Santa Barbara County, California recently enacted a social host liability ordinance, which makes it illegal for anyone to knowingly allow minors to imbibe alcohol on their premises. Social host laws, as they are known, are not exactly unheard of, and many states around the country have implemented these. However, as more and more plaintiffs begin to file lawsuits against parents whose homes were the venues for underage drinking that caused an accident, more local administrations are enacting their own laws holding parents and other adults responsible for minors drinking on their premises. In the Santa Barbara ordinance for instance, if parents knowingly allow minors to consume alcohol at their house, they could face a civil penalty of $500, $1,000 for a second offense and up to $2,000 for a third.
That amount is peanuts compared to the kind of liability you could face, if a teenager who drinks at your home goes out and causes a fatal or serious accident. Recent reports of such lawsuits have come in from California and Texas. In several cases, parents have been held accountable for underage drinking on their premises. These kinds of risks and hazards will increase during the holiday season when you can expect your teenage children to use your home for a party.
Don’t assume that the party has to be a raucous, hell-raising one for you to be held liable. Even if you have a few teenagers gathered at your home for an evening celebrating the holiday, and one of them drinks any amount of alcohol and causes an accident, you could be held liable under social host liability laws. You may be named in a claim even if you had nothing to do with purchasing or supplying the alcohol.
There’s little insurance can do to offset the damage if a jury decides you need to be punished for failing to stop underage drinking on your property. A massive verdict against you could mean plaintiffs’ attorneys moving to attach your property and other assets. Wealth preservation strategies designed by an experienced asset protection attorney can help you protect your wealth from such attacks.
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