YES.
Although a parent can be held liable for the actions of their children it isn't
absolute. In other words, the parents can be held liable only if the parent
"knows", or "should have known" that their child was a destructive little turd
(putting it mildly) and that the maximum the parents would be liable for is
capped at $10,000. Yep, you can be made to fork out up to 10,000 bucks for the
malicious acts of your child. Now, there is no need to chain your kid to his or
her bed and lock them into a room until they turn 18 years old.
You must remember, there are usually exceptions to everything, including law.
Call them "loopholes" or whatever you like, but it is the persons who learn the
exceptions, or who learn the law that can fully utilize law to their advantage.
Many times you educating yourself in law will piss off a judge or a lawyer
because just as with any skill or trade, they want your money.
Why go out and pay someone to change the oil in your car when you read a
book, or otherwise learned how to do it yourself? And furthermore, that old Abe
Lincoln proverb that "a man who represents himself in court has a fool for a
lawyer" is totally bogus. Trust me, the lawyers as well as the lawyer/judges do
not want you to know the law because if you know things then you will not have
to pay them to tell you things. It's really that simple folks.
Then again, as with anything else. Even though you may know how to change
your oil in your car, you may not know how to rebuild an engine. With that said,
naturally you would want a person trained in automobile repair to rebuild your
car engine for you. But as for the ka-zillion smaller problems, hey, go do them
yourself because that is what learning to do something is. You LEARN to do
things for yourself. It really is a very simple concept.
The Liability of Parent or Guardian for Acts of Juveniles statute provides the
following:
37-10-101. Recovery for injury or damage by juvenile.--Any municipal
corporation, county, town, village, school district or department of this state,
or any person, or any religious organization, whether incorporated or
unincorporated, shall be entitled to recover damages in an action in assumpsit
in an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in a court of
competent jurisdiction from the parents or guardian of the person of any minor
under eighteen (18) years of age, living with the parents or guardian
of the person, who maliciously or willfully causes personal injury to such
person or destroys property, real, personal or mixed, belonging to such
municipal corporation, county, township, village, school district or department
of this state or persons or religious organizations.
37-10-102. Limitation on amount of recovery. --The recovery shall be limited to
the actual damages in an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000)
in addition to taxable court costs.
37-10-103. Circumstances under which parent or guardian liable.--
(a) A parent or guardian shall be liable for the tortious activities of a minor
child that cause injuries to persons or property where the parent or guardian
knows, or should know, of the child's tendency to commit wrongful acts which
can be expected to cause injury to persons or property and where the parent or
guardian has an opportunity to control the child but fails to exercise
reasonable means to restrain the tortious conduct.
(b) A parent or guardian shall be presumed to know of a child's tendency to
commit wrongful acts, if the child has previously been charged and found
responsible for such actions.
So there you have it. A parent is indeed liable for the conduct of their minor
children but ONLY when the parent knows, or should know that their child had
a tendency to commit the wrongful acts. If your child has a reputation for
getting into trouble and stuff like that, then a judge may assume that either you
knew your child was a menace or should have known it. Either way your kid
could cost you 10,000 bucks in civil damages.
So to avoid being thrown into a financial ruin all because of "Little Opie"
wanting to act "goofie" and destroy something that belongs to someone else,
just make certain that in your mind "Little Opie" is a good kid...well at least you
thought he was a good kid and can tell the same to a judge with a straight face.
In any event, it may save you upwards of 10,000 bucks in liability money.
