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Reconsidering A Parent’S ‘Apparent’ Authority In Intergenerational Co-Residence: The Need For A Paradigm Shift In Evaluating Parental Consent To Search Adult Children’S Bedrooms, Hillary B. Farber

Hillary B. Farber

Intergenerational households are the fastest growing living arrangement in the country. The foreclosure crisis, high unemployment rate, and exorbitant health care costs are causing adults across the generational spectrum to make choices based on their newly realized financial circumstances. An important social effect caused by the weakened economy is that more adult children are moving back into their parent’s home, and aging parents are increasingly seeking refuge in their adult child’s home.

Firmly established precedent makes clear that a parent’s consent to a police search of a minor child’s bedroom for evidence of a minor’s criminal activity is a reasonable …