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Making agreements in your own name

The idea: children should be able to make contracts in their own name and ask for those agreements to be respected.

A contract is an agreement that creates promises the law can require people to keep. It might cover buying something or being paid for work.

This is a proposal for change, not a description of today’s contract laws. Under the proposal, age alone would not make a child’s agreement invalid or give an adult the power to decide instead.

What would a fair agreement need?​

  • Clear terms: explain the price, each person’s promises, how long the agreement lasts, how to cancel, and what happens if someone breaks a promise.
  • A real choice: parents could not force a child to sign or make the agreement for them simply because they are parents.
  • Your own authority: an adult’s signature would not automatically be required. An adviser could help without having to sign too or control your account.
  • A way to act: children could ask for payment, a refund, or another promise to be fulfilled, and bring a dispute themselves.
  • A way to challenge harm: children could challenge threats, tricks, or unfair use of their situation without permission from the person responsible.

A short record before signing​

Both sides could confirm the same simple summary:

  1. What does each person promise to do?
  2. What does each person receive?
  3. How can either person end the agreement?

For example: “I will draw a poster by Friday. You will pay me €10 when I deliver it.” Both sides would also agree on cancellation rules before signing.

This record would help show what terms were explained. It would not, by itself, prove that someone understood everything or freely agreed.

Different agreements need different protections​

Buying a notebook is different from taking on years of debt or promising to pay someone else’s debt. Protections should address the risks of the agreement. Age alone would not be enough to deny someone the right to make it.

Questions still to answer​

  • How would children get promises enforced and disputes heard?
  • What should happen when someone was tricked or forced into agreeing?
  • When could an agreement be cancelled or ended?
  • What extra protections should apply to major money commitments or agreements affecting basic rights?

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