Visiting the Sins of Children on Their Parents: Parental Tort Liability

“In Texas, the sins of children can be visited on their fathers and mothers. But this happens only under the theories of respondeat superior or joint enterprise, when parents permit their children to act in a manner likely to injure another, or when parents allow their children unreasonable access to potentially dangerous instrumentalities, such as automobiles or loaded guns.”

The Bible has contradictory language about visiting the sins of children on their parents. Although Exodus portrays a stern God “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children,” Deuteronomy more comfortingly states, “Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.” The approach of the reported cases in Texas to visiting the sins of children—the torts of children on their parents—is less contradictory. In Texas, parents can be civilly liable for their children’s torts, but only under specific, limited circumstances.