NC's minimum marriage age rises to 16 in bill OK'd by Senate GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press May 12, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The minimum age to get married in North Carolina would increase from 14 to 16 under legislation unanimously approved by the state Senate on Wednesday. Backers of the measure say it reflects a compromise from the original content of the bill, which would have raised the minimum age to 18. Some senators were unhappy with that measure or a later version that would still have allowed 14-year-olds to marry — although no child could have married a partner more than four years older than him or her.