who are already married, and people in a unión de hecho with someone other than their intended spouse, while that union has not been legally dissolved (numeral amended by Article 5 of Decreto-Ley 218).
Consequence (Art. 144): a marriage in the cases listed in Article 88 is insubsistente. The judge may declare this de oficio (on the court’s own initiative), with the participation of the spouses and the Ministerio Público (Public Prosecutor’s Office).
Cases of ilicitud that remain in force (Art. 89)
Article 89, amended by Article 6 of Decreto-Ley 218, says a marriage cannot be authorised in the following cases, which the CENADOJ edition does not mark as repealed:
| Numeral | Case |
|---|---|
| 4 | A tutor (guardian), protutor (supervisory guardian), or their descendants marrying someone currently under that tutela or protutela (guardianship or supervisory guardianship) |
| 5 | A tutor, protutor, or their descendants marrying someone formerly under their guardianship, before the accounts of their administration have been approved and settled |
| 6 | Someone with children under their patria potestad who has neither prepared a judicial inventory of those children’s property nor provided security for its management, unless administration passes to someone else |
| 7 | An adoptive parent marrying the adopted person while the adoption remains in effect |
If the marriage nevertheless takes place (Art. 90): it is valid, but the official and those responsible for the infringement are liable under the law. In the cases in numerals 4 and 5, those persons lose the right to administer the minors’ property and cannot inherit from them through intestate succession.
What the official does on learning of an impediment
A marriage is authorised by the municipal mayor or the council member acting in the mayor’s place, a notary legally qualified to practise, or a minister of religion empowered by the administrative authority (Art. 92). Before that official, each prospective spouse declares under oath, among other matters, their age, the absence of kinship that would bar the marriage, and the absence of any legal impediment (Art. 93).
If the official learns of a legal impediment through their duties or a report from the Ministerio Público or any person, the official orders the marriage proceedings suspended. Proceedings cannot continue until the interested parties obtain a favourable decision from the competent authority. If the report is not ratified, it has no effect (Art. 91).
What this page does not cover
This page addresses only the marriage provisions cited above. It does not cover the age requirement for a unión de hecho (see unión de hecho), grounds for annulment, or the criminal-law consequences of a relationship involving minors.
For foreign readers: the U.S. Embassy’s marriage guidance says a foreigner must present a valid passport and birth certificate. Anyone previously married must also present evidence that the previous marriage ended, such as a divorce decree or the previous spouse’s death certificate. Non-Guatemalan documents presented to the marriage registrar must first be apostilled. For U.S. federal documents, contact the Department of State’s Authentications and Apostilles Office; for state-issued official documents, contact that state’s Secretary of State. Under Civil Code Art. 96, a foreign or naturalised Guatemalan prospective spouse must reliably prove identity and freedom to marry. Edictos (public notices) must be published before the marriage for 15 days in the Diario Oficial (official gazette) and another widely circulated newspaper, inviting anyone who knows of a legal impediment to report it. If the marriage is not celebrated within six months of publication, the notices lose their legal effect. See foreigners marrying in Guatemala.
Related procedures
- Civil marriage registration in Guatemala — procedure and documents
- Civil wedding costs
- Foreigners marrying in Guatemala and RENAP registration
- Marriage by proxy
- Judicial divorce
General guidance, not legal advice. Civil Code provisions follow the CENADOJ commented edition published by the Organismo Judicial. Its internal title page states an update to 8 August 2025; its cover states 8 June 2025. The cited amendments and repeals are those annotated in that edition. Its case-law notes are commentary and are not cited here as legislation.