According to the NCSL, cousin marriage is legal in: Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina (in North Carolina, first-cousin marriage is legal, but double-cousin marriage is prohibited)
In 1858, Kansas became the first state to prohibit cousin marriage. Before 1930, twenty-eight states passed a cousin ban.
If the state determines the marriage violates public policy, i.e. the principle that the state will act in the best interest of the public, then the marriage will be deemed void and the state will not recognize the marriage.
While a marriage may be void under state law, it may still be recognized as valid by the state of intended immigration.
The legal threshold varies state by state.
For example, first cousins may not marry in Michigan and such marriages in Michigan are considered void from their inception.
A 1973 ruling of the Michigan Supreme Court, however, found that a marriage between first-degree cousins married in Hungary was nevertheless valid.
Only three states have taken prohibitory action in the last century: Kentucky (1946), Maine (1985), and Texas (2005).
In Texas, a marriage is void if one party to the marriage is related to the other, including first cousins.
In 2012 a couple married in India were unable to produce an advisory opinion letter from the Texas Attorney General stating such marriages are legal in Texas as requested by U.S. immigration officials.
Their inability to get the state to recognize their marriage further highlights the differences between public policy among conservative and less conservative states
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