NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1971 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 1231

HOUSE BILL 1580

 

 

AN ACT TO AMEND THE GENERAL STATUTES TO CHANGE THE MAJORITY AGE FROM 21 YEARS TO 18 YEARS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  The statutes herein listed are amended in the following manner: whenever "twenty-one" appears, it is hereby amended to read "eighteen"; whenever "21" appears it is hereby amended to read "18"; whenever "twenty-first" appears it is hereby amended to read "eighteenth"; whenever "21st" appears it is hereby amended to read "18th".

The statutes as amended or enacted this session are amended as follows: 1-17(1) 1‑371; 1-389; 7A-111; 9-3; 14-7.1; 14-194; 14-198; 14-400; 20-10; 20-48; 31-32; 33-2; 33-25; 33-68(1) and (12); 33-71(d); 33-74(d); 35-44(d); 39-13.2(a); 46-12; 47-115.1(a); 48-2(1); 48‑4(a); 48-8; 48-29(a); 48-36(a), (b) and (c); 55-6; 55A-6; 58-41(1); 58-205.1; 66-11; 66‑49.3(c); 83-8; 85A-4; 85A-11; 90-271; 90-272; 95-86(3)f.; 96-8(6)g.7; 97-2(5); 105-249(a); 105-341(a); 108-24(3); 110-57; 113-48; 113-98; 113-276(c); 115-1; 130-190; 143-300; 160-38; 162-2; 163-55(1); 163-73; 163-78; 163-86; 163-88; 165-18(a), (b) and (c).

The statutes as amended or enacted this session are amended as follows: 134-27; 134-84.7; 134-84.8; 134-86; and 134-108.

Sec. 2.  G.S. 110-16 and the second paragraph of G.S. 110-19 are hereby repealed. G.S. 110-64, as it appears in the 1966 Replacement Volume 3A of the General Statutes, is hereby amended by deleting "18" in the last line and inserting "17" in lieu thereof.

Sec. 3.  For purposes of determining the applicability of the statute of limitations which has been tolled because of minority or for purposes of determining the applicable period of time for disaffirmance of a contract of a minor upon reaching majority, because of a change in applicable law occasioned by enactment of Chapter 585 of the 1971 Session Laws or this act, the following rules shall apply:

(1)        For those persons who were 21 on the effective date of applicable law, limitations shall apply as they would prior to amendment;

(2)        For those persons 18 years of age but not 21 on the effective date of applicable law, any time periods for disaffirmance or application of the statute of limitations shall run from the effective date of Chapter 585 of the 1971 Session Laws, to wit, July 5, 1971.

(3)        For those persons not yet 18, any time periods for disaffirmance or application of the statute of limitations shall run from the person's reaching age 18.

Sec. 4.  The effective date of Chapter 585 of the Session Laws of 1971, entitled "An Act to Amend the General Statutes so as to Lower the Age of Majority in North Carolina to 18 Years of Age" is hereby declared to be July 5, 1971, the date of the certification by the United States Administrator of General Services that the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution had been ratified by the Legislatures of at least three-fourths of the states.

Sec. 5.  This act shall become effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 21st day of July, 1971.