Parents' Liability for the Negligence of a Minor Child
Posted on Sep 8, 2017 11:57am PDT
Several states allow for a parent to be liable for the acts of his or her
child or children. Massachusetts is one of these states. Massachusetts
permits recovery via a “willful act” statute and under common
law principles of liability, as discussed below.
In Massachusetts, the “willful act” statute applies if a child
is over the age of seven and under the age of eighteen. The statute permits
recovery against a parent if a child of the parent commits a “willful”
act. The act by the minor child must result in injury or death to another
person or damage to another’s property. This rule of law does not
apply if the parent does not have legal custody of the child at the time
that the act occurred. Massachusetts also caps the amount of possible
economic-based recovery against the parents of the child at $5,000. Non-economic
recovery is likely not permitted under this statute.
The statute requires that the child’s act must be “willful,”
which means that the act must have been specifically intended by the child.
The act would not include an accidental motor vehicle incident, for example.
Possible examples of these types of acts could include a child’s
shoplifting or a child committing an act of vandalism.
A parent could also be liable for the negligence of a minor child in Massachusetts
under common law principles of liability. One court held:
“A parent has a duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent his minor
child from intentionally or negligently inflicting harm on others, where
the parent knows or should know of the child’s propensity for a
particular type of harmful conduct and has the opportunity to take reasonable
corrective measures.”[1]
The child must be a minor child.[2] The propensity for a particular type of harmful conduct must a dangerous
tendency. This dangerous tendency should be more than a couple of incidents,
so as to provide notice to the parent that the child has a tendency toward
the specific behavior.[3] Also, the way in which a parent responds to a child’s dangerous
behavior may impact a case. If a parent does nothing to restrain ill behavior
by the child, the parent could be liable if that same behavior is rooted
in the negligence. For example, if child is negligent with a motor vehicle
and the parent does nothing to prevent the child from either using the
motor vehicle or engaging in ill behavior with the motor vehicle, the
parent may be liable under this common law principle of liability.
Massachusetts courts are cautioned to impose a broad sweep of liability
on parents. Massachusetts courts do not want to “go far toward exposing
parents to liability for torts of their children solely because of their
parenthood.”[4]
Personal injury cases are often fact dependent and complex. They require
an astute legal professional to handle the matter in a technical fashion.
If you have any questions about personal injury matters, call us for a
free consultation at 617-657-HURT (4878) or fill out our
contact form here.
[1]
Alioto v.Marnell, 402 Mass. 36, 38 (1988) (citing to Caldwell v. Zaher, 344 Mass. 590, 592 (1962))
[2]
Alioto, 402 Mass. at 38.
[3]
DePasquale v. Dello Russo, 349 Mass. 655, 659 (1965)
[4]
Id. (See,
Smith v. Jordan, 211 Mass. 269 (1912);
McGowan v.Longwood, 242 Mass. 337 (1922))