I think marriage may have made a difference for a minor. I have an ancestor in South Carolina who was 18 (according to Bible records) when he got married. His father deeded him 200 acres of land within a week of the marriage. I expect that marriage "emancipated" a minor of either sex. Mildred "Mickey" Fournier PO Box 1967, Lake City, FL 32056 mailto:MFournier@atlantic.net
One must be careful in this area of genealogical problems. Anyone - anyone - can execute a deed to anyone else for land or other property, even to the Almighty or to the Devil. The questions arise, NOT when the minor receives the land and such a deed for it, but when he/she tries to sell it with good title and is yet underage. As I said, feme sole traders and men under 21 who were by marriage or necessity called upon to act as adults often were recognized as able to do such legal acts by the courts having jurisdiction over them. Without that specific authority, any early buyer with good sense would be very hesitant to accept any deed signed by a minor, since upon coming of age in most jurisdictions, a minor could disavow ANY acts he/she performed or any deeds or contracts made during minority. We must be very careful about generalities. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mickey Fournier" <mfournier@atlantic.net> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 2:39 PM Subject: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] minors owning land > I think marriage may have made a difference for a minor. I have an ancestor > in South Carolina who was 18 (according to Bible records) when he got > married. His father deeded him 200 acres of land within a week of the > marriage. I expect that marriage "emancipated" a minor of either sex. > > Mildred "Mickey" Fournier > PO Box 1967, Lake City, FL 32056 > mailto:MFournier@atlantic.net > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > Hosted by Rootsweb http://www.rootsweb.com > > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com >