When Accidents Happen to Young People
Children have their whole lives ahead of them. So when an accident happens to a child, the personal injury it causes can have a devastating, lasting impact. At the Law Offices of Tyler & Peery, in San Antonio, we handle cases involving injuries to children with this fact in mind.
Our team of Board Certified Personal Injury Specialists will investigate exactly how your child's injury has affected your child and how it will affect him or her in the future — knowing not just what is wrong today, but how the injuries will affect your child as an adult.
This helps us maximize the eventual compensation we recover for our injured clients, giving them the resources they need to live as normal of a life as possible. We take this approach for many different accidents can happen to children:
- Car seats/child safety seat defects
- Animal bites
- Bicycle injuries
- Recreational accidents
- Swimming pool/water park accidents
- Amusement park accidents
The Statute of Limitations
While the statute of limitations in Texas personal injury cases is generally two years, things are different for minors. For children, the statute of limitations does not start running until the child turns 18 — even if the accident happened while the child was much younger.
Favorable Settlements in Child Injury Cases: The "Friendly Suit"
When an adult receives a settlement in a personal injury case, things are relatively straightforward. The adult signs the settlement agreements and receives the money. Thing are a bit more complex when children are involved.
In Texas, a child personal injury case requires a "friendly suit," a special hearing that requires the court's approval of a settlement. Often the court will suggest that the funds for the minor can be invested in an annuity to give the minor a stream of income once an adult. The funds may also be placed into the registry of the court until the minor is 18.
Sometimes parents' interests aren't the same as the child's interests when it comes to the settlement. For this reason, a guardian ad litem is often appointed to protect the minor's interests. At the Law Offices of Tyler & Peery, our attorneys will work with the guardian ad litem to make sure the minor is protected.
Contact a lawyer at the Law Offices of Tyler & Peery. Initial consultations are free and confidential. Our law firm represents people throughout Texas, including people in Dallas, Fort Worth and Corpus Christi.
