Also known as: disabilities of nonage · nonage · infancy · minority
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal incapacity that attaches to persons below the age of majority and prevents them from exercising certain rights or incurring binding obligations without the ability to disaffirm. The incapacity protects minors from their own immaturity and from overreaching by adults. It applies in contract formation, litigation capacity, and related contexts.
Deanna Davenport, age seventeen, contracted to purchase a house from Drake Logistics. Before closing a fire destroyed the structure. Deanna invoked her disability of nonage to disaffirm the contract and recover her deposit. The court permitted disaffirmance because the minority status allowed her to avoid the obligation despite the risk-of-loss rule that would otherwise bind an adult buyer.
Darrell Duncan, a seventeen-year-old sole proprietor, bid on a city construction project that reserved slots for minority-owned firms. When the city rejected his bid for lack of capacity, he asserted his disability of nonage to void the underlying application documents. The court recognized that his minority status permitted disaffirmance of the bid submission.
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Dolores Diaz, age sixteen, committed a regulatory misdemeanor that foreseeably caused a pedestrian's death. Charged with manslaughter, she raised her disability of nonage to argue the underlying offense could not support the homicide count. The court applied the majority misdemeanor-manslaughter rule but noted that her minority status independently limited the scope of liability that could attach.
Diane Dawson, age fifteen, signed a lease for commercial equipment from Dynamic Solutions. After discovering unfavorable terms she disaffirmed on the ground of her disability of nonage and tendered the equipment back. The court enforced the common-law infancy defense, allowing her to avoid the contract and recover payments made.
Denise Donovan, age seventeen, resided in a district drawn predominantly on racial lines. She challenged the plan under equal protection, asserting that her disability of nonage did not bar her from seeking declaratory relief. The court held that the racial-gerrymandering claim could proceed because the disability affected only contractual capacity, not constitutional standing.
Diego Duarte, age sixteen, was denied a liquor license under a statute that set different age thresholds for males and females. He invoked his disability of nonage to disaffirm any implied consent to the regulatory scheme and sought equal-protection review. The court applied intermediate scrutiny to the gender classification.
No. The disability is procedural rather than jurisdictional. A minor may sue only through a guardian ad litem or next friend, but the court retains authority to hear the case once that procedural step is satisfied.
Yes. At common law a minor may disaffirm any contract and recover payments made, subject only to a duty to return whatever remains of the consideration still in the minor's possession.
No. Minors remain liable for their torts, although the standard of care may be adjusted for age and experience under the traditional rule or the modern adult-activity exception.
It ends upon reaching the age of majority, determined by the defendant's physical age at the time of the challenged act, not mental age or age at trial.
…against arbitrary and unreasonable government than to require that the principles of law which officials would impose upon a minority be imposed generally. Conversely, nothing opens the door to arbitrary action so effectively as to allow those officials to pick and choose only a few to whom they will apply legislation and…