Unsplash RALEIGH — 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. A consensus amendment introduced during Wednesday's floor debate reworked the measure entirely. Fourteen- and 15-year-olds could no longer marry under the changes. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds would need either written parental consent or a judge's order to marry if the bill becomes law, and the young person's spouse could be no more than four years older.