Legalities

Legalities, a weekly column that appears in the Help section of the Southern Illinoisan, is a free service of the Self Help Legal Center. You can visit the Southern Illinoisan website at: http://www.southernillinoisan.com

Q: I am thinking about selling my car to a minor. I am worried that if the vehicle is involved in an accident before he turns 18 that I could be liable. Can that happen?

A: Probably not, although since the law is a little murky in this area, you may want to find another buyer.

If you lend your car to someone that you know is not competent to operate it, and they cause an accident, there is a theory of law under which you can be liable for any damages that arise. That theory is called "negligent entrustment of a vehicle."

In a 1984 case that made it to the Illinois Supreme Court, a father sold his car to his twenty-three-year-old son. Later, the son was involved in an accident that killed his passenger and the passenger's parents sued the father under the theory of "negligent entrustment of a vehicle."

In court, the passenger's parents argued that because the son had three DUI convictions and did not have a driver's license, the father was negligent in entrusting the car to his son. The Court, however, ruled for the father holding that the theory of negligent entrustment did not apply to the sale of an automobile. The Court reasoned that "entrustment" required control and when you sell your car, you no longer have control over the car, so you cannot "entrust" the car to someone else.

In another Illinois case in 1991, however, an Illinois Appellate Court held that the theory of negligent entrustment could apply to the sale of an automobile. In that case, the buyer was fifteen years old and unlicensed. The court held that since the buyer was a minor and did not have a license, the seller (a car dealer) had reason to believe that the buyer was incompetent to drive. This case, however, did not make it to the Illinois Supreme Court, so it is uncertain how the Supreme Court would have ruled in this case.

Dealing with minors is always a risk – minors have the ability to void (cancel) some contracts and not be held liable for others. We will examine the law regarding minors entering into contracts in next week's column.