Your Rights and Responsibilities as a Parent

Parents have a legal obligation to provide for the health and safety and wellbeing of their children. This is true for biological parents as well as for adoptive parents; for married parents and for divorced parents.

Also See:

• Custody / Visitation
• Child Support
• Paternity
• Adoption
• Legal Guardianship
• Emancipation
• Threats to Children
• Same Sex Parenting

But being responsible for your child means more than just providing room and board. As a parent, you are legally liable for any damage your child causes through negligent behavior or in a criminal act.

This liability can be imposed both civilly and criminally, and doesn’t begin until the child reaches an age of comprehension, usually between 8 and 10, although this varies by state. Parental liability ends when the child reaches the age of majority (18 in most states) or when the parental rights have been terminated.

These rights can only be terminated when the parent has been found to be unfit, due to abuse, neglect, mental illness or other deficiencies or when the parent gives them up voluntarily. Once parental rights have been terminated, all legal responsibility for the child stops.

In civil court, liability usually amounts to a financial obligation, such as payment for damages. Most homeowner policies include coverage for personal or general liability. This amount is designed to protect the insured in the event they are found to be liable in for damages in a court of law, and usually extends to minor children and other household members.

In criminal court however, many states have enacted laws that allow the parent to be charged with a crime as well, often known as contributing to the negligence of a minor. In this case, both the parent and the juvenile could be charged with separate crimes, even though the parent took no part in the original act.