Marriage laws in the USA

[foreigncorrespondent]

Last night my sister and I sat up late watching Jerry Springer. Anyway on this particular show he had this guy who wanted to get married. He had them fly his fiancee out and said he would marry her on the show. However when it came down to the crunch he turned around and said he didn't want to marry her that he wanted to marry his sister.

Now they had a minister there to marry the couples they had on the show, but when it came to the minister marrying them all he was he wanted no part of it.

Now just from that I got the impression that blood relatives can marry over there. Is that right?

For the record this guy was the only one who wanted to marry his sister.

[Alenne]

1. I believe it is illegal to marry your sibling at least in Virginia

When my husband and I went to get a marriage license we were asked if we were brother and sister.

[DUreader]

2. Illegal

Incest Laws

[mandyky]

3. In some states you cannot marry your first cousin

NY was one of those states, not sure if it has changed or not.

[slackmaster]

4. It varies widely by state

Here's a rather kinky list I found on a Google search for "first cousin" marriage state laws USA - I can't vouch for its accuracy in any way but it gives a good sense of the patchwork of laws we have here:

http://www.arsenalvideo.com/read/061001-fyi.html