It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: your child gets hurt in an accident that wasn’t their fault and that you couldn’t do anything to prevent. In a situation like this, it can be understandably hard to stay calm and be proactive about protecting your child’s legal best interests—but if you want to minimize the long-term impact this experience has on your kid, that’s exactly what you need to do.
Fortunately, you have help available from experienced personal injury attorneys with a history of fighting and winning cases much like yours on behalf of people much like you. No matter how your child was hurt or what specific damages you need to seek compensation for in their name, an Eatontown child injury lawyer can be the skilled and respected ally you need to get the best possible result from your legal proceedings.
When Should You Sue Over Your Child’s Injury?
Under New Jersey law, children under the age of 18 are not able to represent themselves in court, which means they can’t legally file suit on their own behalf over injuries they suffered through someone else’s negligence. Instead, it will fall to you as that child’s parent or legal guardian to file suit for them.
Pursuing a case that serves your child’s best interests is a legal requirement the court takes seriously, as any seasoned Eatontown child injury attorney can tell you. You generally aren’t allowed to settle a child injury claim out of court without first getting a judge’s approval. There are various restrictions on how money recovered on a child’s behalf must be stored and managed until they turn 18.
Other Unique Aspects of Child Injury Lawsuits
Generally speaking, you only have two years under New Jersey law to formally file a claim of this nature, starting from the moment your child first got hurt—or, in some situations, when it first became apparent they were hurt—due to another person’s misconduct. As a child injury lawyer in Eatontown can explain, though, children who get hurt as minors technically have until their 20th birthday to sue over that injury, provided that no one else sues in their name before that point.
There are certain situations where someone may be legally liable for a child’s injuries when they wouldn’t be liable for an adult’s injuries occurring under the same circumstances. For instance, landowners usually aren’t liable for accidental injuries suffered by trespassers, but if that trespasser is a minor drawn onto private property by something like an unsecured swimming pool, the landowner may be liable for the injuries under the attractive nuisance doctrine.
Learn More from an Eatontown Child Injury Attorney
Even if there was no way you could’ve prevented your child’s accident from happening, there may still be a lot you can do for them in the aftermath of their injury. You may have a slim chance of getting the case result you want and the compensation your child deserves if you try to file suit for them all on your own.
Retaining a respected Eatontown child injury lawyer is a key first step toward effectively enforcing your family’s rights after someone else has violated them. Call Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers today to learn more.
