Are Minnesota Parents Responsible When Their Child Causes an Injury?

Are Minnesota parents liable (legally responsible) when their child's misconduct causes harm? The short answer is: Sometimes, yes, they are. Minnesota has four parental responsibility laws. Each requires parents to pay compensation ("damages") when their child causes personal injuries or damages property.

After a quick overview of Minnesota's age of majority, we'll take a closer look at these four laws, plus more.

Age of Majority in Minnesota

As a rule, Minnesota parents are liable only for the acts of their minor children, meaning those who haven't reached the age of majority. Minnesota's age of majority, like that of most states, is 18 years. (Minn. Stat. § 645.451 (2024).)

In other words, Minnesota's parental responsibility laws cover acts that happen before a child's 18th birthday. After that date, minors are of legal age in Minnesota. Barring unusual circumstances, parents can't be made to answer for their misbehavior.

Minnesota's Parental Responsibility Laws

Minnesota parents can be held responsible for their child's acts under:

• Minn. Stat. § 540.18 (2024), the personal injury and property damage statute
• Minn. Stat. § 604.14 (2024), Minnesota's theft liability statute
• Minn. Stat. § 611A.79 (2024), the bias crime liability statute, and
• Minn. Stat. § 617.90 (2024), the graffiti liability statute.

The first two plus the graffiti liability statute are "vicarious liability" laws, meaning they punish parents not for anything the parents have done wrong, but solely for their child's harmful acts. Minnesota's bias crime liability statute, by contrast, makes a parent answer for their child's crime only if a court finds the parent was partly to blame.

Parents' Liability Under the Personal Injury and Property Damage Statute

Minnesota parents face limited financial responsibility when a child living with them "willfully or maliciously causes injury to any person or damage to any property... ." Parents are liable for up to $1,000 in "special damages," meaning amounts the victim loses out of pocket. Common examples include medical bills, lost wages, amounts paid for replacement household services, and costs to repair or replace damaged or destroyed property. (Minn. Stat. § 540.18(1) (2024).)

The statute makes parents pay only for their child's willful or malicious acts. It doesn't apply in cases of simple negligence, or carelessness. So, for example, parents aren't responsible under this statute if their child negligently causes an auto accident. But if the child gets into a rock-throwing contest with friends and breaks several windows, mom and dad will have to pay for some of that vandalism.

Parents Are Liable When Their Child Steals Property

Under Minnesota's theft liability statute, Minn. Stat. § 604.14(1) (2024), a child who steals property is liable to the owner for the value of the property, plus punitive damages of $50 or 100% of the stolen property's value, whichever is greater. Victims can recover both special and general damages.

The theft liability statute makes the child's parents partly responsible, but their financial exposure appears to be capped at $1,000. (Minn. Stat. § 604.14(3) (2024).) A Minnesota lawyer can explain the details.

Parental Liability for Child's Bias Crimes

A bias crime is any crime "committed because of the victim's or another's actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability[], age, or national origin." (Minn. Stat. § 611A.79(1) (2024).) A bias crime victim can sue the offender to collect the greater of:

• $500, or
• the victim's special and general damages, including emotional distress damages and, in appropriate cases, punitive damages.

When the offender is a child, their parents are responsible for up to $5,000 of the victim's damages. But a parent can avoid liability on a showing that they "made reasonable efforts to exercise control over the minor's behavior." (Minn. Stat. § 611A.79(4) (2024).)

Parents Must Pay for Graffiti Damage

When public or private property is defaced with graffiti, the owner can sue the would-be artist for damages equal to three times the cost to restore the property, plus attorney's fees and costs. Under Minnesota's graffiti liability statute, when the offender is a minor, the child's parent is on the hook for up to $1,000 of these damages. (Minn. Stat. § 617.90(2) (2024).)

Minnesota Parents Are Liable for Their Own Harmful Acts

It should come as no surprise that Minnesota parents must also answer with damages when their own harmful acts cause injuries or damage property. In the parental liability context, when a parent's negligence combines with their child's wrongdoing to produce harm, both parent and child can be held liable for their share of the blame.

Here's an example. Seventeen-year-old Jeff had a bad habit of texting and using the phone while driving. Both Jeff's parents and local law enforcement were well aware of his habit. During his short driving career, Jeff had been cited twice for distracted driving, and he caused a minor fender bender while texting with a classmate. Jeff's parents did nothing to correct his misbehavior.

One recent Saturday evening, disaster struck. Jeff lost control of his parents' car while texting, ran a red light and broadsided another car, killing the other driver. The other driver's surviving relatives sued Jeff and his parents for wrongful death. They claimed that Jeff's parents negligently failed to supervise his driving and negligently entrusted the family car to him, knowing of his unsafe driving habits.

After a trial, the jury agreed. Jurors found Jeff 70% to blame for the wreck and assigned the remaining 30% of the fault to Jeff's parents. They assessed the survivors' total wrongful death damages at $2.1 million. Since they're 30% to blame, Jeff's parents are liable for at least $630,000 in damages.

Get Help With Your Minnesota Parental Responsibility Case

It's tempting to think that a parental responsibility case should be simple and easy to win. Don't be fooled. Difficult factual and legal issues lurk around nearly every corner. You can bet that your opponent will be represented by experienced legal counsel. To make it a fair fight, you should be, too.

When you're ready to move ahead with your case, here's how to find an attorney who's right for you.