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Rules Regarding Personal Injury Claims By Children

Unlike an adult, a child cannot file a personal injury claim. Some adult must do that for the injured young boy or girl. That fact underscores the reason for the special rules, regarding personal injury claims by children.

Rules that apply to the statute of limitations

Car Accident Lawyer in Waterloo knows that the statute of limitations has a start date. Still that date does not have to be the day when the child got injured. If the child remained unaware of the injury for a period of time, the statute of limitations starts on the day that the injury was discovered.

In cases involving children, the statute of limitations does not start until after the appointment of a litigation guardian. A judge can appoint that guardian, but other adults have the right to make such an appointment. If relatives object to the judge’s choice and do not offer one of their own, the defendant has the right to name a litigation guardian. The legal system has introduced that provision in an effort to prevent delays. A delay could jeopardize the fairness of a ruling against the defendant.

A loophole in the rules regarding personal injury claims by children

Those rules act to prevent an unwanted delay. The defendant can undertake a specific action, in order to overrule any delaying moves. Yet the child remains unable to voice any objections to a delay.

The minute an injured child turns 18, he or she does have the ability to file a personal injury claim. Yet that claim must be made within the space of 2 years. In other words, adults could decide against filing such a claim, and thus force a young adult to squeeze a search for years’ worth of evidence into a short space of time.

Does that seem fair? Why do adults have the right to fight delays, while a youth that is nearing the age of 18 does not? After all, a child’s parents might invite delays by ignoring the effects of an injury, or by choosing not to hire an attorney.

How can the legal system keep that from happening? Would parents think twice about their decision, if they were told that their child would have greater freedom, as he or she approached the magic age of 18.

Suppose that parents were told that a son or daughter could challenge a parent’s reluctance to act, even before turning 18. Would that not be fair? After all, the injured son or daughter would have been forced to deal with an overlooked or ignored medical problem for a prolonged amount of time, before being granted the freedom to undertake a legal action against the negligent defendant.