Understanding the possible culpability of a parent or legal guardian in Georgia for a minor’s “willful misbehavior” or carelessness.
Georgia, like many other states, has enacted many parental responsibility statutes. These are laws that may be used to hold a parent accountable for the behavior of a minor kid. In certain areas, parents may be held financially liable for damages caused by a juvenile’s purposeful conduct, while in others, even an accident caused by a minor can result in a parent’s civil culpability. We’ll look at Georgia’s parental responsibility legislation in this post.
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What are the Parental Responsibility Laws in Georgia?
Georgia’s Parental Responsibility rules define the conditions in which parents may be held liable for their children’s acts. Georgia’s laws address:
General culpability for a kid’s activities (covered under Georgia Code section 51-2-2) and malevolent acts by a child (covered by Georgia Code section 51-2-3).
(Please keep in mind that there is no direct connection to the online editions of these legislation. The links above will take you to the main page of the Georgia Code’s online edition. You’ll need to scroll down to find the necessary citations.)
Keep in mind that the age of majority in Georgia is 18, therefore the laws discussed below only apply to custodial parents/guardians of minor children.
In Georgia, parents are liable for their children’s torts.
A “tort” is a civil law word that refers to any conduct that causes injury. Furthermore, under Georgia Code § 51-2-2, parents shall be held accountable for any tort committed by their kid. It makes no difference whether the kid commits the tort on purpose or through carelessness. The parent will be held financially responsible, period.
As a consequence, Section 51-2-2 may obligate a parent to pay for injuries and property damage caused by an automobile accident or other incident.
In Georgia, parental liability for malicious acts exists.
In Georgia, parents will also be financially accountable for damages caused by their children’s malevolent or purposeful activities. Under Georgia Code § 51-2-3, liability includes both property damage and medical expenditures resulting from physical injuries.
A parent’s culpability for any damages resulting from the child’s activities is restricted to $10,000, with court costs payable to the claimant who was damaged and took the matter to court.
Parental Responsibility According to the “Family Purpose Doctrine,”
Hicks v. Newman, a case in Georgia, provided an important interpretation of parental culpability for vehicle accidents caused by a family member under a legal notion known as the “family purpose theory.”
The Georgia Court of Appeals clarified in Hicks that mere possession of a vehicle, without more, is inadequate to prove the car owner’s culpability for another driver’s negligence. When a car owner maintains the vehicle for the use and convenience of his family, the owner may be held accountable for the negligence of a family member who was using the vehicle for family purposes.
There are four (4) conditions to be responsible under the family purpose doctrine:
(1) The defendant must own the car, or have an interest in or control over it.
(2) The defendant must have made the vehicle accessible for use by family members.
(3) The driver must be a member of the defendant’s immediate family.
(4) The vehicle must have been driven with the defendant’s consent or cooperation.
Learn more about Car Accidents and Negligence: When You Are Liable for the Driving of Another Person.
In Georgia, parents may still be liable under common law.
Even if Georgia’s parental responsibility rules do not apply, parents and guardians may be held liable for their children’s acts. At common law, parents have an obligation to use reasonable care in monitoring and controlling a minor kid who has a recognized proclivity to behave recklessly or negligently.
In such case, a parent may be required to take reasonable precautions to prevent their kid from causing foreseeable injury to others.