---
title: O.C.G.A. § 13-3-20. Minors — Contracts for property or valuable consideration; contracts for necessaries.
collection: code
id: 13-3-20
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 13-3-20 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/13-3-20
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/13-3-20.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/13-3-20/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t13-(v11)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=43f4ef39_0#page=47
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CONTRACTS / ELEMENTS AND FORMATION GENERALLY / CAPACITY OF PARTIES
---

# O.C.G.A. § 13-3-20. Minors — Contracts for property or valuable consideration; contracts for necessaries.

(a) Generally the contract of a minor is voidable. If in a contractual transaction a minor receives property or other valuable consideration and, after arrival at the age of 18, retains possession of such property or continues to enjoy the benefit of such other valuable consideration, the minor shall have thereby ratified or affirmed the contract and it shall be binding on him or her. Such contractual transaction shall also be binding upon any minor who becomes emancipated by operation of law or pursuant to Article 10 of Chapter 11 of Title 15.

(b) The contract of a minor for necessaries shall be binding on the minor as if the minor were 18 years of age except that the party furnishing them to the minor shall prove that the parent or guardian of such minor had failed or refused to supply sufficient necessaries for the minor, that the minor was emancipated by operation of law, or the minor was emancipated pursuant to Article 10 of Chapter 11 of Title 15.

## History

Ga. L. 1858, p. 58, § 1; Code 1863, §§ 2691, 2693; Code 1868, §§ 2687, 2689; Code 1873, §§ 2729, 2731; Code 1882, §§ 2729, 2731; Civil Code 1895, §§ 3647, 3648; Civil Code 1910, §§ 4232, 4233; Code 1933, § 20-201; Ga. L. 1966, p. 291, § 1; Ga. L. 1969, p. 640, § 1; Ga. L. 1972, p. 193, § 2; Ga. L. 2006, p. 141, § 3/HB 847; Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 4-3/HB 242.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 5-1/HB 242, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2014, and shall apply to all offenses which occur and juvenile proceedings commenced on and after such date. Any offense occurring before January 1, 2014, shall be governed by the statute in effect at the time of such offense and shall be considered a prior adjudication for the purpose of imposing a disposition that provides for a different penalty for subsequent adjudications, of whatever class, pursuant to this Act. The enactment of this Act shall not affect any prosecutions for acts occurring before January 1, 2014, and shall not act as an abatement of any such prosecutions.”

## Amendments

The 2013 amendment, effective January 1, 2014, substituted “Article 10” for “Article 6” in the last sentence of subsection (a) and near the end of subsection (b). See Editor’s notes for applicability.