Signing on Behalf of a Minor

Question

Background: I want to sign an NDA, however, I am a minor. As a member of the Disclosing Party, there are clauses within the NDA that state that "any files written with names developed by the Disclosing Party (myself) are the sole property of the Disclosing Party." However, there is a clause which states that by signing I understand the terms and conditions of the agreement.

QUESTION: Would a parent or guardian be able to sign on my part, so long that there is a disclaimer in the NDA stating that the signature of a parent/guardian has ensured that I understand the provisions? This should be something that can stand up in most courts.

The solution of using a parent signature must be able to make certain that I can hold onto the provisions listed above that allow for me to keep ownership of my files and the content that I share out (this content is, of course, my creative property).

Answer 1

Minors can enter contracts

You seem to be labouring under the impression that they can't. They generally don't need the permission of their guardian to do so.

The issue is, that most contracts with minors are voidable by the minor. That is, the minor can enforce it against the other party(s) but they cannot enforce it against the minor. This is true even if someone else signs on the minor’s behalf.

However, for your situation, this doesn't seem to be a problem. a) in the absence of the NDA you own your IP anyway and b) you would have to choose to cancel the NDA - as someone disclosing the confidential information your obligations happen up front and are not ongoing - why would you void it?

Answer 2

Difficult. The problem for the company is that as a minor, even though your guardian is signing the NDA, you might not figure out that you shouldn't disclose anything.

The reason why people make you sign an NDA is not that they want to be able to sue you if you are in breach of the NDA, the reason is that they don't want you to disclose anything in the first place. And with a minor, they don't get that guarantee. So even if the NDA would stand up in court (and could bankrupt your parents), that's not guaranteed to stop you.