PARENTAL LIABILITY

McGowan, Hood & Felder, LLC has handled numerous actions involving Parental Liability in South Carolina. This type of action can take the form of suing a child, a parent, a guardian or any combination of these people.

It’s the middle of the night, and you wake up to the sound of someone pelting your new car with eggs. You recognize the assailants as some of the kids in the neighborhood. Your paint job is now ruined, and even though the car is insured, you’re out your $500.00 deductible. Or, your child comes in dazed and confused, bleeding as a result of a rock thrown by one of his ‘friends.’ Of course, you rush him to the doctor for treatment, and await the bills. Surely, you think, the parents of these children can be held responsible to pay for the damages caused by their children. However, many people who have watched one of the daytime courtroom shows have learned that parents are “not an insurer that [their] child will not harm another.”

Instead, the law typically holds children legally responsible for their own conduct, which in many instances will leave the victim without any way to collect on a judgment under the scenarios above, since most children don’t have a great deal of money. There are exceptions to this rule, to be sure, such as if the parent was negligent in supervising the child, or negligent in providing a dangerous object to a child. However, those situations are often difficult to prove.
There is, however, one provision of South Carolina law which still provides relief for parental liability under a particular set of circumstances. Although it has recently changed location, it still exists. South Carolina Code §63-5-60 provides that private individuals, including corporations and partnerships, are “entitled to recover damages in an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars in a civil action ...from the parents or legal guardian ...of a minor under the age of eighteen years and residing with the parents or the legal guardian of the person who maliciously or willfully causes personal injury to the individual or destroys, damages, or steals property....” While the statute limits this liability to malicious or willful acts, it does provide for joint and several liability of the parent up to the $5,000.00. However, it doesn’t cover acts of a child which are merely negligent or accidental, and is limited only to actual damages.
Nevertheless, this statute has its uses, and may cover a wide variety of acts, including bullying and vandalism. Furthermore, it may be useful to have a parent named personally in the suit, for purposes of gathering additional information on the history of the child, insurance coverage, and other facts not readily obtained solely through a subpoenaed deposition of the parent. The parental liability statute can be used to file suit, gather the information referenced above and then amend the complaint to attempt to pursue a remedy for a much larger claim than $5000.00
This statute is perhaps too often overlooked even by experienced attorneys, which may be largely due to the fact that a similar predecessor, S.C. Code §15-75-30 was repealed when the current statute was first added to the Children’s Code. Another reason it is probably overlooked is that it is inappropriately titled: “Parental civil liability for damage to state property.” Although the current statute has not been interpreted by our appellate courts, the clear language used indicates that this liability extends to injuries caused to private citizens, or their property. Thus, this statute may be useful in addition to claims of negligent supervision or negligent entrustment under the right facts.

The attorneys at our firm work closely with referring attorneys to bring a case to successful resolution. The attorneys in our firm who litigate Parental Liability cases are constantly updating their education and ability to litigate these types of matters. Kevin Hayne Sitnik, ESQ of McGowan, Hood & Felder has helped to litigate cases that involve parental liability. Kevin Hayne Sitnik is available for consultation by email at ksitnik@mcgowanhood.com or telephone (Toll free 1-877-644-6400).

Please visit our website at mcgowanhood.com for comprehensive information on different types of torts which can lead to catastrophic injuries.

Very truly yours,

McGowan, Hood & Felder, LLC

Kevin Hayne Sitnik, ESQ, 1517 Hampton Street, Columbia, SC 29201