Exam 14: Contractual Capacity

The doctrine of necessaries applies in the same way to minors and mental incompetents.

Robert is 17 years old.He lies to Bouyers Auto in order to induce it to sell him a new pickup.Bouyers falls for this lie and sells him the pickup.In most jurisdictions,Robert:

Harold,a minor,decided to trade his 1985 truck on a new,late-model car at the local dealership.One week after driving the new car,Harold decides that he cannot afford the payments.Harold now wishes to disaffirm his purchase and get his old truck back.The dealer informs Harold that the truck has been sold.Can Harold get the old truck back and disaffirm his contract with the dealer? Explain.

A contract by which of the following is void?

Name and briefly describe the three classes of persons who are legally limited in their capacity to contract.

All 50 states,either by statute or court ruling,recognize a duty on the part of a minor to make restitution to the seller upon disaffirmance of a contract.

The exercise of the power to avoid a contract is known as:

By the majority view,a minor need only return any property he has received from the other party if the minor wishes to disaffirm the contract.He has no duty to return the property in the same condition in which he received it.

Jessica at the age of 15 entered into a contract to sell five acres of land to her uncle.She may disaffirm this contract at any time before reaching her majority.

All furniture,television sets,and appliances purchased by a minor for her apartment would be considered necessaries.

In most states,whether the time within which a minor disaffirms a contract constitutes a reasonable time is determined by:

Beth,at age 17,sells an antique pin she inherited.Even if the buyer resells the pin to someone who did not know that it was purchased from a minor,Beth can recover the pin from the third person if she changes her mind about wanting to sell it.

An incompetent person who lacks understanding of a contract and its consequences can avoid it even if the other party had no reason to know of the incompetent's mental condition.

Cheryl,age 16,ordered a new dress to wear to the school prom.She has contracted to pay $500 when the dress arrives.Before the dress arrives,Cheryl decides that the dress is too expensive.If she now wishes to cancel the order,Cheryl:

Ratification makes a contract void from the beginning.

Ann,a minor,disaffirmed her agreement to buy $127 worth of cosmetics from Facial Glo Company.She had used up all the eye shadows,lipsticks,and powders.The general rule is that she may:

If a person is adjudicated insane and placed in care of a guardian,that person's contracts are void.

A minor can ratify part of a contract and disaffirm another part of it.

Kris,age 17,who looks 18 or older,makes a contract to buy a car from Maisie,an adult.Maisie finds out Kris's age.Maisie may avoid the contract even if Kris did not misrepresent her age.

Tim,who is a minor,enters into a contract with Violet,who is an adult.Which of the following is correct?