You ask, we answer! The editorial team of Euro am Sonntag answers reader questions on legal, financial and insurance topics. By Anja Mayriedl, Euro on Sunday
Which financial transactions are minors allowed to conduct and which are not?
Euro on Sunday: Between the seventh and eighteenth birthday one has limited legal capacity. Most financial transactions are therefore pending ineffective and only take effect once the parents agree.
There are exceptions, however. If minors pay with pocket money or with money that has been made freely available to them, no subsequent consent is required – if three conditions are met: Payment is not made by credit card or in installments, and only one-time costs are incurred. In principle, young people are allowed to buy a smartphone, but not sign a mobile phone contract.
The amount of the costs does not matter at first. The theoretical extreme case is the 17-year-old son of a multimillionaire with correspondingly high pocket money, who can buy a car for supervised driving. Caution: If the parents have told their child in advance what they cannot spend money on and they do so anyway, the contract is again ineffective.
Banking transactions are also possible via a so-called youth account or student account, which works on a credit basis. Both parents must agree to open an account. You can also determine the type of transactions, for example whether transfers are allowed or not. You can change or revoke this at any time. Here, too, no mobile phone contracts or subscriptions may be concluded. Loans to teenagers are also prohibited – unless both parents and a family court (department of the local court) agree.
Basically: Parental consent is unnecessary if a money transaction does not result in any legal disadvantage. Example: If a minor receives money as a gift, although the parents do not want it, they cannot say anything about it. It is different when the gift is tied to a condition. For example, when the grandmother demands that her grandson visit her regularly in return for a generous Christmas present.
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