PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS FOR CHILD INJURED IN AUTO ACCIDENT
Was your child injured in a car accident in Minnesota? If so, there are several legal issues to keep in mind:
First, although the child has suffered the injury, the parents are still responsible for the medical bills. When our MN injury lawyers take on a case where a child has been injured, we represent the child first. However, we also make sure that the parents are reimbursed for their expenses, including medical bills.
When the child’s injury is from a car accident, the child is automatically entitled to No-Fault benefits. No-Fault insurance will pay at least the first $20,000 in medical bills. It will also pay up to $20,000 in wage loss if the child had a job. See What Are No Fault Benefits. In addition, No-Fault will reimburse the parents for mileage going to and from doctor appointments. In some cases, it may also reimburse parents for time missed at work.
Of course, many of the cases our lawyers handle involve a child injured in other ways besides a car accident. There are several different types of insurance to pay medical bills in different situations. We will explore this with the child’s parents when they call our office.
CAR ACCIDENT SETTLEMENT FOR A MINOR
Second, the settlement of a child’s personal injury case must be approved by a judge. This is required by law in Minnesota so that the judge can verify that the settlement is fair for the child. The procedure is called a Minor Settlement Approval Hearing.
Generally, the parent or legal guardian and the child must come to court with the personal injury lawyer. The auto accident attorney for the injured child leads the parent through a series of questions so that the judge can verify the settlement is fair for the child. The judge also looks at the child’s medical records and bills, and other facts about the case.
Third, children’s settlement money for the car accident injury will generally not be available to the child until he or she is at least 18 years old. (Although a judge can allow earlier withdrawal if the money is needed sooner for the benefit of the child.) The injury settlement money must be invested in a very safe way (bank deposit or insurance annuity). Also, the investment can only be in the name of the child who was injured in the accident and cannot be withdrawn by the child before he or she turns 18.
CHILD’S SETTLEMENT FOR FUTURE USE
Many times, parents of a minor who was injured in a car accident in MN will have our lawyer structure when the payments will be available to the child. For example, the parents may set up periodic payments starting age 18, or not start until age 22. This may preserve college financial aid. These are issues that our best MN child injury lawyers will discuss with you in more detail when you call our office.
Sometimes, when the child has to wait for payment of the settlement, they will try to get the money sooner. Usually this means the child will try to sell the settlement annuity when they turn 18. For example, a personal injury attorney in our office had one parent set up a structured settlement with a payment that would not come until the child was 40 years old. When the child was about 20 years old, he called our attorney asking how he could sell the future payment to get some money now.
This is not a call our personal injury lawyers like to get on child injury cases. When someone sells a future payment like that, they have to take a significant discount. Therefore, attorneys for an injured child will discuss with parents the fact that we want to set up the structure in a way that the child will hopefully not want to sell it early.
CAR ACCIDENT INJURY LAWYERS FOR CHILDREN
If your son or daughter was injured in a car accident, call us and discuss the potential case with a lawyer. We are experienced, effective attorneys for children injured in a car accident in MN. Our lawyer have also represented many families whose child was killed in a car accident, as well as pregnancy forced into early birth because of a crash.
Pam Rochlin and David Rochlin are Minnesota personal injury lawyers with more than 25 years’ experience. We have successfully helped hundreds of people injured in car accidents. We will answer your questions and make sure that your son or daughter gets fair compensation for the car accident injury sustained.
Our experienced lawyers will provide you with a free consultation. Further, we never charge anything unless your child is compensated. You can meet with a car accident injury lawyer to discuss your daughter or son’s car accident case at our offices in Edina, Minneapolis MN, St. Louis Park, and Woodbury MN.
Our lawyers also meet with people at their homes to discuss a child’s car accident injury in St. Paul MN, Roseville, White Bear Lake, Forest Lake, and Lino Lakes. We also come to Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Golden Valley, Anoka MN, Plymouth, and Maple Grove. Also, Rogers, Chanhassen, Chaska, Apple Valley, Burnsville, Albert Lea, and other cities throughout Minnesota. We also represent cases where a child was injured at school, or a store, a neighbor’s house, in an apartment, etc.