What is the minimum age to get married in Portugal?

A brief note to the frequent question: “How old can you get married?”

Marriage is a contract with important legal and social implications. One question that can come up very easily is What is the minimum age to get married in Portugal?

In Portugal, legislation establishes clear rules on the minimum age for marriage, as well as impediments that can lead to marriage being annulled. In this post, we'll briefly cover some of the main legal aspects related to the minimum age for marriage and the impediments that can interfere with the process.

1. Direct Impediment: Age Under 18 (What is the minimum age to get married in Portugal)

In Portugal, one of the main impediments to marriage is being under the age of 18 (as of April 2, 2025, with the publication of Law 39/2025, of April 1 - before that, the minimum age was 16).

This means that the law prevents anyone under this age from getting married. Article 1601, paragraph 'a' of the Civil Code, as amended by Law 39/2025 of April 1, expressly states that a marriage cannot be celebrated if one of the spouses is under 18 years of age.

This impediment is considered binding, i.e. it prevents the marriage from taking place and invalidates it if it is celebrated despite the impediment.

The reason behind this impediment, in relation to the minimum age for marriage, is to protect the physical and emotional development of minors, and to combat child marriage, ensuring that only individuals with a sufficient degree of maturity and discernment can enter into a contract as important and complex as marriage.

2. Other Direct Impediment: Bigamy

To make it clearer, we can point to another impediment to marriage, for example, also provided for in Article 1601, paragraph 'c', which is bigamy.

Bigamy occurs when a person marries someone while still linked to another (third) person by a previous marriage that has not been legally dissolved. Portuguese law does not allow a married person to enter into a new marriage without the previous one having been duly dissolved, even if the record of the previous marriage does not appear in the civil status register of the person who is married.

The purpose of this impediment is to guarantee the integrity of the marriage and avoid double marriages, while preserving the validity and rights inherent in the first marriage.

3. Consequences of a Marriage Celebrated with Direct Impediments

Although the above-mentioned impediments exist and prevent a marriage from taking place, there may be situations in which, due to error or ignorance, or for some other reason, a marriage is celebrated despite the existence of one of these circumstances. If this happens, according to article 1631, paragraph 'a' of the Civil Code, a marriage entered into by a person under the age of 18 or in a situation of bigamy can be annulled.

Marriage annulment is different from divorce and also has different consequences when it is recognized. If you want to know more about marriage annulment, check out this other post by clicking here: https://www.carolinemeijerink.com/en/post/annulment-of-civil-marriage-in-portugal.

4. Minimum Age for Marriage and Parental Consent

Therefore, in Portugal, the minimum age for marriage is currently 18 (as of 02.04.2025).

However, for marriages already celebrated before that date, the rules prior to the aforementioned legislative change continue to apply (Article 6 of Law 39/2025, of April 1), including the emancipation of minors resulting from marriage in these cases.

Conclusion

The Portuguese Civil Code is clear about the minimum age for marriage, setting it at 18 for both men and women. Below this age, marriage is completely forbidden by law, constituting a binding impediment which, if not observed, can lead to the marriage being annulled.

In establishing these rules, Portuguese law seeks to balance respect for individual freedom to start a family with the need for legal and social protection for minors.

Therefore, anyone interested in getting married, especially in the case of minors, must pay attention to the legal formalities to ensure that the marriage is fully valid and legitimate.

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