No parent of a minor child wants to think another adult might act recklessly or carelessly enough to potentially cause them serious harm. Unfortunately, that exact thing happens more often than you might think. When you are not prepared to enforce your child’s rights under civil law in a situation like this, you may have no choice but to take on the financial, physical, and psychological costs of their accident yourself.
If your child was severely injured in an accident that another adult was at fault for, you should strongly consider reaching out to a Reading child injury lawyer to discuss a possible civil claim. While getting a positive result from a lawsuit of this nature is rarely a simple process, assistance from a seasoned personal injury attorney could improve your chances of establishing legal liability for your child’s injury and getting restitution for all their ensuing losses.
Children under the age of 18 cannot represent themselves in court proceedings. When a reckless or careless adult causes a minor child to get hurt in an accident, the right to file suit over that injury passes to the child’s parents or guardians. Any adult pursuing this sort of claim on a child’s behalf must prove the defendant being sued directly caused the child’s injury through negligence, an irresponsible or illegal breach of a duty of care they owed to the injured child.
Adults sometimes owe greater duties of care to children than they would to adults. For example, if a minor child trespasses onto private property and falls into a swimming pool that was not properly fenced off, a Reading attorney could help pursue a child injury civil claim against the landowner. The attractive nuisance doctrine makes this possible even though that landowner would likely not be liable if an adult were injured under the same circumstances.
An adult filing suit on an injured child’s behalf can demand restitution for every form of past and future harm that child will experience because of their injury, including medical bills, lost future working ability, and various forms of physical and psychological suffering. In some situations, a parent or guardian suing on their child’s behalf can recover for losses they will personally suffer due to their child’s injury—for example, work income lost because they have to take time off to care for their child.
Importantly, 231 Pennsylvania Code § 2309 requires the court to approve all settlement agreements reached on behalf of an injured child in order to ensure it serves the child’s best interests. Parents and guardians typically must place any funds recovered in this way in a special bank account with strict restrictions on what the money can be used for until the child turns 18, as a child injury lawyer in Reading could further explain.
Even if you are as careful and attentive as possible, there is, unfortunately, no way to completely eliminate the risk that your child might get hurt in an accident that was not their fault. The adult who was at fault for that kind of accident can be held financially accountable for their actions, provided that you understand and make effective use of your and your child’s rights under civil law.
Working closely with a Reading child injury lawyer could be vital to pursuing a high-stakes claim like this in a proactive and effective way. Call today to get started.