What Parents Answer For
ORS 30.765 — a child's intentional or reckless tort, up to $7,500
Up to $7,500. The parents of an unemancipated minor are liable for actual damages to person or property caused by a tort the child commits intentionally or recklessly, up to not more than $7,500 payable to the same claimant, for one or more acts.
A parent not entitled to legal custody of the child at the time of the tort is not liable under the section. In a suit under it, both the parents and the child are named as defendants. Foster parents are outside it.
Fireworks fires. Separately, the parents of an unemancipated minor are liable for the costs a public fire agency incurs suppressing a fire the child caused with fireworks, up to not more than $5,000 payable to the same claimant.
These limits apply to liability that exists only because of being a parent; a parent's own negligence, and any other remedy the law provides, are not limited by them and are not on this page. Whether a child's act was intentional or reckless is a question for a court and a licensed Oregon attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- ORS 30.765 — Liability of parents for tort by child
- ORS 480.158 — Parents of minor liable for costs incurred in suppressing fires caused by use of fireworks by minor
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Oregon attorney.