Answers to Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, and Car Accident Questions
Q: My child fell on accident and dented the fender of another student's car. As the parent, am I responsible for paying for the damage?
A: From a legal perspective, if your child was acting carelessly, caused himself to fall, and damaged the other student's car, he may be legally responsible to pay for the damage. It would depend on whether he was using "due care"--legalese for whether he was acting carefully at the time.
If your child is responsible, then under California law you are also responsible. Under California law, a parent is responsible for the negligent (careless) acts of their child until he is 18 years old.
