If you’re looking to marry your aunt or uncle’s kid, you still have time.
The Legislature failed to pass HB 733, a wide-ranging Department of Health bill that would have stipulated that Florida won’t recognize marriages between first cousins after July 1, 2026.
If the bill had been signed into law, Florida would have joined the majority of states banning the practice that is considered to be taboo in the West but a more traditional practice in the developing world, from which immigrants still come to the state. Still, roughly one in 500 marriages results from a union of first cousins.
Legislators ultimately had no difference on the consanguineous marriage change, but disagreements over other parts of the legislation were not able to be resolved by the time the Session ended on Friday.
