Exam 14: Contractual Capacity

In some states, minors are liable for contracts involving bank accounts and student loans and cannot avoid these contracts even though they can avoid other types of contracts.

Discuss the effect of a court's declaring someone incompetent and appointing a guardian.

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

Randy, a minor, buys a new four-wheel drive truck from the Jones Dealership. Randy sells this truck to his cousin, Steve, who is an adult. Steve conveys this vehicle to Arthur Smith. Arthur does not personally know Steve or Randy. Randy may:

Robert Briscoe is 17 years old. He lies to Bouyers Auto about his age in order to induce them to sell him a new pickup truck. Bouyers falls for this lie and sells him the pickup. Under the prevailing view, Robert:

In which of the following situations would a minor be unable to disaffirm a contract which he had made?

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.

Ratification makes a contract void from the beginning .

At common law, a minor was a person who was under the age of twenty-one years.

Contracts of a ward may be ratified by his guardian during the period of guardianship.

Seventeen-year-old Teresa wants to disaffirm her student loan agreements. In most states, she will not be allowed to do so.

An automobile will never be considered be a necessary item for a minor.

The case of In re The Score Board, Inc. involved the issue of:

Michael is 17 years old and earns extra money by repairing cars. Nathan, who is 21, brings his car to Michael for repairs, and Michael ruins the brake system of the car because of his inexperience. If Nathan sues Michael for negligence in performing the auto repair contract, in most states Michael will have no liability, because the tort of negligence and the auto repair contract are connected.

Emancipated minors have no ability to avoid contracts based upon their minority.

Natalie, age 17, rented a power washer and while using the machine, she negligently damaged it beyond repair. Under the majority view, the rental company can successfully sue Natalie for damages on a tort theory of negligence since it is well settled that minors are liable for their torts.

In Berg v. Traylor , the court found that:

Which of the following is untrue regarding the contracts of intoxicated persons?

What are the two tests for mental competency?

What is the doctrine of liability for a tort connected with a contract?