Parental civil liability flows from the parent-child relationship. Parents supervise and otherwise provide control or direction to their minor children. Parental civil liability is a form of vicarious liability.
Most states in the United States have some sort of Parental Responsibility Law that might hold parents or legal guardians responsible for property damage, personal injury, theft, shoplifting, and vandalism resulting from intentional or willful acts of their un-emancipated children.
The liability established is statutory in nature and is different from common law liability.
Statutory liability may come with certain conditions which limit said parental liability to a certain monetary amount.
Parental responsibility statutes do not abrogate or affect common law liability parents might have for failure to prevent children with dangerous propensities from committing foreseeable acts and damages.
Most parental liability statutes state specific ages or age range applicable to the statute. The age of majority in most of the U.S. is 18 years, but there are a few exceptions, such as Mississippi which is twenty-one years and Nebraska which is nineteen years.
In Maryland, if a child is the defendant, the court may order the child, the child’s parent, or both to pay restitution in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each child’s acts arising out of a single incident. [Code, Criminal Procedure § 11-604].
Generally, it is advisable to maintain reasonable control of your children at all times to avoid said liability.
Asukwo Mendie Archibong Esq
About the Author
Archibong Esq is a US Attorney with extensive experience in Civil Litigation. He has a background in Biochemistry and Information Technology. He has a Master of Laws degree in Intellectual Property. For more info on legal matters you may write to him at mendie@archibonglaw.com
