Georgia bars an unemancipated child from suing a parent for injuries caused by the parent’s ordinary negligence.
The Rule and Why It Exists
In Georgia, “an unemancipated minor may not sue a parent for injury arising from a negligent act.” Coleman v. Coleman, 157 Ga. App. 533 (1981); Donegan v. Davis, 310 Ga. App. 446 (2011). The bar rests on public policy, and courts give five reasons for it: “(1) disturbance of domestic tranquility, (2) danger of fraud and collusion, (3) depletion of the family exchequer, (4) the possibility of inheritance, by the parent, of the amount recovered in damages by the child, and (5) interference with parental care, discipline and control.” Clabough v. Rachwal, 176 Ga. App. 212 (1985).
Divorce does not lift it. In Coleman, an 11-year-old was hurt in a collision while riding with his father. The parents were divorced and the mother had custody, but the father was still paying support. The Court of Appeals held that “the plaintiff is an unemancipated minor as to his father, therefore suit was barred as to him.”
The Exception Is Narrow
Wright v. Wright, 85 Ga. App. 721 (1952), held that a child “may maintain an action for personal injury against a parent for a wilful or malicious act, provided it is such an act of cruelty as to authorize forfeiture of parental authority.” Cruel treatment is still one of the ways a parent can lose parental power. OCGA 19-7-1(b)(6).
Donegan shows how much that takes. A mother drove into the vehicle ahead of her with a blood alcohol content of 0.1999, and her young son was ejected and airlifted to the hospital. She pleaded guilty to DUI. The Court of Appeals still held her conduct was not “a malicious or wilful act of such cruelty so as to authorize forfeiture of parental authority,” and the child’s claims were barred.
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