Turning Eighteen
ORC 3109.01 — one sentence, and the things it does not move
The age of majority in Ohio is one sentence long. All persons of the age of eighteen years or more, who are under no legal disability, are capable of contracting and are of full age for all purposes. It has read that way since January of 1974.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
Under no legal disability is a real condition, not a flourish. The sentence grants full age to a person of eighteen who is under no legal disability. Where a probate court has appointed a guardian, that is the disability the phrase is pointing at, and the powers the guardian holds are the ones the adult does not. Eighteen by itself does not undo an order a court has already made.
What the section does is make an eighteen year old capable of contracting and of full age for all purposes. What it does not do is set every age threshold in Ohio law. Several sit somewhere else and were written separately, which is why a person can be an adult for all purposes and still find a specific door that opens at a different number.
| The threshold | Where it is actually set |
|---|---|
| The thresholdCapable of contracting, full age for all purposes | Where it is actually setORC 3109.01, at eighteen |
| The thresholdMarriage | Where it is actually setORC 3101.01, at eighteen |
| The thresholdMarriage at seventeen | Where it is actually setORC 3101.02, and only on a juvenile court consent |
| The thresholdA parent's duty of support | Where it is actually setORC 3103.03, which can run past eighteen |
Marriage has its own floor. Section 3101.01 puts it at eighteen. Section 3101.02 is the narrow opening under it: where both persons are seventeen, they may be joined in marriage only if the juvenile court has filed a consent under section 3101.04. That consent is not a rubber stamp. The court consults the minor's parent, guardian or permanent custodian, appoints a guardian ad litem, and has to find the minor independent, the decision free from force or coercion, and the marriage in the minor's best interests.
Support does not automatically stop on the birthday. The parental duty of support continues beyond the age of majority as long as the child continuously attends, on a full time basis, any recognized and accredited high school. That duty continues during seasonal vacation periods. A senior who turns eighteen in November is the ordinary case this was written for, and it surprises people on both sides of it.
The ages for alcohol, tobacco and vapour products, a concealed handgun license, jury qualification and voter registration are each set by their own sections rather than by 3109.01, and this page does not reproduce them. Nor does it cover how a support order is actually terminated, which is a court and child support agency process with its own paperwork. Whether a particular order ends, and when, is a question for the court that issued it and for a licensed Ohio attorney.
Sources for this section (5)
- ORC 3109.01 — Age of majority, and the one sentence that carries it
- ORC 3101.01 — Persons who may be joined in marriage
- ORC 3101.02 — Marriage at seventeen, and the juvenile court consent it needs
- ORC 3103.03 — Married persons' obligations of support, and the duty that runs past eighteen
- ORC 3101.04 — What a juvenile court has to find before it consents to a minor's marriage
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.