Florida Supreme Court Determines Parental Right to Waive Liability Extends to Minors’ Estates
The Florida Supreme Court recently upheld the rights of parents to decide what activities minor children should be allowed to participate in.
Melbourne, United States – July 31, 2017 /MarketersMedia/ —
In June of 2003, Bobby Jones took his 14-year-old son Christopher to ride ATVs at Thundercross MX Park in Okeechobee, FL. As is normal when minor children take part in any sport or activity where an injury may result, Bobby was asked to sign a liability release form on behalf of his underage son. This he willingly did with, as he later stated in court records, full awareness of the legal implications of doing so.
This wasn’t the boy’s first trip to Thundercross and on at least one other occasion Christopher had suffered an injury while riding the track. On this day things would take a tragic turn. Christopher, while attempting the same jump that had injured him before, lost control of his 2003 Yamaha Banshee twin 350cc ATV. The four-wheeler landed on top of him, and he succumbed to the resulting injuries on May 10, 2003.
Shortly after Christopher’s death, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the owners of the track and other concerned parties by the child’s mother on behalf of his estate. Her attorneys claimed gross negligence on the part of the defendants and further asserted that the liability waiver was not enforceable because they had joint custody, she was not informed of the activity and the release only concerned living children and would not extend to their estates.
The first premise for the case was struck down early in the case. Because Bobby was the custodial parent of Christopher, he was determined to have been within his rights to sign on his behalf and the initial ruling was upheld upon appeal. The second argument was less clear cut as there were no past rulings or specific legislation that addressed the issue of the rights of a deceased minor’s estate.
The lower courts failed to render a decision on this point with each subsequent appeal either citing it to be beyond their venue to establish such a precedent or citing conflicting decisions in past cases that might have been even remotely applicable to the issue at hand.
The Florida Supreme Court then took up the case and determined that the same principles that applied in the infamous Nerf and Tiddlywinks case in Ohio should also apply to post-mortem rights: in the best interest of children on the whole and society in general, waivers and releases must be upheld as enforceable if we are to allow our children to participate in any activity more dangerous than playing with Nerf balls and Tiddlywinks.
When Melbourne-based personal injury attorney Brad Sinclair was asked about the decision, he mirrored the sentiment expressed by many others queried about the case. “I am only surprised that it took 14 years for this issue to be put to bed. Without the enforceability of waivers of responsibility, there would be few if any activities available to the kids in our country — no school sports, no Little League Baseball, no Pop Warner Football. Liability issues would simply make it unfeasible for any organization, inside or out of the public sector, to risk the litigations they could be subjected to. That may sound odd coming from someone in my field but common sense is common sense, and it is nice to see it in the court system once in a while.”
Contact Info:
Name: Scot Small
Organization: Sinclair Law
Address: 5465 N. Highway 1 Melbourne, FL 32940
Phone: 1-888-722-1974
For more information, please visit http://www.sinclairlaw.com
Source: MarketersMedia
Release ID: 223631
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