Legal Question in Personal Injury in Texas

Re: 19 yr old son at fault, can family be sued?

Generally, parents are not responsible for the torts of their children. A claim, however, can be made against the estate of your son. Only the assets of the estate would be subject to a claim.

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Re: 19 yr old son at fault, can family be sued?

Please accept my sincere condolences for the tragic loss of your son. God�s peace be with you.

Generally speaking, the answer to your question is "no" because your son was of majority ( over 18 y.o.). One notable exception to that general rule would be suit against the owner of the vehicle your son was driving at the time of the accident under a theory of "negligent entrustment". This theory would apply as against the family only if one or more of the other family members owned the vehicle that your son was operating at the time of the accident. However, if your son owned the vehicle he was driving and it was insured in his name (or simply an uninsured vehicle) my opinion would be that the family (or its' members would not be in jeopardy of being sued under the facts as you have presented them in your query.

I offer this opinion based on Texas law only. I suggest that you verify that there are not some other special vicarious liability (3rd party liability) theories available to the potential plaintiffs in the state where the accident actually occurred. The existance of other special vicarious liabilty theories are unlikely, but not impossible.