Lisa is walking down the street in January when she notices a young man named Denny

Facts:

Lisa is walking down the street in January when she notices a young man named Denny. Denny looks a little worse for wear, so Lisa offers to buy him lunch. As they are talking, Denny says to Lisa: “I’m in a pretty rough spot. I don’t have any money right now. But I promise to pay you $450 if you give me that coat you are carrying and some food (that sum represents the reasonable value of those items). Lisa responds: “How old are you?” Denny states that he is 20. However, this is a lie. Denny is actually 16. Lisa looks him over one more time, and she agrees to the exchange.
Before they leave, Denny says, “Actually, I will promise to give you another $50 if you let me borrow your bike.”
Lisa writes down all of these promises into a contract. Both parties sign the contract, and they go to the bank and have it notarized.
A week later Denny trashes the bike, and he tells Lisa that he is not going to pay. Lisa sues Denny in court for breach of contract, and she learns that he is only 16.

Issue:

What is likely to happen in the court case? 

Analysis:

In order to form a legally binding contract the general elements of a contract must be present, i.e. there must have been an offer, acceptance and intention to form a legally binding contract. If any of the elements of the contract are not fulfilled then the contact will not be binding on the parties.

Law presumes that the parties who are entering in the contact must be competent person i.e. the persons entering in the contact should have attained the age of majority and should be mentally fit. If the person is not a competent person then the contract entered by he or she will not be considered as binding and parties in the contract cannot be sued.

Contract will be void if entered with any of the below stated parties:

Minor

People who are diagnosed as mentally insane

People whose judgment has been impaired by being very drunk or drugged

Reason for the above exemption is that above persons don’t have knowledge to understand the implication of the contract.

In the present case, the contract is entered between a major and minor hence the contract will not be binding on the parties and person entering into the contract cannot sue the minor party in court because the contract all together is void if entered with the minor.

In the court case, the decision will be in the favor of minor because he is not competent person to contract neither his or her guardian will be liable to dispose of the liability.