Understanding the possible culpability of a parent or legal guardian in Florida for a minor’s “willful misbehavior” or carelessness.
“Parental Responsibility Laws” exist in almost every state. These laws hold parents and/or guardians accountable for any injuries or damage caused by their unemancipated children’s purposeful and/or malicious conduct, and parental responsibility is also imposed in certain situations for accidents. Property damage (including vandalism), personal injury, and theft are all examples of harm that parents and guardians may be held liable for. Furthermore, these regulations (in most jurisdictions) apply not just to civil proceedings, but also to criminal acts. This article will go over parental responsibility laws in general, as well as some of the major details of Florida’s parental responsibility legislation.
(Note: There is substantial controversy regarding whether parental responsibility rules are fair. Some argue that penalizing parents for their children’s conduct is unjust. The alternative, however, is that a victim suffers the financial weight of a child’s wrongdoing.)
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What are the Parental Responsibility Laws in Florida?
Florida, like a number of other states, has established legislation defining when parents are liable for their children’s behavior. Florida’s Parental Responsibility Laws are specifically focused on two areas:
Vandalism and driving (as defined in Florida Statutes § 322.09) (covered by Florida Statutes section 741.24).
Under Florida law, how old must the child be?
Parental responsibility rules only make parents and legal guardians responsible for certain minor children’s behavior. A minor is defined as somebody who is under the age of majority. This age is defined differently in each state. Because Florida, like other states, establishes the age of majority at 18, the Florida legislation we’ll be addressing today only apply to children under the age of 18.
In Florida, parents are responsible for their children’s driving.
In Florida, a minor’s driver’s license application must be signed and verified by a parent or guardian. A certified copy of a U.S. birth certificate, a valid U.S. passport, an alien registration receipt card (green card), a work authorization card issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or evidence of nonimmigrant classification must be submitted with each application.
Furthermore, Florida Statutes § 322.09 states that the parent or guardian is liable if their kid causes any injuries or property damage while driving a motor vehicle due to carelessness and/or intentional misconduct. In other words, the adult is financially liable, together with the child, for any losses caused by the minor’s carelessness or intentional misbehavior while driving. That implies the parent is liable for anything from a parking lot fender bender to a drunk driving accident that results in significant harm to other drivers and passengers.
In Florida, Parental Responsibility for a Child’s Vandalism and Theft
If a kid commits vandalism or theft in Florida, or, as Florida Statutes section 741.24 defines it, “maliciously or intentionally damages or steals property, real, personal, or mixed,” and the minor lives with his or her parents, the parents will be held financially liable. This obligation extends to almost every person or entity who may be injured by the minor’s actions, including municipalities, counties, school systems, individuals, partnerships, businesses, and religious organizations. It should be noted that the parents’ obligation is limited to the actual damages plus court fees. In other words, there can be no compensation for pain and suffering or any non-economic injury caused by the minor’s actions.
Florida Common Law may still hold parents liable.
Parental Obligation Laws often concentrate on giving particular remedies for specific offenses; nevertheless, there are other common law laws that may generally hold parents liable for their children’s activities. For example, parents who are aware that their kid has a proclivity to behave recklessly or negligently may be obliged to take reasonable precautions to keep the child from causing foreseeable injury to others.
Assume a parent is aware that their kid is talking on the phone while driving and doing everything but paying attention to the road. Nonetheless, the parents let their youngster drive a car. If the youngster causes an accident because he or she was distracted by a phone call, the parents may be held liable for permitting the child to drive. Even if Florida’s Parental Responsibility Laws do not apply, parents may be held financially liable for their children’s activities.