The Ages That Change Things
From fourteen to twenty one, what each birthday opens under Ohio law
Eighteen is the age of full capacity: every person eighteen or older who is under no legal disability can make contracts and is of full age for all purposes. But several rules are pinned to other birthdays, before and after it, and the ones people ask about most are below.
Who handles this in Ohio: legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
| Age | What changes | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Age14 or 15 | What changesA restricted driver's license, on proof of hardship | Where it isORC 4507.071 |
| Age16 | What changesA probationary driver's license, after six months on a temporary permit | Where it isORC 4507.071 |
| Age16 | What changesSun lamp tanning on a parent's signature good for ninety days, instead of a parent present for every session | Where it isORC 4713.50 |
| Age17 | What changesMarriage, but only with the juvenile court's consent, and to someone not more than four years older if only one of the two is seventeen | Where it isORC 3101.02 |
| Age18 | What changesFull age for all purposes, and marriage without the court | Where it isORC 3109.01, ORC 3101.01 |
| Age18 | What changesA tattoo or piercing without a parent present, and tanning on your own signature | Where it isORC 3730.06, ORC 4713.50 |
| Age18 | What changesBuying a firearm other than a handgun, and buying fireworks | Where it isORC 2923.211, ORC 3743.65 |
| Age21 | What changesBuying beer and liquor, buying tobacco and vapes, and buying a handgun | Where it isORC 4301.63, ORC 2927.02, ORC 2923.211 |
Buying a gun under the age is graded by what it was. A person under eighteen who buys or tries to buy any firearm commits a delinquent act that would be a felony of the fourth degree for an adult. A person under twenty one who buys or tries to buy a handgun commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, unless the buyer is a trained law enforcement officer or a trained member or veteran of the armed forces or the national guard.
Turning eighteen does not end every tie to the juvenile court at once. A person found to be an unruly child before eighteen stays under that court's jurisdiction until twenty one, and is treated as a child for that purpose until then.
Federal law sets some ages of its own, including for buying from a licensed gun dealer, and those are not on this page. A particular question is one for a licensed Ohio attorney.
Sources for this section (11)
- ORC 3109.01 — Age of majority, and the one sentence that carries it
- ORC 4507.071 — Probationary license, its restrictions, and violations
- ORC 4713.50 — Age restrictions for tanning services
- ORC 3101.02 — Marriage at seventeen, and the juvenile court consent it needs
- ORC 3101.01 — Persons who may be joined in marriage
- ORC 3730.06 — Consent required for a tattoo or body piercing on a minor
- ORC 2923.211 — Underage purchase of a firearm or handgun
- ORC 3743.65 — Fireworks possession, sale and use restrictions
- ORC 4301.63 — Purchase of beer or intoxicating liquor by persons under twenty one prohibited
- ORC 2927.02 — Illegal distribution of cigarettes, other tobacco products or alternative nicotine products
- ORC 2151.011 — Juvenile court definitions, including habitual truant and the hours that define it
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.