Gibson v. Gibson

Opinion

SULLIVAN, J.

We are asked to reexamine our holding in Trudell v. Leatherby (1931) 212 Cal. 678 [300 P. 7] that an unemancipated minor child may not maintain an action against his parent for negligence. That decision, announced 40 years ago, was grounded on the policy that an action by a child against his parent would “bring discord into the family and disrupt the peace and harmony of the household.” (Id. at p. 680.) If this rationale ever had any validity, it has none today. We have con-*916eluded that parental immunity has become a legal anachronism, riddled with exceptions and seriously…