adult

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Adult

A person who has reached the age of majority. This age is usually 18, but may be 17 in criminal cases or 21 in other cases. An adult is legally permitted to enter a contract, do business, or conduct any other activity without permission or countersignature by a parent or guardian

adult

One who has gained the age of majority, usually 18 or 21 depending on the state. Sometimes, younger people can take legal steps to remove the “disabilities of nonage,” after which they will be treated as legal adults even though under the requisite age. Only adults have the legal capacity to enter into contracts or sell property. Minors may own real estate, but, because of the inability to enter contracts, they cannot effectively manage it, obtain a mortgage, or sell the property. If such actions should prove necessary, the child's legal guardian will usually have to ask a court for permission for the proposed action.The court will then appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the child's interests, in case the guardian has a conflict of interest or clouded judgment.

References in periodicals archive ?

Young adults either do or don't believe in that Real Presence.

Unexcused absence

28-29: Workshop: Treating trauma based anxiety; SafeGuards Training for Children and Adult Services; Kingston ON; 905-889-5030

Calendar Canada

The mean Negative Perception score for the adult sample was 30.

Dental fear: comparisons between younger and older adults

In highlighting the differences between older men and women, it is also important to keep in mind that most older adults survive the loss of a spouse and adapt in a healthy manner (Hoyer & Roodin, 2003).

Principles of clinical practice with older men

One theorist maintains that "adult-learning programs should capitalize on the experiences of participants while challenging adults to move to increasingly advanced stages of personal development .

Nontraditional training systems: realizing the effectiveness of an agency's most valuable resource

As one teacher bluntly noted, "Until adult attitudes change, kids never will.

Six factors inhibiting the use of peer mediation in a junior high school

Teaching adult students to use computerized resources: utilizing Lawler's keys to adult learning to make instruction more effective.

Information competency for adult reentry students

The other big losers in the recession have been adult content publishers and videogaphers.

Sexy and smart: one sector that won't be left behind: Japan's massive sex industry has shifted from bricks-and-mortar deflation to Internet elation

These changes might manifest in adult life and perhaps only after a second exposure to related environmental chemicals.

The fetal basis of adult disease: role of the environment

The conditions sound particularly harsh there, but with so many states in the last ten years having changed their laws to allow more young people to be sent to the adult system, we're seeing a significantly increased number of kids sent to adult jails and prisons across the country.

Kids in the hole

An estimated 18% of pediatric hospital patients, 72% of adult hospital patients, and 95% of adults with invasive pneumococcal disease are seropositive for HIV in Blantyre, Malawi (12).

Poor potential coverage for 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Malawi. (Dispatches)