Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

Can my adult son sue his father (estranged) for libel?

I have 3 kids, 19, 16, & ten. As part of my ex's attempt to paint me as unfit for custody, he's alleged in a pre-trial memorandum that our son ''was charged with criminal offenses'' while in my custody. Untrue, and my son's mad as a hornet. He wants to sue his father for libel, defamation of character, whatever. Can he? The only mitigating factor is that the kid was ticketed 18 months ago for underage drinking. He was not driving, nor was a vehicle involved in any way. It was a summary offense for which he paid a fine of about $150. The estrangement between them is severe. We left because my ex is abusive.


Asked on 3/19/05, 6:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles A. Pascal, Jr. Law Office of Charles A. Pascal, Jr.

Re: Can my adult son sue his father (estranged) for libel?

No, he cannot sue, because what was said IS true. Underage drinking IS a criminal offense. Just because its severity is not that great doesn't mean that the statement is false.

Further, false statements in a legal document may not constitute libel, unless they were put there in order to get the statement into the public. There are other sanctions available for intentionally stating false things in legal documents. However, as I said, what was claimed in the documents is not false, it's true.

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Answered on 3/21/05, 4:45 pm


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