Seeking a Personal Injury Suit on Behalf of a Child

All parents never hope they have an injured child. It doesn’t matter the injury either. If they fall off the monkey bars and break their arm, it can be just as terrifying as a child getting hit with a car. However, if a child has been injured in an accident due to someone else’s negligence, it is something that affects the whole family. A parent may have to amend their schedule to take care of a child, siblings may need to change plans or may be overlooked by parents, and of course, the child themselves may end up missing school. So if a child has been injured in an accident, they, too, deserve justice and compensation for their injuries even if they aren’t part of the working class yet.

Personal Injury

There are many who think that personal injury suits are only worthwhile if your ability to work has been compromised and you need to pay your medical bills. However, for a child who doesn’t work and doesn’t pay their own medical bills, parents might not think to pursue a personal injury case for them. However, a parent will still have to pay those medical bills even though another caused the accident. Furthermore, accidents are incredibly traumatic even for adults. Your child may suffer disfigurement or emotional trauma that will need to be treated. As a parent, it is your responsibility to treat these issues, but it should not be your responsibility to pay for them if another caused the accident.

Injury Claim for a Child

When it comes to filing a personal injury claim for a minor aged child, it works much the same way as if you were filing a claim for yourself as an adult. You will speak with your lawyer and get the whole process rolling. Much like in an adult claim, your case hinges on if the negligence of another was the cause of the accident. If your child ran into traffic, for example, your personal injury suit won’t likely be successful.

There is also one more important distinction when it comes to personal injury cases for minors – time. The statute of limitation in which you can file a personal injury claim for a minor is different compared to an adult. You actually have much longer than you would have for an adult. If an adult were injured, they would have two years to file a claim before they would be barred from doing so. However, a parent of a minor, or a minor themselves later, has until two years after their 18th birthday to file a personal injury suit. This means, if a child is injured when they are 17, their parent can file a claim or the child can wait until they turn 18 years of age and file the claim themselves. Of course, the longer one waits to file after an accident, typically the weaker their case will because due to loss of evidence and witnesses.

Get Help

If you are the parent of a child injured in an accident, you will likely care more for their health over anything else. However, nursing an injured child back to health is expensive, and it is a bill that you shouldn’t have to pay yourself. Some parents may innately think that a minor can’t have a personal injury case, but it simply isn’t true. With the help of a lawyer, it isn’t much different than an adult personal injury suit.

If you have a child who was the victim of an accident due to another’s negligence, contact us today. The Law Office of Freeman & Freeman is dedicated to helping injured people, even children, get the compensation that they need to get back on their feet.