Handelingsonbevoegd
Lacking capacity to perform legal acts
Incapacity to act means that a person may not independently perform legal acts, for example due to minority or curatorship.
Legal incapacity arises when a person is, by law, unable to perform binding legal acts. This applies, inter alia, to minors and persons placed under curatorship.
The provision protects vulnerable persons against ill-considered or detrimental decisions and ensures that legal acts are validly concluded. Without legal capacity, contracts are in principle voidable.
In practice, legal incapacity often plays a role in contracts, gifts and procedural acts. Lawyers therefore always verify whether the counterparty has legal capacity before concluding a transaction.
“Because the client had been placed under curatorship, he lacked legal capacity and could not conclude a valid lease agreement without the curator’s consent.”
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