Concept and duration
The legal capacity of a natural person is the ability of an individual to have civil rights and obligations granted by law. Legal capacity defines the legal status of a person and represents the possibility of being a subject of the rights and obligations provided for by legal regulations. The fact that a person has legal capacity does not mean that they already possess specific rights and obligations. Specific civil rights and obligations are acquired by a legally capable individual when certain legal facts occur, such as contracts, administrative acts, other actions, or events.
For example, a person whose health has been harmed acquires the right to demand compensation for the damage from the person responsible.
Thus, legal capacity is a prerequisite for the emergence of specific subjective rights.
In the Republic of Lithuania, the civil legal capacity of a natural person arises at the moment of birth and ceases at the moment of death. The moment of birth is recognized as the newborn’s first independent breath. If it cannot be determined whether the child was born alive, it is presumed that the child was born alive. The birth of a natural person marks the beginning of their legal capacity; therefore, the child’s birth moment is recorded in medical documentation with calendar date and local time accurate to the minute. A conceived but unborn child is not recognized as having legal capacity; however, the law protects their rights as a potential heir. The moment of death of a natural person is recognized as the irreversible cessation of blood circulation and breathing, or the complete and irreversible cessation of all brain functions.
All natural persons have equal legal capacity. They may own property as private ownership, engage in economic or commercial activities, establish companies or other legal entities, inherit property and dispose of it by will, choose their type of activity and place of residence, enter into transactions not prohibited by law, hold authorship rights to works, inventions, and industrial designs, as well as other property and non-property personal rights protected by civil legislation.
Natural persons who, in accordance with the law, engage in economic or commercial activities in the Republic of Lithuania are considered entrepreneurs. Every person engaged in business or professional activity is required to manage their property and all matters related to their business or profession, as well as to store documents and other information concerning their property, business, or professional activity in such a manner that any person with a legitimate legal interest can, at any time, obtain comprehensive information about their property rights and obligations.
Foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Republic of Lithuania have the same civil legal capacity as citizens of the Republic of Lithuania.