Legal capacity is a term from the field of law that means the ability of a person, through his actions, to acquire and exercise duties and rights.
The Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes the possibility for a citizen to independently exercise his duties and rights in full when he reaches the age of 18 years.
Legal capacity cannot be limited by actions or regulations, except in cases established by current legislation.
Classification of civil capacity
The Civil Code classifies legal capacity based on the age of its subjects.
Thus, minor citizens, to whom the law classifies persons aged 6 to 14 years, have the so-called legal capacity of minors, which includes:
- the ability to carry out small transactions in everyday life;
- the ability to carry out transactions that do not require notarization or registration;
- the ability to dispose of funds provided by legal representatives to perform specific actions or for specific purposes.
For persons aged 14 to 18 years, the content of legal capacity is expanded. Having partial legal capacity, minor citizens have the right to:
- carry out transactions (with the consent or approval of legal representatives);
- manage your own funds in the form of earnings or scholarships.
The court may limit the ability of minors to dispose of their income if there are compelling grounds for such a decision.
Legal capacity of minors (minors aged 6 to 14)
The legal capacity of minors and minors under 14 years of age is characterized by the approval of parents (citizens under 14 years of age) to carry out minor transactions:
- minor ones due to everyday life (purchase of chocolate in a trade pavilion);
- receiving something as a gift;
- manage money allocated by parents.
A special feature will be a situation during which a transaction is made in the interests of the child - this can only be carried out by a parent. It should also be remembered that if a minor child causes harm to other citizens, the father and mother will be held responsible.
Possibility of acquiring legal capacity up to 18 years of age
The law establishes the possibility for a citizen to achieve full legal capacity before reaching the age of 18.
Civil legislation has established two cases of early legal capacity:
- entry of a person into marriage;
- emancipation (declaring a person fully capable upon reaching the age of 16 and performing work under a contract).
Civil liability of minors aged 14 to 18 years
The law stipulates the peculiarities with which the civil liability of minors is vested. Thus, when making small household transactions, teenagers are responsible for fulfilling the agreements that arose during the agreed upon transactions. This is an example of property liability. But if damage is caused as a result of such a transaction, teenagers will be financially liable only for the amount that they can earn themselves. If the amount of damage caused is significantly higher, the missing funds will be contributed by the parents.
In the absence of parents in a situation where the child is an orphan and is in a state institution, representatives of this institution will be responsible for him. Representatives can be released from liability in several cases:
- when the teenager reaches 18 years of age;
- when proving that there is no guilt in causing harm;
- when the teenager has income that allows him to independently compensate for the damage caused;
- when a teenager undergoes the emancipation procedure.
Rights and responsibilities of age groups
Due to lack of psychological maturity, children under 6 years of age are considered completely incompetent. Any transactions are carried out on behalf of parents or other legal representatives. After six years, partial or limited legal capacity of minors occurs.
Opportunities for minors
Children aged 6 to 14 years have incomplete legal capacity. This means that all transactions that have material or legal consequences can only be made through parents or some other legal representative. The list of rights granted to a minor for exercise is enshrined in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Article 28 on the legal capacity of minors. Available for this age category:
- carrying out small household transactions;
- participation in transactions aimed at obtaining benefits free of charge, provided that the transaction does not require state registration and notarization;
- managing your own money provided by parents or guardians.
It is worth noting that parents or other legal representatives of the child have some restrictions on making transactions on behalf of the minor. For example, they cannot alienate the child’s property, rent it out, give it away or exchange it. In other words, any transactions that entail a decrease in the welfare of a minor can only be carried out with the permission of the guardianship and trusteeship authority.
In addition, parents cannot make transactions with the child himself. That is, it is impossible to give an apartment or land to a minor, having formalized it legally. A conflict arises, because both the donors and the recipients in this case are the legal representatives of the minor.
Particular attention should be paid to the concept of “small household transaction”. According to lawyers, it must meet several criteria:
- a small amount is involved (no more than five times the minimum wage);
- the transaction corresponds to the age of the child;
- the operation does not harm the health and development of a minor citizen.
Other transactions not provided for by law are considered void. If the child unknowingly makes such a transaction, all accepted property must be returned or its value compensated to the other party.
Teenagers 14−18 years old
The realized rights and obligations of citizens aged 14 to 16 years are enshrined in Art. 26 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Minors have access not only to all the possibilities of minors, but also to additional operations. Teenagers have the right to make almost all transactions, but with written consent from their parents. This document can be drawn up both before and after the transaction.
The consent of legal representatives is not required in the following cases:
- disposal of own earnings, scholarships, dividends from shares or other income;
- alienation or acquisition of the author’s rights to an object of intellectual property;
- making contributions to credit organizations and managing them;
- from the age of 16, entry into official labor relations;
- from the age of 16 joining a cooperative.
Despite the large list of possibilities, the exercise of rights is still limited. Until the age of 18, minors cannot make a will, even with parental consent, since this transaction is personal in nature. Based on the content of Article 26 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, adolescents aged 14 to 16 years bear property responsibility for all legal transactions performed.
If there are serious reasons, parents can go to court and demand to limit or completely deprive the teenager of the right to manage their money. This is appropriate if the child spends income on purchasing alcohol, drugs, gambling or contributions to a cult.
The process of emancipation
For persons over 18 years of age, their legal capacity increases automatically, without undergoing additional recognition procedures. This means that a citizen can independently carry out any transactions without presenting parental consent. In some cases, provided for in Article 27 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, full legal capacity may begin at the age of 16. This legal procedure is called emancipation.
A sixteen-year-old citizen is recognized as fully capable in the following cases:
- the teenager works under an employment contract;
- performs the work specified in the terms of the contract;
- carries out business activities with the consent of legal representatives.
Emancipation is established by decision of the guardianship and trusteeship authority. The teenager must provide written consent from both parents or guardians. Otherwise, full legal capacity will have to be recognized through the court. Parents do not bear financial or legal responsibility for an emancipated teenager, no matter what the damage caused by their child.
In addition, full legal capacity occurs after a 16-year-old teenager gets married. The procedure does not require additional contact with the guardianship authority; the scope of exercised rights increases automatically. The birth of a child, the death of parents or legal representatives, on the contrary, does not change the legal status of a teenager.
The procedure for the emancipation of minors has been adopted in many states. This phenomenon has both its pros and cons. On the one hand, an emancipated teenager can quickly realize himself as an individual and achieve a high social status. On the other hand, during the procedure the guardianship authorities do not take into account such an important criterion as the psychological maturity of the individual. Carrying out work activity does not always indicate an individual’s awareness.
Dear applicants! The intermunicipal department for the Gulkevich and Caucasus regions of the Rosreestr Office for the Krasnodar Territory brings to your attention information on the civil legal capacity of minors. In civil and a number of other branches of Russian legislation, minors are recognized as persons who have not reached the age of 14 years and have incomplete legal capacity.
A minor is a person who has not reached the age of 18, upon reaching which comes full legal capacity, i.e. implementation in full of subjective rights and legal obligations. In accordance with Article 60 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, “a citizen of the Russian Federation can independently exercise in full his rights and obligations from the age of 18.” In accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Code), Article 21 The legal capacity of a citizen is the ability of a citizen to acquire and exercise civil rights through his actions, create civil responsibilities for himself and fulfill them (civil capacity) arises in full with the onset of adulthood, that is, upon reaching the age of eighteen.
In accordance with Article 28 of the Code, minors from 6 to 14 years of age are considered partially capable and have the right to independently carry out: - small household transactions (these are transactions of small value aimed at satisfying household (everyday) needs). These transactions, firstly, must correspond to the age of the child (purchase of bread, notebooks, etc.) and provide for the payment of small amounts or the transfer of items of little value. Naturally, the completion of these small household transactions is possible if the child is able to express his desire);
- transactions aimed at obtaining benefits free of charge, which do not require notarization or state registration (in this case we mean, for example, gift transactions, according to which a minor receives some value (thing, money) as a gift, i.e. ... receives a “gratuitous benefit.” Although the law does not establish the amount of value of a gift given to a minor, it is assumed that it should not exceed a reasonable value taking into account the age of the recipient);
- transactions for the disposal of funds provided by legal representatives (parents, guardians, trustees) or with the consent of the latter by a third party for a specific purpose or for free disposal; a minor has the right to independently accept property as a gift or agree to conclude another transaction aimed at his benefit (for example, paying for lunch in the school cafeteria, travel on public transport, purchasing stationery and books necessary for education, etc.).
All other transactions made by minors under 14 years of age are void and do not give rise to legal consequences for them. However, in accordance with Article 172 of the Code, a transaction concluded by a minor may be recognized by the court as valid in his interests if it was made to his benefit. Recognition of a transaction as valid is possible only at the request of his legal representative.
It should be noted that, in accordance with Article 1073 of the Code, for harm caused to a minor under fourteen years of age (minor), his parents (adoptive parents) or guardians are responsible, unless they prove that the harm arose not through their fault.
According to Article 26 of the Code, minors aged 14 to 18 years have the right to independently, i.e. regardless of the consent of the parents (adoptive parents, guardian), to dispose of their earnings, scholarships or other income, since minors, according to labor legislation, have the right to enter into labor relations under certain conditions, they must be able to dispose of the remuneration received for their work. The same applies to scholarships and other income (for example, income from business activities, royalties for the use of works, etc.).
Minors aged 14 to 18 years have the right to independently exercise copyright and invention rights: enter into copyright agreements for the purpose of using the works they have created, demand the issuance of a patent for an invention, etc. The minor disposes of the fee or other remuneration received independently.
The incomplete (partial) legal capacity of minors aged 14 to 18 years is also expressed in their right to independently carry out small household transactions (in this case, this means transactions made by minors at the expense of their parents (adoptive parents, trustee or other persons), but not at the expense of your earnings, scholarships, etc.).
A minor has the right to independently make a contribution and fully manage it if he personally deposited the money in his own name. If the contribution was made by another person in the name of a minor who has reached 14 years of age, or passed to him by inheritance, then he has the right to dispose of it only with the written consent of the parents (adoptive parents, trustee).
To characterize the scope of partial legal capacity of minors aged 14 to 18 years, it is necessary to indicate their right from the age of 16 to be members of cooperatives in accordance with laws on cooperatives. By joining a cooperative, a minor acquires all, including property, rights and obligations in this organization and can independently implement them.
Minors aged 14 to 18 years are considered to be tortious, i.e. are themselves responsible for property damage caused by their actions. However, if a minor does not have property or earnings sufficient to compensate for the damage, then the damage in the appropriate part must be compensated by his parents (adoptive parents, guardian), unless they prove that the damage did not arise through their fault (Article 1074 of the Code).
If there are sufficient grounds, the court, at the request of parents, adoptive parents or a trustee or a guardianship authority, may limit or deprive a minor aged 14 to 18 years of the right to independently dispose of his earnings, scholarship or other income, except for cases where such a minor acquired legal capacity in fully in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 21 or Article 27 of the Code (emancipation).
To declare a person emancipated, as follows from Article 27 of the Code, a combination of two conditions is necessary: reaching the age of sixteen; labor or entrepreneurial activity.
A minor is declared fully capable (emancipation) by decision of the guardianship and trusteeship authority - with the consent of both parents, adoptive parents or trustee, or in the absence of such consent - by a court decision.
It should be borne in mind that an emancipated person is a full participant only in civil legal relations. Other age restrictions and qualifications (electoral, administrative, etc.) are not canceled after a person is declared emancipated.
