Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A natural person who has not reached the age of majority. An infant lacks full legal capacity to incur contractual duties, so agreements are voidable at the infant's election. The legal representative of an infant is deemed a citizen only of the same state as the infant for purposes of diversity jurisdiction.
Ines Ibarra, an infant domiciled in State X since birth, suffers injuries at a local hospital. Her uncle Igor Ito, a citizen of State Y, obtains appointment as guardian ad litem in State X court and files a malpractice action exceeding $75,000 in federal court against the State X hospital. The court deems Igor a citizen of State X under the governing statute, so complete diversity is absent and the case is dismissed.
Ian Iverson, age sixteen and living at home, signs a four-month lease for specialized power tools required for his part-time construction job. He uses the tools under supervision, makes two payments from wages, then returns them and seeks to disaffirm. Because Ian is an infant, the lease is voidable at his option and the company cannot enforce continued payments.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Isaiah Ishikawa dies intestate, leaving a child born outside marriage. The child's mother petitions for workers' compensation benefits on the infant's behalf. The court holds that denying benefits to the infant based solely on the parents' marital status violates equal protection, allowing the infant to recover.
A state statute prohibits abortion after quickening except to preserve the mother's life. A physician challenges the law after performing a procedure on a patient carrying a viable fetus. The court examines whether the statute adequately protects the infant's potential life while respecting the mother's rights.
Ismael Ibrahim, an infant, is named as a defendant in a tort suit. The plaintiff serves process by leaving copies at the family home with the infant's mother. The defendant moves to dismiss, arguing that service failed to comply with the federal rule requiring personal delivery or suitable substitute service for an infant.
Ines Ibarra's grandmother takes the infant into her home after the mother's death to provide daily care. City housing inspectors cite the grandmother for violating a single-family zoning ordinance that limits unrelated occupants. The court considers whether the ordinance unconstitutionally burdens the grandmother's right to maintain the household for the infant.
An infant may disaffirm any contract at any time before reaching majority or within a reasonable time after. Disaffirmance restores the parties as nearly as possible to their pre-contract positions, as illustrated when a minor returns goods and recovers payments made.
Supporting sources
No. Even when a lease or agreement is tied to lawful employment, the infant's status controls and the contract remains voidable absent parental consent or court approval. The protective policy of the infancy doctrine prevails over transaction-specific necessity.
Supporting sources
The statute deems the legal representative a citizen only of the infant's state. This prevents manufactured diversity and requires complete diversity to be measured by the infant's domicile rather than the representative's actual citizenship.
Supporting sources
Voidability turns on whether the infant lacked capacity at signing. Evidence of orientation and active participation may support enforcement, but the infant's minority alone supplies an independent ground for disaffirmance.
Supporting sources
…& 25 Vict., c. 100, § 59, that formed the core of English anti-abortion law until the liberalizing reforms of 1967. In 1929, the Infant Life (Preservation) Act, 19 & 20 Geo. 5, c. 34, came into being. Its emphasis was upon the destruction of "the life of a child capable of being born alive." It made a willful act performed…