Infant - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition infant

Definition :

Infant [fr. infans, Lat., one who cannot speak], a person under twenty-one years of age, whose acts are in many cases either void or voidable. See AGE.

At Common Law, the contracts of infants are divided into three classes: 1st. Those which are absolutely void; such as are positively injurious to the interests of the infant, and can only operate to his prejudice; as a surety-bond, or a release to his guardian.

2nd. Those which are only voidable: such as are beneficial to him, which he may affirm or avoid when he comes of age; as a conveyance of lands, a promissory note, an account stated.

3rd. Those which are binding ab initio and need on ratification: such as contracts for the public service, Articles of apprenticeship [see Green v. Thompson, (1899) 2 QB 1], executed contracts of marriage, representative acts as executor or trustee, contracts for necessaries. In an action brought for the price of goods, if the defendant pleads infancy, the onus is on the plaintiff to prove that the goods were necessaries, Nash v. Inman, (1908) 2 KB 1.

By the (English) Infant Relief Act, 1874 (37 & 38 Vict. c. 62), it is enacted (ss. 1 and 2) that:-

1. All contracts whether by specialty or by simple contract henceforth entered into by infants for the repayment of money lent, or to be lent, or for goods supplied, or to be supplied (other than contracts for necessaries), and all accounts stated with infants shall be absolutely void; provided always that this enactment shall not invalidate any contract into which an infant may by any existing or future statute, or by the rules of Common Law or Equity, enter, except such as now by law are voidable.

2. No action shall be brought whereby to charge any person upon any promise made after full age to pay any debt contracted during infancy, or upon and ratification made after age of any promise or contract made during infancy, whether there shall or shall not be any new consideration for such promise or ratification after full age.

The (English) law of Property legislation of 1925 introduced some modifications into the law relating to infants. By the (English) L.P. Act, 1925, s. 1(6), a legal estate in land is incapable of being held by an infant. He cannot be appointed trustee of any settlement or trust or become mortgagee of a legal estate (ss. 19 and 20, ibid.), or an estate owner of settled land (Settled Land Act, 1925, ss. 26 and 27), but a married infant can give receipts for income [(English) L.P. Act, 1925, s. 21]. By s. 27 of the (English) Settled Land Act, 1925, a conveyance of a legal estate in land to an infant for his benefit shall operate only as an agreement for valuable consideration to execute a settlement as there provided and in the meantime to hold the land in trust for the infant, but an equitable interest in settled land may be vested in or transferred to an infant. Under the Judicature Act, 1925, s. 165, administration with the will annexed is to be granted to the guardian of an infant who has been appointed executor of a will or other person appointed by the Court for him, until the infant attains the age of twenty-one years and probate has been granted to him under s. 47 of the Administra-tion of Estates Act, 1925; infants who do not attain a vested interest, i.e., attain twenty-one years of age or marry, are excluded from the distribution of the residuary estate of an intestate but the statutory powers of advancement and provisions relating to maintenance and accumula-tion of income are to apply, and infants may be permitted to use personal chattels which form part of the estate.

The 5th s. of the (English) Betting and Loans (Infants) Act, 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. 4), follows the Act of 1874 as respects loans, while the 1st and 2nd sections of the same Act make it a misdemeanor to invite by circular, etc., an infant to bet or borrow money. See Milton v. Studd, (1910) 2 KB 118.

An infant is liable for torts committed by him unless the tort has arisen out of a contract, see R. Leslie v. Shiell, (1914) 3 KB 607, where the authorities are discussed by Lord Sumner. As to whether a parent can by ratification become liable for the tort of his infant child, see Moon v. Towers, (1860) 8 CBNS 611. In that case Willes, J. (ibid., p. 611), said: 'No man ought, as a general rule, to be responsible for acts not his own.' As to the criminal liability of infants, see AGE; CHILDREN.

Ward of Court.--The general superintendence and protective jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery over the persons and property of infants is a delegation of the rights and duties of the Crown--the universal guardian of infants'and is retained for the Chancery Division of the High Court (Jud. Act, 1925, s. 56), and an infant under such guardianship is termed 'a ward of court.' The Court has jurisdiction to commit a ward of court to prison for contempt of Court, e.g., marrying without consent [Re H.'s Settlement, (1909) 2 Ch 260].

By the Judicature Act, 1925, s. 44, it is provided that, subject to express provisions of any other Act, in questions relating to the custody and education of infants, the rules of equity shall prevail. The father at Common Law had the right to the custody of his infant child and the right to appoint testamentary guardians. The (English) Guardianship of Infants Act, 1886 (49 & 50 Vict. c. 27), and the (English) Guardianship of Infants Act, 1925 (15 & 16Geo. 5, c. 45), place the mother and father in the position of equality, making the welfare of the child 'the first and paramount consideration.'

See, further, GUARDIANSHIP, WARD, and CHILD-REN; and consult Eversley on the Domestic Relations; Simpson on Infants; and Chitty's Statutes, tit. 'Infants and Children.'