1 Name of Act and commencement
(1) This Act may be cited as the Minors (Property and Contracts) Act 1970.(2) Subject to subsection (3), this Act shall commence on a day to be appointed by the Governor and notified by proclamation published in the Gazette, being a day not earlier than six months after the day on which Her Majesty’s assent to this Act was signified.(3) If on the anniversary of the day on which Her Majesty’s assent to this Act is signified a day has not been appointed under subsection (2), this Act shall, notwithstanding that subsection, commence on that anniversary.
(1) (Repealed)(2) An amendment made by subsection (1) does not:(a) affect the previous operation of the Act amended, or anything duly suffered, done, or commenced to be done under the Act amended,(b) affect any right, privilege, obligation, or liability acquired, accrued, or incurred under the Act amended, or(c) affect any investigation, legal proceeding, or remedy in respect of any such right, privilege, obligation, or liability as aforesaid.(3) Any investigation, legal proceeding, or remedy mentioned in paragraph (c) of subsection (2) may be instituted, continued or enforced as if this Act had not been passed.(4) Notwithstanding the amendments made by subsection (1):(a) the law in force immediately before the commencement of this Act and relating to testamentary capacity and to the form of wills continues to apply to a will made before the commencement of this Act,(b) the law in force immediately before the commencement of this Act and relating to the revocation of wills continues to apply to a revocation before commencement of this Act.(5) The amendments made by subsection (1) to Part 4 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1898 apply to and in respect of proceedings in the Supreme Court under that Part commenced after the commencement of this Act and to and in respect of a lease made under section 68 of that Act after the commencement of this Act.(6) The amendments made by subsection (1) to Part 5 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1898 apply to and in respect of a surrender or renewal made after the commencement of this Act.(7) The amendments made by subsection (1) to the Usury, Bills of Lading, and Written Memoranda Act 1902 do not apply to a promise or ratification made before the commencement of this Act.
(1) This Act (except subsection (1) of section 3) does not affect the operation of the provisions relating to age in the enactments specified in the Second Schedule.(2) This Act does not affect any power or authority which any person would have if this Act had not been passed, to give consent or to acquiesce in relation to a person under the age of twenty-one years where, under any law of the Commonwealth, such consent or acquiescence is required or permitted.
This Act binds the Crown not only in right of New South Wales but also, so far as the legislative power of Parliament permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.
(1) In this Act, unless the context or subject matter otherwise indicates or requires:Civil act means:
(a) a contract,(b) an election to rescind or determine a contract for fraud, mistake, breach or otherwise,(c) a disposition of property,(d) a disclaimer,(e) an acknowledgment of receipt of property,(f) a discharge or acquittance,(g) an exercise of a power under a contract or under a settlement, will or other instrument,(h) an assent or consent to, acquiescence in, or acknowledgment or waiver of, any matter by a person affecting the person’s rights or obligations under a contract or relating to property,(i) a release of any cause of action,(j) a grant of any leave or licence,(k) an election in relation to rights under a will or other instrument, or in relation to conversion as between realty and personalty, or(l) an act done:(i) in relation to the formation,(ii) in relation to becoming or ceasing to be a member or officer, or(iii) as a member or officer:of a partnership, or of an association, company or society, whether a corporation or not,(m) without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any act relating to contractual or proprietary rights or obligations or to any chose in action:whether having effect at law or in equity.Disposition of property includes:
(a) a conveyance, transfer, assignment, appointment, settlement, mortgage, delivery, payment, lease, bailment, reconveyance or discharge of mortgage,(b) the creation of a trust,(c) the release or surrender of any property, and(d) the grant of a power in respect of property:whether having effect at law or in equity.Minor means a person under the age of 18 years; and minority has a corresponding meaning.
Minor participant, in relation to a civil act, means a person who, while the person is a minor, participates in the civil act.
Party, in relation to a civil act, includes a person who does, makes, accepts, suffers or joins in the civil act; and participate and participant have corresponding meanings.
Property includes real and personal property and any estate or interest in property real or personal, and money, and any debt, and any cause of action for damages (including damages for personal injury), and any other chose in action, and any other right or interest.
(2) The making of a will, whether in exercise of a power of appointment or otherwise, or the revocation of a will, is not a civil act and is not a disposition of property for the purposes of this Act.(3) Where a person participates in a civil act while a minor and by this Act the civil act is or becomes presumptively binding on the person:(a) the civil act is, at and after the time of the person’s participation, as binding on the person and the person’s personal representative and has effect as if the person were not under the disability of infancy at the time of the person’s participation, and(b) except where other provision is made by this Act, the civil act is binding and has effect as mentioned in paragraph (a) in favour of all persons.
7 This and other Acts cumulative
(1) Where, under any Act, a civil act in which a person participates while under the age of twenty-one years is given any force or effect, that force or effect is not vitiated or diminished by anything in Part 2 or Part 3.(2) Where, under any provision in Part 2 or Part 3, a civil act in which a person participates while under the age of twenty-one years is given any force or effect, that force or effect is not vitiated or diminished by anything in any other Act.