Suing Minors For Damaged Property & Bodily Injury

This is a good question by an anonymous reader of this blog concerning whether a minor could be legally liable for causing damage to property or bodily injury.

Contract 

Under contract law, it is very difficult to succeed when you sue a minor for breach of contract because minors can disavow any contract they sign as long as they do it before they turn 18. The only exception is if the contract was for a necessity of life - e.g, food, clothing, shelter - in which case the minor's parents are most probably responsible. Therefore, minors cannot be sued nor can they sue, unless they are represented by a guardian.

However, you can sue emancipated minors (people under 18 who are legally treated as adults). This includes minors who are on active duty in the armed services, are married, or have been freed from parental control by court order.

Tort

Although it is legal to sue a minor for damaging your property or causing you bodily injury, it is rarely worthwhile because the minor might not realize the wrong he has committed due to incapacity of reasoning and, even if the minor is already old enough to understand his wrongdoing, he is not able to pay for damages on his own as most minors have no money. Therefore, he is not able to pay for judgments when sued in court.

Normally, the minor's parents or guardians can be approached for conciliation, especially if the damage done was clearly accidental. However, if negotiation with the minor's parents or guardian has not been successful, you can consider suing the parents or guardian for negligence - that is, if you can prove that they have failed in exercising parental control over their children. For example, if the parents trusted their child with something dangerous such as a chain-saw or a vehicle, then they have failed to exercise the control expected of a parent, given the child's age.

Personal Injury

Personal injury or bodily injury cases against a minor as defendant is uncommonly heard of.  If the defendant is a minor, there is a huge possibility that the court will ask the parties to consider all possible civil remedies before pursuing the personal injury claims. The majority of personal injury cases end up with settlement agreements between the claimant and the minor's parents.

If the plaintiff insists on filing a personal injury claim against the minor, they can try proving the liability of the parent for the negligent act of their child. Traditionally, the parents will have immunity over the acts committed by their children.

In common law, parents are only liable for the act of their child when at the time of the tort, the child is under the direct supervision and control of the parent. In such cases, the complainant can file negligence on the part of the parent and not on the child. Parents may also be held liable, if the injury caused by the child had previously been committed and the parents failed or still allowed it to happen again. In these cases, the court can order the child’s parent to pay for the injury caused by the child.

On the other hand if the injury is caused by ordinary negligence such as accidental tripping or pushing while playing, the parent or the child will not be liable for the injury. The court usually accepts the fact that these acts are normal behaviours for children.

I hope the answer I provided to the above question is helpful. However, if any readers wish to add their views on this topic and help Anonymous with his/her question, you are welcome to do so. As they say, sharing is caring =)