Are Pennsylvania Parents Responsible When Their Child Causes an Injury?

You probably found your way here because:

• you were injured by a child in Pennsylvania and you want to know if you can go after the child's parents for your damages, or
• you're a Pennsylvania parent whose child injured someone or damaged their property, and you want to know if you're on the hook for your kid's wrongdoing.

Either way, you're in the right place. We'll explain Pennsylvania's parental responsibility act, the law that makes parents liable (legally responsible) for their child's harmful acts. We also discuss what happens when a parent's misconduct combines with their child's wrongdoing to produce injuries.

Two Roads Lead to Pennsylvania Parental Responsibility

Generally speaking, there are two ways a Pennsylvania parent can be forced to pay for their child's misbehavior.

Parental Liability for a Child's Harmful Acts

Pennsylvania's parental responsibility act, found at 23 Pa. Cons. Stat., ch. 55, sometimes makes parents responsible when their child injures someone or damages their property. It's what's known as a "vicarious liability" law, meaning an injured victim can look to the parents—instead of (or in addition to) the child—to pay damages.

What makes Pennsylvania's parental responsibility act (and other state laws like it) so unique? It's an example of a law that imposes liability on a person for someone else's bad acts. In other words, Pennsylvania's parental responsibility act makes parents answer not for anything they've done wrong, but for things their children do wrong.

Parents Are Responsible for Their Own Misconduct

Of course, parents must pay damages when their own wrongful conduct causes harm. In the context of parental responsibility laws, parents can be made to pay when their intentional or negligent actions combine with a child's wrongdoing to cause injuries. Both parent and child must answer for their share (and sometimes more) of the victim's loss.

Pennsylvania's Parental Responsibility Act

The parental responsibility act applies to misconduct by a child younger than 18, the age of majority in Pennsylvania. It covers a child's "tortious act," defined as a "willful" tortious act causing injury. The term "injury" includes personal injuries, theft, and property damage or destruction. (23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5501 (2024).)

When a child is found to have committed a tortious act, the child's then-custodial parents (including a parent who's then entitled to custody) are liable to the injured victim. (23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5502 (2024).)

How Is a Parent's Liability Decided?

The amount of a parent's liability can be determined in several ways, including in:

• a criminal or juvenile case against their child
• a civil lawsuit against their child, or
• a lawsuit brought directly against the parent.

Liability Determined in Criminal Proceedings

Under 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5503 (2024), when a child is charged in a criminal or juvenile case stemming from a tortious act, the court must calculate the injured person's damages—how much it will take to make them whole. Once the court arrives at a figure, it must order the parents to pay the lesser of that amount or the damage cap amount (discussed below) to the victim. (23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5503(a) (2024).)

If the parents don't pay, the injured victim can file a civil lawsuit directly against the parents for the amount owed. (23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5503(b) (2024).)

Liability Determined in Civil Proceedings

When the injured person wins a civil lawsuit for damages against the child, the child has 30 days to pay. Should the child fail to pay, the victim can ask the court for an order requiring the parents to explain why the court shouldn't enter judgment against them for the unpaid amount. (23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5504(a) (2024).)

The parents then have two options. If they dispute their liability based on facts that haven't been decided, the court schedules the parents' case for a trial. But if they don't dispute liability, the court must enter judgment against the parents for the lesser of the child's unpaid judgment or the damage cap amount (discussed below). (23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5504(b)-(c) (2024).)

Liability Determined in a Lawsuit Against the Parents

An injured victim doesn't have to pursue the child for compensation before going after the parents. They're allowed to file a civil lawsuit directly against the parents to recover damages up to the amount of the damage cap. (23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5504(d) (2024).)

Damage Caps and Parental Discharge From Liability

23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5505(a) (2024) caps parental liability at:

• $1,000 for injuries suffered by one person, and
• $2,500 for all injuries suffered by more than one person, regardless of how many people are hurt.

Unlike many state parental liability laws, Pennsylvania's damage caps aren't cumulative. The aggregate cap for injuries to two persons is $2,500. The aggregate cap for injuries to 20 people is $2,500.

Similarly, it makes no difference how many children of the same parents are involved. (23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5505(c) (2024).) The most a Pennsylvania parent can ever be required to pay for one tortious act or a series of tortious acts is $2,500.

When a court finds that the total losses of all victims exceed $2,500, the parents can discharge themselves from liability by paying $2,500 to the court. The court, in turn, collects itemized loss statements from all victims and then distributes the funds "proportionately." (23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5505(b) (2024).)

Parents Are Responsible for Their Own Misconduct

Whether or not a parent is responsible for their child's misdeeds under the parental responsibility act, they're liable for their own wrongful conduct that causes injuries or property damage. Stated a bit differently, when a parent's intentional or negligent acts together with those of their child result in harm, the parent is responsible for their share of the blame.

Here's an example. Fifteen-year-old Jake suffered from severe emotional problems, including anger management issues and a long history of assaulting and battering others with weapons. For his 16th birthday, Jake's father Bill bought Jake a semiautomatic pistol.

One morning, Jake put the loaded pistol into his backpack and took it to school. There, he confronted a longstanding enemy, Steve, with whom he had a track record of fighting. In a fit of rage, Jake pulled the pistol from his backpack and shot Steve, paralyzing him from the chest down.

Steve and his parents sued Jake and his father, Bill. They claimed that Bill negligently gave Jake a firearm and failed to properly supervise him, knowing of Jake's history of emotional problems and violence. After a trial, the jury agreed. Jurors found that Bill's negligence contributed to cause Steve's injuries and found him and Jake jointly liable for several million dollars in damages.

Get Help With Your Pennsylvania Parental Liability Case

Regardless of which side of a parental liability case you're on—a parent charged with responsibility or an injured victim seeking to hold a parent liable—chances are that you don't know the law. But you can bet that your opponent's lawyer does.

To make it a fair fight, you need experienced legal counsel to guide you through the process. When you're ready to move forward, here's how to find a lawyer who's right for you.