Quote:
Originally Posted by M/V_Bear_II
Exactly.
A retail transaction, while still a contract, is not written. I added the qualifier in my initial post because there is a lower threshold for compliance and enforcement.
I am pretty sure there is case law on this, but I am not a lawyer, and I'll defer to any civil attorneys on the forum.
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While there are specific legal contracts a minor child (under the age of 18) cannot enter into....such as a credit card or term payments on merchandise, the entire spectrum of purchasing is not prohibited or conditioned, based on common law practices.
While we all seem to agree that a purchase is a contract, the blanket belief that a minor cannot "enter into a contract" by making a purchase is not correct. Remember, in law & life there is always an exception!
A simple sales transaction is valid if the person making the purchase has the mental capacity to make such purchase. In common law terminology, barring mental incapacitation it is generally accepted that a child greater than the age of seven has the mental capacity to make some purchases. In the case we are talking about, barring some condition we have not been made aware about concerning the 13 year old, then common law would dictate the child had the mental capacity to enter into the purchase and is subject to the same requirements an adult would have.
Could you imagine the chaos that would envelop the retail world if any minor could ignore store policies and demand a full cash refund on a purchase? Especially when you consider that individuals under the age of 18 purcahse an estimated 50 billion dollars worth of merchandise in this country every year!
As always with things legal, a good deal of common sense and life experience must be invoked when trying to interpret the tangles and twists that make up our civil and criminal codes!
