Age of Majority Act, 1985
|
Reduction of age of majority. |
2.—(1) Where a person has not attained the age of twenty-one years prior to the commencement of this Act, he shall, subject to section 4 , attain full age— | |
(a) on such commencement if he has attained the age of eighteen years or is or has been married, or | ||
(b) after such commencement when he attains the age of eighteen years or, in case he marries before attaining that age, upon his marriage. | ||
(2) Subsection (1) applies for the purposes of any rule of law and, in the absence of a definition or of any indication of a contrary intention, for the construction of “age of majority”, “full age”, “infancy”, “infant”, “minor”, “minority” and of other cognate words and expressions in— | ||
(a) any statutory provision passed or made before, on or after the commencement of this Act, and | ||
(b) any deed, will, court order or other instrument (not being a statutory provision) made on or after such commencement. | ||
(3) Where there is, in any statutory provision passed or made before the commencement of this Act, a reference to the age of twenty-one years, such provision shall, subject to subsection (4), be construed and have effect as if the reference therein were a reference to full age. | ||
(4) (a) This section does not affect the construction of any reference to the age of twenty-one years, or of any word or expression to which subsection (2) relates, in any statutory provision to which this subsection applies. | ||
(b) This subsection applies to— | ||
(i) the Marriages (Ireland) Act, 1844, | ||
(ii) the Marriage Law (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1863 , | ||
(iii) the Matrimonial Causes and Marriage Law (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1870 , | ||
(iv) the Marriages Act, 1972 , | ||
(v) the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1976, | ||
(vi) the Social Welfare Acts, 1981 to 1984, | ||
(vii) the Income Tax Acts and any other statutory provision dealing with the imposition, repeal, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax or other duty under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners, | ||
(viii) any provision of the Illegitimate Children (Affiliation Orders) Act, 1930 , the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964 , or the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 , that provides for payments to be made for maintenance or support of children up to the age of twenty-one years, | ||
(ix) any statutory provision that provides for the payment of a pension or other allowance for children up to the age of twenty-one years, and | ||
(x) any statutory provision relating to prisons, to Saint Patrick's Institution or to any other place for the custody of persons. |