A civil suit can be brought against a minor in limited areas. First, if the dispute involves a contract, then there is no cause to file a suit as the minor can withdraw from enforcement of a contract at any time as he has no competence to enter into it from the beginning. State laws vary somewhat on the extent to which a parent may be joined as a defendant with the child. For simple acts of negligence the parent can not be joined, but where it is contended that the parent was negligent for not appreciating a heightened risk of a child's behavior, whether or not volitional, then a parent in most states may be joined.

The courts and legislatures generally excuse children from unintentional torts as a policy measure of protecting them from their own improvidence. Car accidents are a different story as the child's standard of care is equal to that of an adult's because he is engaged in an adult activity.

A judgment would attach in this scenario that would last until satisfied. But there is a small area where minors could be sued because states don't want children bringing debt with them at the age of 18.

A gross exception to this is taking place, or maybe already did take place in NYC where a judge allowed the estate of an elderly woman to sue a 4 year old boy who rode his bicycle into her, causing her to fall and hurt herself. Parents were not negligent, so the suit proceeded. By the way, the woman died from causes unrelated to the 4 year-old's bike.