Parents understand that children and teenagers sometimes engage in impulsive behaviors and often act without thinking. Teenagers also tend to enjoy rebelling against authority and employing outrageous behaviors to impress their friends.
Studies show that the human brain isn’t completely matured beyond childhood impulsive behaviors until at least the mid-20s, but how long are parents legally responsible for the actions of their offspring, and just what does this legal responsibility entail?
Even when children aren’t held to account in criminal law, parents may be liable in civil cases when children engage in reckless behavior or wrongdoing. Call our family lawyer in Denver for a free consultation today.
What Is Parental Responsibility In Colorado?
Colorado uses the term “parental responsibility” instead of child custody. Divorced or non-married parents with a court-ordered parenting-time schedule have an allocated share of parental responsibility. The two categories of parental responsibility in Colorado include physical custody, or the parent with whom a child resides, and legal custody, or the right to make important decisions for a child, such as those concerning medical care and education.
In Colorado, parental responsibility also refers to a child’s parents’ or legal guardian’s liability for their child’s actions, when a child is responsible for property damage or personal injury, especially when the case involves a parent’s negligent supervision.
Understanding Colorado’s 3 Categories of Damages in Parental Responsibility Law
Colorado’s age of majority for children is age 18 when children become adults in the eyes of the law. Until that age, adults hold parental responsibility that leaves them financially liable when their children’s actions cause financial damages to others. In Colorado, the parental responsibility laws primarily refer to the following 3 points of law:
- Property damage
- Theft/shoplifting
- Bodily injury
In some cases, the courts may consider parents or legal guardians negligent if they’re aware that their child is behaving recklessly or in ways that endanger the property or physical well-being of others and do not take steps to address the problem.
Property Damage and Parental Responsibility Laws in Colorado
Parents or legal guardians of children under age 18 are responsible for any property damage willfully caused by a minor child. Parents are financially liable if a child destroys, vandalizes, or damages property including:
- Real property like homes, buildings, structures, lawns, trees, or crops
- Personal property like motor vehicles, bicycles, furniture, or artwork
- Property owned by individuals, businesses, school districts, or state and local government property such as park equipment or traffic signs and signals
Parents must pay for repairs or replacement for damages up to $3,500 per victim according to Colorado parental responsibility laws. They’re also responsible for paying court costs and typically must pay the criminal juvenile defense attorney fees.
Parental Responsibility for Shoplifting and Theft
A child’s parents or legal guardians are responsible for paying damages for shoplifting or theft in the amount of the actual value of the stolen property. Unlike paying for property damage, the state does not place a cap on the amount parents must pay for stolen property. They may face additional penalties to the property owner as well as the cost of the item.
Parents are Liable for Bodily Injuries Committed by their Children
Colorado’s parental responsibility laws hold parents liable when their child injures another person, whether the injury is willful or accidental. For example, if a 16-year-old driver has a car accident and injures another driver or a passenger in their car, the parents are liable under personal injury law to pay the damages.
If a child intentionally hurts another, such as harming another child at school in a fight, parents are liable for damages such as medical expenses and pain and suffering.
Like property damage, the state caps the amount parents must pay for personal injury claims at $3,500 per injured person.
It’s important to understand parental responsibility laws. While it’s true that young children are not held criminally responsible for some acts of recklessness or wrongdoing, the parents are still held responsible in civil court.
Colorado’s Alternative Legal Remedies for Parental Liability In Colorado
Parents in Colorado may be held liable for their child’s actions due to parental negligence. For instance, if a parent knew, or should reasonably have known about a child’s history of aggression or other negative behaviors, and failed to address the matter with corrective or preventive measures, such as counseling, restricting access to weapons, or removing access to vehicles. Parents could face further legal consequences if they contributed to their child’s delinquent behavior.
Under C.R.S. 19-2.5-1110, the law lists further legal remedies sometimes applied to parents of delinquent children instead of, or in addition to, the financial consequences of parental liability:
- “The juvenile or both the juvenile and the juvenile’s parent or guardian to perform volunteer service in the community designed to contribute to the juvenile’s rehabilitation or to the ability of the parent or guardian to provide proper parental care and supervision of the juvenile” or
- “To attend the parental responsibility training program …The court may make reasonable orders requiring proof of completion of the training course …, or
- The juvenile or both the juvenile and the juvenile’s custodial parent … to perform services for the victim … designed to contribute to the juvenile’s rehabilitation, if the victim consents in writing to such services.
The law goes on to state that the court may absolve a parent of liability if it finds that the parent made a good-faith effort through any of the above methods to rehabilitate their child and prevent further adverse actions and behaviors.
Insurance Coverage and Colorado’s Parental Liability Laws
Most liability claims are filed against the responsible party’s insurance, for instance, auto insurance after a car accident. However, some auto insurance and homeowner’s insurance policies include exclusions for intentional wrongdoing rather than negligence.
Are Both Parents Liable If One Has Primary Custody?
In most cases, both parents are potentially liable for any damages caused by their child, even if one parent has primary custody and the other has visitation. Parental responsibility in Denver child custody cases refers to the parent’s role as a guardian and supervisor of their child.
The parent with more than 90 days of overnight custody of their child has primary parental responsibility; however, the other parent may be held equally liable for their child’s actions, depending on the circumstances and whether the parents were following the court’s custody orders in Denver.