Is my 10yr old responsible?

[SnSMich]

My 10 year old son was playing soccer before school, on public school grounds. The kids were playing rough according to the school officals and my son pushed another boy down. The boy broke his arm. The parrent is asking his mother and I to pay for the un-insured part of the medical bills.
I would like to offer to pay for the added cost but I don't know if I should because of posible future legal actions. Would this be like admitting responsibility? Could I be sued for pain and suffering too?

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate. WHat I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

You can't sue for pain and suffering.

As to the medical bills, does your boy have a history of being violent? So much so, you need to let others know? If not, you are not responsible, your boy is. And guess what, does your boy have a job? Very hard to collect.

Settling sometimes means admitting liability -- depending on how shrewd their lawyer is. The fact you pay doesn't, but stuff you say in conjunction with offering to pay does.

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face=" Arial, Verdana, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SnSMich:
My 10 year old son was playing soccer before school, on public school grounds. The kids were playing rough according to the school officals and my son pushed another boy down. The boy broke his arm. The parrent is asking his mother and I to pay for the un-insured part of the medical bills.
I would like to offer to pay for the added cost but I don't know if I should because of posible future legal actions. Would this be like admitting responsibility? Could I be sued for pain and suffering too?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Your 10 year old is not as responsible as you are since parents are responsible for the actions of their minor children.
Yes you should pay since you are liable.

 

[lawrat]

Home Guru -- I must disagree. Parents are not responsible for the actions of their minor children unless they had knowledge of their children's dangerous propensities.

 

[usdeeper]

As a father.. I am really interested in the correct answer to this question. I do not see how children getting into a little rough and tumble can be responsible for medical costs when someone is hurt.

Now, if that child walks around all day hitting other kids with a baseball bat, that is another matter.. but not while playing rough soccer.

 

[SnSMich]

Thanks for all the replies. I contacted a couple of local lawers and both said that the parents or not responsible. One was a personal injury lawer and said "if someone came to him with this case he would turn it down, no judge would even here the case". By law we di not have to pay anything. We did offer to pay half of the medical bills once the other parents get the total cost. But we were told to have them sign a waver stating that payment is not an admission to responsiblity. This was done just because of a moral issue, my son is very good friends with the injured boy's brother so this just complicates things.
Once again thank you for all the reply's