Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Can minors enter and win contests?

Your question doesn't give enough information for an analysis of the supposed "contest" you would be running. Obviously, you're planning to make money at the same time you're giving away gift certificates. If the money you'll be making comes from advertisers or merchants, your contest might be legal. If it is a contest based on skill, that's also a help.

If, on the other hand, you will be receiving money or any other valuable consideration from the contestants, and the contest winners are determined by chance, it is a lottery and illegal unless you are a qualified charity, which I assume you're not.

As to minors vs. adults, the main difference is that minors lack legal capacity to enter into contracts that can be enforced against them. You might want to ask yourself whether any part of the contest arrangement amounts to a contract. Lack of a valid contract might also result, of course, if the subject matter of the contract were an illegal lottery.

In some states that permit gambling, minors are forbidden to participate, and I suppose this also includes the limited legal gambling done in California - horse racing, local-option poker parlors, and perhaps Indian casinos. However, parental consent is insufficient to legalize a minor's participation in gambling. Indeed, "giving consent" might even be considered contributing to the delinquency of the minor.

Finally, if your contest does not involve illegal activity, but does require you to have an enforceable contract, the contract should be with the minor's parent or guardian. Note that technically a minor's contract can be enforced by the minor, but if the minor raises the defense of minority by electing to "disaffirm" the contract, the other party (you) cannot enforce it against the minor. There is an exception for "necessaries" such as food, shelter and clothing, for example, but your contract would not fall within an exception.