Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-3 (2026)

Liability of parents for torts of minors

✓ current as of July 2026

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The parent or parents of any unemancipated minor or minors, which minor or minors willfully or maliciously cause damage to any property or injury to any person, shall be jointly and severally liable with the minor or minors for the damage or injury to an amount not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500) if the minor or minors would have been liable for the damage or injury if they had been adults; provided, nothing herein shall be construed to relieve the minor or minors from personal liability for the damage or injury. The liability herein provided for shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any other liability which may exist at law.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 2 cases, 1974–1987 · leading case: Curtin v. Lataille, 527 A.2d 1130 (R.I. 1987).

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Curtin v. Lataille, 527 A.2d 1130 (R.I. 1987). “1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 9-1-3, as amended by P.L. 1974, ch. 137, § l.”

Barthlein v. Ellis, 314 A.2d 426 (R.I. 1974). “2 General Laws 1956 (1969 Reenactment) §9-1-3. 3 The Judicial Reorganization Act of 1969 increased the maximum amount of the District Court’s civil jurisdiction from $1,000 to $5,000.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.