Lakeway Child Injury Lawyer
While Lakeway is a relatively safe area for young children to grow up in, there is, unfortunately, no way for even the most dedicated parents to protect their kids from every possible situation that could lead to them getting hurt. That said, if your child has been injured as a direct result of another adult’s misconduct, you likely have grounds to file a civil suit and demand compensation for every form of past and future harm your child will experience.
There is a big difference between having the right to file a lawsuit and getting a good final result from your case. The presence of a personal injury attorney who has handled similar cases in the past is invaluable. Once retained, a seasoned Lakeway child injury lawyer can help you efficiently navigate around legal and procedural roadblocks in order to secure the compensation your family needs.
Rules for Parents Suing on Behalf of Children
A grown adult who has a duty of care requiring them to act responsibly under specific circumstances generally owes that duty equally to both adults and children around them, and they sometimes owe an even greater duty to children in particular. Accordingly, someone who recklessly or carelessly breaches a duty of care and causes a preventable physical injury to a child as a result can be held financially accountable for every loss that child will suffer due to that accident, including:
- Short-term and long-term medical bills
- Disability-related costs for things like assistive equipment and in-home care
- Lost future working and earning capacity
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional anguish and psychological suffering
- Lost overall enjoyment/quality of life
Minor children cannot represent themselves in court under state law, meaning a parent or guardian must act as their child’s next friend and take action on their behalf. The court will also typically appoint a guardian ad litem to ensure that any court verdict or settlement agreement reached in the case protects the child’s best interests—something a child accident attorney in Lakeway can explain in more detail as needed.
What Deadlines Apply to Child Injury Claims?
Any money obtained on a child’s behalf through an injury claim will not be paid directly to the next friend but instead will either be put into an annuity or placed in the registry of the court and be kept safe until the child is old enough to take legal possession of it. Any parent or guardian taking action in this way must do so within two years of when their child’s injury first occurred.
However, when a child wishes to file suit on their own behalf, the standard two-year filing period may be tolled, or paused, until the child’s 18th birthday. This is not a particularly common way of approaching this sort of claim, but a child injury lawyer in Lakeway can assist with the process if applicable.
Talk to a Lakeway Child Injury Attorney About Legal Options
No child deserves to suffer a serious injury because of an adult’s irresponsible or wrongful act. Unfortunately, that exact scenario plays out every single day, and when you are unfamiliar with your rights as a parent or guardian to demand civil restitution on your child’s behalf, you may have no choice but to bear the financial and emotional costs of their accident by yourself. Assistance is available from a compassionate Lakeway child injury lawyer. Call today to get started on a possible claim.
