Legal Age 101: When Is It Going To Be Legal?

Legal age is an age at which a person becomes entitled under the
law to engage in a particular activity or becomes responsible
for a particular act. 

Those acts and activities include getting married, getting a
license, voting and basically anything that will make you
accountable for your actions. Government sets a legal minimum
age for all these.

So before you head out to town for the supposedly biggest party
of the season (which will probably include one or all of the
following events: bringing your folks' car and getting drunk
like crazy and ending up in Vegas with some random person you're
about to marry) check out the legal ages for all your needs so
you don't end up in juvenile court or jail for that matter.

Here's a list of the most fundamental legal ages.

Legal Age of Candidacy

It is the legal minimum age at which a person can legally
qualify to hold certain elected government offices. In many
cases, it also determines the age at which a person may be
granted ballot access for an election. 

Legal Age of Cconsent 

According to the law, when a person reaches the age of consent,
persons are bound by their words and acts. There are different
ages at which one acquires legal capacity to consent to
marriage, to choose a guardian, to conclude a contract, and the
like. 

For marriage, the age may be higher for males than for females
if the jurisdiction does not guarantee equal rights to men and
women. Age of consent also means the age below which consent of
the female to sexual intercourse is not a defense to a charge of
rape. 

Under common law this age was 10; state statutes in the United
States generally set it between 13 and 18. Basically, legal age
of consent is when you become solely responsible for your own
actions. It's about taking accountability.

Legal Age of Majority In law, the age of majority is the age at
which one acquires the full legal rights of an adult. This
commonly includes things such as the right to vote and the
ability to make contracts. 

Legal Drinking Age Many nations have a legal drinking age, or
the minimum age one must be to drink alcohol. In most countries
this is 16 or 18; in the US it is 21. Some countries distinguish
between drinks with fairly low alcohol-content (such as beer and
wine) and stronger spirit-based drinks.

Legal Marriageable Age It is the age wherein an individual may
decide on his or her own to marry or not. It's different for
most countries and the youngest so far is 16 with parental
consent. 

Legal Minimum Driving Age Minimum driving age refers to the
legal age after which a person can obtain a license to operate a
motor vehicle. The minimum driving age varies between
jurisdictions but is generally between the ages of 14 and 18.

Legal Voting Age The voting age is the minimum legal age at
which a person may vote in a governmental election. That means
carrying out the right to suffrage.

Legal ages were put into law for a reason. Age comes with
education and experience and who would want a reckless, drunk
13-year-old driving down our streets, right?