Change to the age of majority: general impact and some consequences for the interpretation of wills
| dc.contributor.author | Faber, James Thomas | |
| dc.contributor.author | Janse van Vuren, Louis Theunis | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-08-21T14:00:00Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-08-21T14:00:00Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2009 | |
| dc.description.abstract | On 1 July 2008, the age at which a person attains majority was lowered from 21 years to 18 years. Section 17 of the ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏโ๐ด ๐๐ค๐ต stipulates that: โA child, whether male or female, becomes a major upon reaching the age of 18 years.โ This change is consistent with the Constitution,ยน which defines a child as a person under the age of 18 years.ยฒ The department of social development motivated this change as follows: ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ 18 ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ 21 ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏโ๐ด ๐๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง 2005 ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด [๐ช๐ต] ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ 28(3) ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ 18, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต, ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ 18 ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต.ยณ The obvious consequence of this change is that 18-year-olds will now be able to enter into contracts, get married, vote and/or even emigrate without their parentsโ permission. However, this change is not without shortcomings. Young adolescents between 18 and 21 years of age are thereby deprived of the protection afforded to them by law,โโด while there are still limitations based on age excluding them from certain juristic acts.โต This change also created discrepancies in the South African legal system regarding age as a factor influencing a personโs status. In terms of a โspecial trustโ, an 18-year-old is afforded protection because of his age, but in terms of a โbewind trustโ, that same 18-year-old has the capacity to terminate the โprotectionโ created for him, on the basis of his newly acquired majority status.โถ Such contradictions affect legislation and cause legal uncertainty. Some of the consequences relevant to the law of succession and the administration of estates will be discussed in this article. | |
| dc.description.version | Publisher's version | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Faber, J. T., & Janse van Vuren, L. T. (2009). Change to the age of majority: general impact and some consequences for the interpretation of wills. Journal for Juridical Science, 34(2), 133-141. https://doi.org/10.38140/jjs.v34i2.2997 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 0258-252X (print) | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2415-0517 (online) | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.38140/jjs.v34i2.2997 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11660/12756 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of the Free State | |
| dc.rights.holder | Author(s) | |
| dc.rights.license | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.title | Change to the age of majority: general impact and some consequences for the interpretation of wills | |
| dc.type | Article |
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