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Liability Of Parents For Conduct Of Their Child Under Section 33.01 Of The Texas Family Code: Defining The Requisite Standards Of Culpability., L. Wayne Scott

St. Mary's Law Journal

Section 33.01 of the Texas Family Code uses archaic terms and needs to be updated to eliminate confusion. This section provides an expansive statutory avenue for recovering from the parent damages previously unavailable at common law for a child's acts. However, the extent of parental liability under both of the available statutory provisions—negligence and strict liability—is disputable. While section 33.01 currently uses the terms "willful" and "malicious," these terms should be excluded in favor of "intentional" and "grossly negligent conduct." In an age when tort liability is determined more from an insurance theory than a fault theory, section 33.01 of …