Question

Riley, age 16, and Samuel, age 36, enter into a contract in which Riley will sell Samuel his car for $11,000. The next day, Samuel decides he no longer wants the car and tries to get out of the contract. Samuel argues that because Riley is a minor, the contract is void. If Riley wants to enforce the contract, will he be able to?

Answer 1

Answer: The answer is that Riley cannot enforce the contract because he is a minor.

Explanation:

Contract is an agreement between two or more individuals which is enforceable by the law. For a contract to be considered valid in law it must contain some essential elements such as the following

Offer: This is the person who is making the offer in the contract agreement, known as the offeror

Acceptance : This is the person who is willing to accept the offer, known in this case as the offeree.

Consideration : The law states that, all simple contract must be supported by value consideration known as price.

Intention to create legal relations :The parties in contract must agree to enter into a legal relationship as regard the contract.

Capacity : The law also states that, The parties in contract must be capable of entering into contract at the time of coming into the contract. In other words, the person must be of age of 18 years and above.

Legality : The contract must not contrary to the law , it must be seen to be legal according to the law .

Therefore, in the question under review, Riley is 16 years, by law he is a minor, he has not fulfilled one of the essential elements of a valid contract which is capacity. The law states that, any contract enter into with a minor is null and void according to law.because, as at the time of entering into the contract such a minor is not capable of entering into the contract. Therefore, Riley will not be able to enforce the contract because he is a minor.