## Facts

- T. Z. Standard, doing business as Willow Run, Ltd., leased an apartment to Larry and Richardeen Shine, who lived there with their six-year-old son, Larry Shine, Jr.
- Standard alleged the child negligently set fire to the leased premises, causing property damage.
- Standard also sued the parents under S.C. Code § 20-7-340, which permits civil recovery from parents for specified willful or malicious acts of their minor children.
- The parents filed demurrers to both causes of action, asserting a child under seven is incapable, as a matter of law, of negligence and of intentional and malicious torts.
- The trial court overruled the demurrers, and the parents appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether a six-year-old is conclusively incapable, as a matter of law, of primary negligence, requiring dismissal on demurrer.
2. Whether a claim against parents under S.C. Code § 20-7-340 is legally cognizable on the pleadings in light of the child’s age.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of South Carolina affirmed the overruling of the demurrers.
- The court held primary negligence by a minor is not barred by conclusive age-based presumptions; the complaint against the six-year-old stated a sufficient claim.
- The court held the § 20-7-340 cause of action against the parents was properly pleaded and could proceed.
- The court adopted the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 283A child-standard for evaluating minors’ conduct in both primary and contributory negligence, overruling inconsistent prior contributory-negligence decisions.

## Legal Principles

- A minor’s negligence is measured by the conduct expected of a child of like age, intelligence, and experience under like circumstances, not by fixed age cutoffs.
- At the pleading stage, a court does not treat a child under seven as categorically immune from negligence liability; capacity is fact-dependent under the child-standard.
- S.C. Code § 20-7-340 is a valid legislative basis for parental civil liability for certain willful or malicious damage caused by a minor child, and such claims are not defeated on demurrer solely due to the child’s youth.
- Prior South Carolina decisions applying conclusive and rebuttable age presumptions to minors’ contributory negligence were overruled to the extent inconsistent with the adopted child-standard.

## Conclusion

The court replaced rigid age-based presumptions with a child-specific standard of care for minors in negligence cases and allowed both the landlord’s negligence claim against the six-year-old and the statutory parental-liability claim to proceed beyond the demurrer stage.


Standard v. Shine, 295 S.E.2d 786 (S.C. 1982)