This was a response to a post on Reddit, where a minor was saying that his or her father was taking her salary from work and was going to kick her out of the house as soon as he or she turned 18, and was wondering if he or she could move out before (as an emancipated minor I guess?)
I don’t know anyone involved in this specific scenario, but it made me hypothetically wonder what, if any property a minor can own or what property they would own as soon as they turn 18? Their clothes? The TV set and furniture in their room? Their wages? The money grandma put in their Christmas Card? If it comes down to it does a court decide if they own the TV set?
As kind of a thought experiment I’ve been wondering at what time the dresser in my room became mine. Certainly when I bought the house from my parents and they left it behind, but before that when they moved out of the house leaving it behind (after they moved out I rented the house from them for a period of time before buying it)? When I turned 18 and it was in my room? If my parents had said “this is your dresser” when I was 12?
Minors have the same capacity to own things that adults have, except that in most jurisdictions their ability to deal with land and similar property is constrained by procedural requirements, and this is an effectie limitation on ownership. But a minor can certainly own clothes, furniture, etc, and can exercise the usual rights of ownership over them (e.g. by selling them).
Whether this particular minor does own this particular television set is of course a matter of fact, and the answer may vary from case to case. But a minor would own the wages that he or she earns through employment, and if they buy the TV set out of their wages, I don’t see any real argument but that they own it. Simlarly if grandma or grandpa gives the minor a cash gift, that belongs to the minor, as does the TV set bought with it.
I would imagine you could apply the same rule as apply in a divorce toward “communal property” vs. private property. Parents may allow minors to use some things without the minors having a private claim to such property. They would simply be household items the child has use of. Furniture may be communal, clothes, toys, etc. that the child only normally uses - theirs.
Also remember that in many cases, minors cannot make a contract. it requires the consent of a guardian. (and also there’s a specific law in California regarding child earnings as a result of parents of child stars exploiting their earnings.)
I guess an important question related to this is - does a parent have automatic access to a minor’s bank account automatically? I remember setting up my own bank account at about age 13 and my parents had no rights to it AFAIK. of course, if the person were to try to withhold access to her earnings, it may be an interesting battle - “do you want to eat in your house?”. If it came down to a confrontation, possession is 9/10 of the law.
(I have also seen posts where someone complained about bad parents who cleaned out their personal savings account AND the account their student loan was deposited into. )
In most states minors can own anything that doesn’t require them to sign into a contract or is specifically illegal for someone their age to own. They can buy a car outright but would need an adult to co-sign if they they needed a loan. Not certain if they could buy a house outright since they would need to sign deeds and pay taxes. Most states prohibit them to own a handgun but they can use their parents handguns on private property, firing ranges may not allow them to use their facilities due to insurance reasons. Obviously they cannot buy an establishment that sells alcohol since a liquor license is necessary. I think any of these need to looked by the state they live in.
A guy I went to college with says his father demanded every last cent of his McDonald’s paycheck, basically considering Leroy’s money the family’s money. I wonder, is that legal? Could a minor sue a parent to get their money back in such a case?
Wouldn’t the family’s cost for the child’s rent & food exceed a McDonald’s pay check?
There’s also the cost of driving the child all over the city. Dad, I have band practice at 4:30. That’s two round trips in the family car. For example, it could easily be 9 miles to the high school. 36 miles of driving for one band practice.
Children own personal property. Books, clothes, shoes, and so on. Cash gifts and items they purchased belong to them.
Employment income from a part time job gets a bit murky. My wife and I let our teen daughters keep house cleaning & babysitting money. I continued giving them a weekly allowance too.
We asked them to put a third of their income from retail jobs into a college savings account. It was their casual spending money in college. I paid the tuition and dorm fees.
My finances allowed me to be generous. A low income family may desperately need any income that’s available.
Could the parent then counter sue for rent, utilities, etc? I doubt it, but I never had this sort of issue with my parents, either.
I suppose ideally, the paycheck should at most be held in an account the child could only access upon majority. Possibly some of it being used against costs the parents laid out for the kid above and beyond whats legally required.
Don’t want to wear grubby hand me down clothes your parents supply, those would be taken out. Don’t want to eat mom’s cooking? Get your own food with that. But stuff like big ticket items your parents just don’t want you to have? Too bad, buy it when you have your own place.
it seems that in most states, under most circumstances parents have a right to their child’s earnings.Some states, such as California have laws that protect some children’s earnings from their parents , but not all states and not all children - lots of people have heard of the Coogan law but not nearly as many realize that it only applies to minors
1 Providing artistic or creative services in the entertainments industry
2 Selling licensing etc literary, musical, or dramatic properties
3 Rendering services as a player or participant in a sport.
Those laws are not going to protect approximately 99% of those under 18 who are working outside of the entertainment industry at a restaurant or retail store.
As far as bank accounts- I was able to go down to the bank and open my own savings account at 12 and a checking account when I was 17. Most banks won’t do that anymore - they want ID that 12 year olds don’t have and they want someone over the age of 18 on the account. Which is often going to be a parent- and it’s often going to be a joint account which means the parent has as much right to the money as the child.
Legally, there is nothing murky about it. Minors have capacity to own property, and property which they own is theirs, not their parents’. What they may lack, or may be restricted in, is their capacity to conclude a contract; depending on the contract and their age, they may require their parents’ or guardian’s, or even a court’s, approval to enter into a contract. But once that contract has been validly concluded, all rights arising from it are rights of the parties to that contract; if the minor is a party to that contract, then the rights arising from it are the minor’s, not the parents’. It’s not like the law merges the legal personality of the minor into that of the parent.
Based on my experience, the type of selfish person who would demand their kid’s whole paycheque is not likely the same sort of person to provide taxi services on demand. You want to be in Band? Unless you can figure out how to get yourself home afterward, sonny, not going to happen. Either catch the school bus when it runs, take transit, or walk.
Also, someone who works a decent amount after school and sees no benefit from it is not doing it for the character building or perks employment, but most likely because they are forced to.
Can a parent legally put a child in debt because of what the child supposedly owes in room and board? If said child refuses to fork over the cash, can the parents refuse to feed, clothe or house said child?
Aren’t minors entitled to discharge a contract when they reach majority age? I understood this was the problem with them taking out car loans. At age 18 they could just stop paying.
I always understood it that a contract signed by a minor was never binding; they cannot consent. Therefore, any time they choose to stop abiding by the contract, they can walk away from their obligations. A dealer may be able to repossess the car, but they can’t enforce the usual terms like suing for missed payments.