Does an infant have the capacity to enter into a contract?

Answer 1

An infant has no capability to understand a contract, much less an ability to sign one. You must be considered an adult to sign a contract and be held responsible for it. In most cases, this means you must be at least 18 to enter into an agreement, including renting cars and hotel rooms.

Answer 2

It depends how old the minor is and in what country. In most states/countries the purpose of the law is to determine whether the child is at the stage where he/she understands what they are entering into.

A similar example is entering into a verban contract with a person suffering from mental health problems. If the person is unable to understand or forsee the consequences of their actions, and are not of sound mind, then No, the agreement would be void.

Answer 3

INDIA

Under Sec. 3 of the Indian Majority Act, 1875, a minor is a person "who has not completed the age of 18 years". If a guardian is appointed by a Court of Law before he attains the age of 18 years of age, then the minor continues to be a minor until he completes the age of 21 years.

Section 11 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 prescribes that "a minor is not competent to contract and therefore, all contracts entered into by a minor, except those for necessaries of life supplied to him and to his dependents, are void ab initio (= from the beginning) and are therefore unenforceable in a Court of Law. In the MOhiri Bibi Vs. Dharmadas Ghosh, it was held, " A contract by a minor is no contract at all"

In view of this, any contract entered into with a minor is void and it cannot be ratified by the minor on his attaining majority. Hence it is better not to enter into any contract with a minor.

UNITED STATES

Generally speaking a minor cannot enter into a legally binding contract. However, contracts and minors is a complicated topic.
Although some minors do enter into contracts with adults, most contracts cannot be enforced against minors. They are voidable, at the request of the minor. For that reason, most people are hesitant to enter into a contract with a minor. However, the minor can enter a contract, can choose not to void it, and can enforce it against the other party. On the other hand, the minor can do some action after reaching eighteen years of age such as making payments on a car purchased at seventeen, and thereby ratify a contract entered at seventeen, making it enforceable.
In most states, someone is a minor if he or she is under 18, though there may be variations. Therefore, if a minor signs a contract but later wants to get out of it, he or she can usually do so. For this reason, it is a good idea to have the minor's parents sign the agreement if you don't want it voided in the future. The most common justification for the rule is to protect minors from assuming obligations which they are not capable of understanding. It is obvious to see that this will lead to harsh results, so some general exceptions have been created such as sports and entertainment contracts.