Thank you so much Chaim for the detailed answer to my question, and for being so kind to me.
I will add a specific example. God's punishment of a person may be administered through a Divine decree upon his small children who do not yet possess intellectual maturity, which applies for daughters under the age of 12, and sons under the age of 13. This concept is alluded to by the verse: "A man will die because of his own sins" (Deuteronomy 24:16; see Rashi's explanation there). The wording of the verse means that it only applies after one has become an adult, because a Divine decree may come upon a young child as a punishment to the child's sinful parent (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Weiner and Dr. Schulman, p 162).