You can marry your cousin in Texas if the relationship is second cousins or more distant, but first cousin marriage is effectively off the table. The Texas Family Code doesn’t actually list first cousins among the relationships that make a marriage void, yet the marriage license application requires both applicants to swear they aren’t first cousins, and the Texas Penal Code makes sexual relations between first cousins a third-degree felony. The result is a legal contradiction with a clear practical answer: no.
Why First Cousins Aren’t on the Void-Marriage List
Texas Family Code Section 6.201 automatically voids marriages between ancestors and descendants, siblings, uncles or aunts and their nieces or nephews, whether the relationship is by blood, half-blood, or adoption. First cousins are not on that list.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 6.201 – Consanguinity
A 2012 opinion request to the Texas Attorney General flagged this gap, concluding that “first cousins are not included in this list” and that “marriages between first cousins are valid under Texas law.”2Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Opinion Request Regarding Validity of First Cousin Marriages in Texas Read on its own, Section 6.201 looks like a green light. Two other statutes turn that light red.
The Marriage License Application Blocks It
Texas Family Code Section 2.004 sets out what each applicant must certify when applying for a marriage license. One of the required statements is that the other applicant is not “a son or daughter of a parent’s brother or sister, of the whole or half blood or by adoption.” That is the legal definition of a first cousin.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 2.004 – Application Form
Both applicants sign under oath. If two first cousins answer honestly, the county clerk has grounds to refuse the license. If they lie, they have made a false statement on a sworn government document. Section 2.004 was updated after the 2012 AG opinion, and it closes the door that Section 6.201 left open.
Sexual Relations Between First Cousins Are a Felony
The heaviest consequence sits in the criminal code. Texas Penal Code Section 25.02 makes it a crime to have sexual intercourse with “the son or daughter of the actor’s aunt or uncle of the whole or half blood or by adoption.” That is a first cousin.4State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 25.02 – Prohibited Sexual Conduct
The offense is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Closer blood relationships, such as parent and child, carry second-degree felony exposure of up to 20 years.4State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 25.02 – Prohibited Sexual Conduct The statute doesn’t care whether the parties are married. Even a first cousin couple who somehow obtained a license would face felony exposure for the marriage itself.
That is what puts Texas in an unusual position. Many states either declare first cousin marriage void or allow it. Texas leaves the marriage technically valid on paper while blocking the license and criminalizing the relationship.
Second Cousins, Half Cousins, and More Distant Relatives
Second cousins share great-grandparents rather than grandparents. They don’t appear in Section 6.201, in the Section 2.004 disclosure, or in Section 25.02. Marriage between second cousins is legal in Texas without restriction, as it is in every state.
Half first cousins are treated the same as full first cousins. Both the license disclosure and the criminal statute explicitly cover relationships “of the whole or half blood,” and both include adoption.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 2.004 – Application Form4State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 25.02 – Prohibited Sexual Conduct A step-cousin with no blood or adoptive tie through the connecting parents isn’t reached by either statute.
Marrying in Another State and Moving Back
More than a dozen states permit first cousin marriage. The usual rule is that a marriage valid where performed is valid everywhere, subject to two exceptions: marriage-evasion laws that target couples who leave the state to dodge local rules, and a public-policy exception that lets courts refuse recognition when the marriage clashes with core state policy.
The 2012 AG opinion reasoned that because Texas didn’t explicitly void first cousin marriages or label them contrary to public policy, an out-of-state first cousin marriage would likely be recognized here.2Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Opinion Request Regarding Validity of First Cousin Marriages in Texas That reasoning is now on shakier ground. The license application has since been rewritten to specifically call out first cousins, and Section 25.02’s felony prohibition on the sexual relationship gives a court a strong public-policy argument to refuse recognition. Anyone counting on Texas to honor an out-of-state first cousin marriage should expect uncertainty, not a clean answer.
The Immigration Angle
Non-citizen spouses face an extra layer. USCIS requires that a marriage be valid both where it was performed and in the state where the couple lives or intends to live. If the marriage violates that state’s public policy, USCIS can deny the petition.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6, Part B, Chapter 6 – Spouses
For a first cousin couple living in Texas, that is a real hurdle even with a valid out-of-state marriage certificate. An immigration officer can reasonably read Section 25.02’s felony prohibition as evidence that Texas public policy rejects the marriage and deny the petition on that basis. USCIS decides case by case, and couples in this position should expect a Request for Evidence on the state-of-residence question.
Lying on the License Application
Because Section 2.004 requires a sworn signature, checking “true” on the first cousin question when it isn’t is a false statement on a government record.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 2.004 – Application Form Texas Penal Code Section 37.10 covers false entries in government records and, depending on intent and circumstances, charges can range from misdemeanor to felony. If the fraudulent marriage is later used to obtain immigration status, insurance benefits, or tax advantages, prosecutors can add charges tied to that underlying fraud.
The Bottom Line
Second cousins in Texas can marry with no legal complications. First cousins run into three separate walls: a license application they cannot truthfully sign, a felony statute covering the sexual relationship, and real doubt about whether a workaround marriage from another state will be recognized in Texas or by federal immigration authorities. The technical gap in Section 6.201 doesn’t change any of that.