A person between the age at which pupillarity ceases (fourteen in boys, twelve in girls), and majority. Minors in trade are liable for trading debts, and all minors are liable to perform their contracts, unless they can prove lesion, i.e., damage arising from the contract, in which case they may be relieved against it within four years after majority, a period called the quadriennium utile. But in no case will they be relieved against a debt contracted for value, except in so far as both parties can be restored. Minors without curators (guardians) may contract as validly as minors who have curators, and whose curators give their consent. Such consent does not validate an injurious contract.
Definition source
Kinnear, J. B., Digest of House of Lords Cases Decided on Appeal from Scotland, 1709-1864 — Glossary of Scottish Law Terms (Edinburgh, 1865). Public domain.
Legal Subject: Minor |
| Case | Date | Legal Subject | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Cuming v. Alexander Macdonald, Esq. | 1801 | Minor | In a process of ranking and sale, Alexander Cuming sought to be ranked on a bill that was signed by the decedent, James Macdonald, three months before James came of age. The common agent raised an objection based on James's minority, and the Lord Ordinary sustained it. Cuming sought further review, making several arguments for enforcing the bill: (1) the funds were advanced for James's benefit, (2) James accepted the bill while exercising a profession, and (3) James's father joined in accepting the bill. |
| Cunynnghame v. Whitefood, et al | 1797 | Succession, Deed, Aliment, Disposition, Reduction, Minor | Lieutenant Colonel Francis Cunynghame pursued James Whitefoord and others, seeking to set aside a settlement executed by Whitefoord in 1792 while he was a minor. Cunynghame argued that the deed was void because a minor could not alter the succession to heritable estate established by the former proprietor, and further contended that the settlement lacked proper delivery. The litigation raised the question of whether a minor's deed could effectively convey or settle heritable property. |
