Parent-Child Privilege Act of 2001

The Parent-Child Privilege Act of 2001 (H.R. 733) proposes to change federal evidence rules to protect the privacy of communications between parents and their children. Under this bill, parents and children could generally not be forced to testify against one another or disclose private conversations in federal civil or criminal court cases.

For everyday citizens, this means that the legal system would recognize a "parent-child privilege" similar to the protections currently granted to spouses or attorneys and their clients. However, these protections would not apply in specific cases involving family disputes, such as child custody battles, allegations of child abuse or neglect, or lawsuits between a parent and child. While the bill was introduced in 2001, it did not advance past the committee stage and has not become law.