What Happens if a Parent Doesn't Pay Juvenile Court Fines and Fees for a Minor

A fourteen-year-old went to juvenile court for criminal behavior, and his parents were ordered to pay his fines and fees. They didn't pay the money. Now he's turning 18, and his mother says that he has to go to court over those unpaid assessments, which will be transferred into his name. Under Michigan law, can he be ordered to pay money that his parents didn't pay, and will they be off the hook?

First, let's keep in mind, there is no great injustice here if he's ordered to pay money to the court or victim. Minor or not, it was his crime.

Second, at least part of the assessment would have been joint from the beginning -- perhaps all of it. See MCL 712A.18m. The issue here may be less whether mom and dad didn't pay the money for him, and more a matter of reviewing the fines and determining whether the juvenile offender should be discharged despite a full or partial non-payment, or whether the court will continue its jurisdiction while placing the onus on the (former) juvenile, now an adult, to pay the money or face additional consequences.

Third, if the parents were ordered to pay fines, it is within the power of the court to call them back in to court, as well, to determine why they have not done so, and the parents may face consequences (e.g., contempt of court) if the court finds that they had the means to pay some or all of the money but did not make a good faith effort to do so.