Legal advice for fitness contracts


Questioner

In 2015, my son took out a one-year subscription to Avalon fitness center and gave him my bank account number as a parent. However, when he did this he was a minor and I never signed this contract. I never paid that bill either and he never used the fitness center. Now he recently turned 18 on October 19 (2016) and he is summoned by 'Op Maat' collection agency to pay the outstanding amount increased by 40 euros, a total of 298.40 euros within 5 days. Two questions: Can a fitness center enter into a contract with a minor without parental consent and is this valid? Is my son now obliged to pay this bill now that he is 18 years old, even though he has never used the centre? Thank you in advance for your answer.

Lawyer

Yes, that is allowed if consent is deemed to be present and that is the case with socially customary legal acts that are normal for the age of the child. For example, a 12-year-old child goes to the cinema independently, your son takes out a sports subscription at the age of 17. You can try to annul the legal act because consent was subsequently lacking, but the law in principle protects the other party unless the other party's terms and conditions state something about asking explicit consent from parents with a signature. If the legal transaction is valid, your son must pay the consideration even if he has not used the subscription.

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