How the Statute of Limitations Differs for Minor vs. Adult Injury Claims in California
When a child is injured due to someone else’s negligence, the incident can affect not only the child but also their entire family. Child injuries can cause long-term harm and can lead to financial uncertainty for parents. Injuries involving children raise special legal considerations, including the deadline for making a legal claim.
An experienced attorney from Allen Law Firm can review your situation and explain the deadline that applies. Our compassionate Monterey personal injury lawyers have extensive experience handling claims involving minor and adult victims. Contact us today for a free case review.
What Are Statutes of Limitations?
Statutes of limitations are laws regarding when a legal claim must be filed. These time limits can apply in criminal and civil cases. If a party that has a legal cause of action does not file a case within the applicable deadline, they can forfeit their right to redress from the court system.
Statutes of limitations exist in civil cases for several reasons, including:
- They encourage prompt filing of legal claims.
- Justice is more likely since witnesses’ memories are fresh and the evidence is more reliable.
- They prevent the court system from being unnecessarily clogged.
- They set a firm deadline so that defendants don’t have to worry indefinitely about a legal case against them.
Adult Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Lawsuits
For a typical personal injury case involving an adult, the statute of limitations is generally two years. This means that accident victims usually have two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. Notably, medical malpractice claims must be filed within three years of the injury and are subject to the discovery rule.
Child Personal Injury Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations for minors is still two years. However, the statute of limitations is “tolled” or paused until they reach the age of majority. Therefore, child victims have until their 20th birthday to file a lawsuit.
Child Injury Claims Involving Governmental Entities
Further complicating the matter is that the statute of limitations can be different, depending on the status of the defendant. For example, if your child has a personal injury claim against the government entity, they are subject to a six-month statute of limitations. For example, this deadline could apply if a child is injured on school grounds, a public playground, or due to a municipality’s negligence. Additionally, you will need to prepare a notice of claim, outlining your child’s injuries and the damages you are seeking.
Why the Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Lawsuits Is Different for Children Than for Adults
Children under 18 cannot file a lawsuit in California. While their parents or legal guardians can file lawsuits on their behalf, children are given the option to wait until they are a legal adult if they wish to advocate for themselves.
When Children Statutes of Limitations May Apply
Children can be harmed in some of the same types of accidents as adults, but they could be injured in other incidents, such as:
Car Accidents
Car accidents are a leading cause of serious injuries to children. Their small bodies often cannot withstand the extreme force of a collision, leading to serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, broken bones, and soft tissue injuries.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents
Children often get from place to place by walking or riding a bike. If a child is injured as a pedestrian or cyclist heading to school or somewhere else, they may have legal grounds to file a personal injury claim against the party responsible for their injuries.
School Injuries
Children spend a fair amount of time at school. If they fall at school, are hit by a bully due to negligent supervision, or are hurt on the playground, they may have a viable claim against the school. This is because the school district has a duty of care toward the children they are responsible for.
Park and Playground Injuries
Children can be harmed by faulty equipment, poor supervision, or unsafe conditions at parks.
Premises Liability Accidents
Premises liability is the area of law regarding the responsibility of property owners to maintain their properties in a safe condition and the legal liability that arises when they fail to uphold this duty. It can apply to locations such as:
- Government buildings
- Private residences
- Stores
- Malls
- Movie theaters
- Amusement parks
- Swimming pools
Dog Bites
Children are particularly susceptible to dog bites due to their lower stature, and dogs may get agitated by them more easily. California follows a strict liability law for dog bites, meaning that dog owners are held strictly liable if their dog bites someone who is legally on the property.
Product Liability Accidents
Children are injured by defective products every year, including:
- Car seats
- Strollers
- Cribs
- Toys
- Clothing
- Electronics
Product manufacturers, designers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers can be held responsible under these laws.
Other Differences Between Adult and Children Personal Injury Cases
Besides having different statutes of limitations that apply, children’s and adults’ personal injury cases differ in other ways, including:
Who Files the Case
In a child injury case, the parents may file a case on the child’s behalf or to seek compensation for the damages that they have sustained, such as payment for medical bills. Alternatively, the child could file the case once they reach the age of 18. In adult personal injury cases, the injured person usually files the case.
Appointment of a Guardian Ad Litem
Adults are expected to advocate for themselves and can hire a personal injury attorney for assistance. However, in a child injury case, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem. This is an adult who protects the child’s interests, not the personal injury lawyer. Sometimes, one of the parents might be appointed the guardian ad litem.
Court Approval and Supervision for Settlements
Adults can approve their own settlements, but settlements concerning children’s personal injury cases must often be reviewed and approved by the court. This is because courts are concerned with protecting the child’s best interests, so extra safeguards may be put in place to ensure that a legal decision serves them.
Additionally, any compensation awarded in a child’s personal injury case may be put into a trust or placed in a blocked account until the child reaches the age of 18. These extra steps help ensure that the funds are used as intended for the child’s needs.
Different Damages
Personal injury claims generally boil down to the money awarded to the plaintiff to compensate for past, current, or future losses. Calculating an adult’s injuries is usually more straightforward, consisting of medical bills, future medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering. Even if a more speculative form of damages is involved, such as lost earning capacity, experts can be retained to evaluate the adult’s occupation, job history, education, age, health, and work skills to accurately assess the losses.
Calculating damages in child injury cases is often more complicated. They may still be in school, and their potential may not be known at this time. If they suffer a permanent disability, it may be difficult to determine how this injury will impact their future and how their future is different from what it would have been had they never been injured.
Children can also suffer medical complications, which can sometimes be difficult to predict since they are still growing. Developmental delays can have lifelong impacts on the victim’s life.
Due to these considerations, parents may carefully consider how a child’s injury may affect them for years to come and consider both short- and long-term losses, such as:
- Medical expenses: This includes payment for emergency medical treatment, diagnostic tests, ongoing medical care, physical rehabilitation, medical equipment, and future medical needs. Parents should work with medical experts to determine a child’s future medical needs, especially if lifetime care is expected.
- Special education needs: A child’s injury can cause the child to miss time from school and fall behind. The parents may need to consider the costs of extra tutoring, special education, and/or adaptive learning technology.
- Home modifications: If a child suffers a serious impairment or disability, it may be necessary to modify their home to accommodate their disabilities, such as adding wheelchair ramps, lifts, larger doorways, or medical equipment at home.
- Reduced earning capacity: The injury could have affected your child’s future ability to get a job. Any award should consider these potential damages, as the value of your child’s lost or reduced earning capacity could be significant.
- Pain and suffering: You could be considering a lifetime of ongoing pain with a child’s injury claim. You can pursue compensation for these and other non-economic damages.
- Emotional distress: In your child’s personal injury claim, you can also request compensation for emotional distress, psychological trauma, mental anguish, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, panic attacks, fear, or PTSD. The claim can include a request for compensation for therapy, counseling, and psychiatric treatment, as well as the negative impact that these effects have on the child.
- Lost quality of life: Serious injuries can disrupt children’s lives. They can make it difficult for them to participate in sports or social activities. It could also impede their relationships with friends and family members. Scarring and disfigurement can negatively impact a child’s self-esteem and self-image.
Due to the need to consider the long-term effects of injuries on children, expert witnesses may be necessary, such as child pediatricians, psychologists, and vocational experts. These experts can explain how the injury will likely affect the child, the psychological impact of trauma on a child, and how the injury may affect future career prospects, respectively.
Structured Settlements
Sometimes a court will approve a structured settlement, rather than placing funds in a blocked account. Both adult and children’s claims could involve a structured settlement, rather than the more typical lump-sum settlements.
With a structured settlement, the recipient receives funds in increments, such as monthly, quarterly, or annually. This structured form of payment could be helpful to provide for the child’s immediate and future needs.
Contact Allen Law Firm for a Free Consultation
Our legal professionals have extensive experience in handling all types of California personal injury cases, including those with child or adult victims. We can discuss your legal rights during a free, no-obligation consultation. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.
