After Divorce, Which Parent is Liable for a Minor Child’s Acts?

 Posted on April 04, 2025 in Family Law

Jerry and Sue divorced several years ago. Since Jerry moved to a neighboring state after the divorce, Sue was given the right to make decisions on behalf of their son, Cody, under the allocation of parental responsibilities. Jerry has parenting time one weekend per month, but now that Cody is a teenager, scheduling conflicts mean he sees Cody every two or three months.

Jerry receives a call from Sue telling Cody and some friends vandalized a neighbor’s property. Under the Illinois Parental Responsibility Statute, Cody’s parents are responsible for covering the costs of the vandalism. Since Jerry rarely sees Cody and had no idea that Cody had been in some minor trouble for graffiti prior to this, he feels he should not be responsible for the costs.

Sue is pressing the issue, demanding that Jerry pay half the costs. Is Jerry responsible under the Parental Responsibility Statute? This situation is one that could benefit significantly from speaking to a knowledgeable St. Charles, IL family law attorney who can help interpret the statute and determine whether one or both parents are responsible for Cody’s vandalism.

What is Illinois Parental Responsibility?

Illinois passed a law that made parents or guardians of a minor (above the age of 11 but not yet 19 who lives with the parent or legal guardian) liable for "willful or malicious" acts of the minor when his or her conduct causes injury to another person or damages to a person’s property. The minor’s conduct must have been intentional and usually encompasses such things as:

•  Payment for property damages caused by the minor’s vandalism
•  Medical expenses for injuries caused by an assault by the minor
•  Payment for retail theft (shoplifting) for actual damages equal to the full retail value of the stolen merchandise, plus the store owner’s attorney’s fees and court costs.

When Are Parents Not Responsible for the Acts of Their Minor Child?

Minors are generally liable for their own misdeeds, but when a minor acts intentionally or willfully in a way that causes harm to another person or a person’s property, it can be difficult for the injured party to collect damages from a minor. If, however, the parent has no knowledge of prior misconduct or the child’s actions were not willful or malicious, the parent would not be financially responsible.

Parents are usually not held liable for an accident caused by the child when the child was negligent but not willfully or deliberately negligent. A parent would not be responsible for an auto accident caused by the minor unless the parent was aware that the child routinely engaged in behaviors like texting while driving.  Defacing another person’s property is a willful crime, and a parent who was aware his or her child had engaged in similar activities before knew or should have known the child might do so again.

What Happens When Parents Are Divorced?

If the parents have roughly equal parenting time and both are involved in making the decisions for the child, then both parents would likely be held liable under the Illinois parental responsibility law. However, in the example above, Jerry has very little contact with Cody. Sue did not tell Jerry that Cody had been in trouble for graffiti prior to this latest act of vandalism.

Jerry may be able to avoid liability for Cody’s vandalism because he was not the "custodial" parent at the time the vandalism occurred. In this situation, Sue would likely be the financially responsible parent unless she could prove that Jerry knew about Cody’s propensity toward vandalizing other people’s property and even encouraged it, which would be unlikely. Either parent could ask a family court to hold the other parent equally liable for the minor’s bad acts.

Contact a Kane County, IL Parental Responsibilities Lawyer

It can be beneficial for all those involved to speak to a skilled St. Charles, IL parental responsibilities attorney from Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC. At MKFM Law, our family law attorneys have dealt with virtually every family situation imaginable. We serve family law clients at our offices in Kane County, DuPage County, and DeKalb County for your convenience. Call 630-665-7300 to schedule your initial attorney meeting.