# Minors/purchases/legal contracts

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-purchases-legal-contracts/546130>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 9, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-purchases-legal-contracts/546130 "2010-07-09T18:53:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-purchases-legal-contracts/546130/1 "2010-07-09T18:53:28Z")

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Can a store be forced to accept a return of an item purchased by a minor since, as far as I know, minors cannot enter into legal contracts? Is a regular retail purchase considered a contract of some sort?

If the store does need to accept such a refund, is there a time limit for doing so?

I remember seeing something like this on a show like “The People’s Court” where the defendant had a child (a minor) who purchased a game system and then claimed the seller needed to accept a return of the system since his minor child wasn’t legally allowed to purchase it. The ruling was based on something else, so I never did hear if that was a valid point of law or not.

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**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minors-purchases-legal-contracts/546130/2 "2010-07-09T19:09:49Z")

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I should have searched on this before posting.

According to [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacity_%28law%29):

> [@](#):
>
> A barter transactions such as purchasing a retail item in exchange for a cash payment is generally recognized through a legal fiction to not be a contract due to the absence of promises of future action. A minor may not disavow such a trade.

I tried to read the reference associated with this, but I wasn’t seeing how it applied and so I’m just taking wiki’s answer on this one. It makes sense to me.

Can a mod kindly close this? I found my answer and I doubt it will generate much discussion.