When a child is injured in a car accident, the instinct of every parent in the room is to make it stop as quickly as possible. Stop the pain, stop the medical uncertainty, stop the insurance process that feels overwhelming while you are also trying to manage a scared and hurting kid. Insurance companies know this. They count on it. And the settlements they offer to families with injured children often reflect the fact that parents want resolution more than they want to be made whole.
What most parents do not know is that injury claims involving minors in Massachusetts come with a different set of rules, longer legal windows, and much higher long-term stakes than adult claims. As a personal injury lawyer in New Bedford, cases involving injured children are among the ones where the difference between a hasty settlement and a properly handled claim can be the most significant.
The Statute of Limitations Does Not Start Until Your Child Turns 18
In Massachusetts, the standard personal injury statute of limitations is three years from the date of the accident. For adults, the clock starts ticking the day they get hurt. For minors, the rule is different. The three-year period is tolled, meaning it is paused, during the years the injured person is under 18. A child who is hurt at age 10 has until they turn 21 to file a personal injury lawsuit in Massachusetts.
This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of injury cases involving children, and it has real implications. It means there is no immediate legal pressure to settle a child’s claim. The urgency that insurance companies create around settlement offers for injured children is manufactured. They want you to settle quickly not because you have to but because a quick settlement is almost always cheaper for them than a properly valued claim pursued with adequate time and information.
Why Quick Settlements on Behalf of Children Are Often Inadequate
Children’s bodies are still developing. An injury that appears to resolve in weeks or months can have consequences that only become apparent years later, as the child grows and the injured area is put under new demands. A neck injury in a seven-year-old may affect spinal development. A knee injury may create problems as the child becomes an adolescent athlete. A head injury’s cognitive effects may not be fully understood until the child reaches academic and social demands that reveal deficits that were not apparent initially.
When a claim is settled in the weeks or months following a child’s accident, nobody has that full picture yet. The treating physician cannot tell you with certainty how the injury will affect the child’s growth, their athletic future, their ability to concentrate in school, or any number of other long-term outcomes that matter enormously. Settling before that picture exists means accepting a number based on what is known today, not what will be known in two, five, or ten years.
A New Bedford personal injury attorney representing an injured child’s family will typically advise waiting until there is medical clarity about long-term prognosis before engaging in final settlement discussions. The tolled statute of limitations makes this approach possible without losing legal rights.
Court Approval Is Required for Minor Settlements in Massachusetts
Massachusetts law requires that any personal injury settlement on behalf of a minor be approved by a probate and family court or a superior court judge. This is not just paperwork. It is a legal protection for the child that prevents parents, regardless of intent, from settling a child’s claim for less than it is worth without judicial oversight.
The court review process involves a judge examining whether the proposed settlement is in the child’s best interest. It requires documentation of the injuries, the medical treatment, the claimed damages, and the basis for the settlement amount. A judge who is not satisfied that the settlement adequately protects the child can reject it.
This process adds a step that some families find inconvenient, but it exists to protect children from inadequate settlements. A personal injury lawyer in New Bedford who handles minor injury cases knows how to navigate this process and present the settlement in a way that satisfies the court’s requirements. An attorney who has not done this before may not.
What Should Happen to Settlement Money for a Minor
When a personal injury settlement for a minor is approved by the court, the proceeds are typically placed in a restricted account or structured settlement that the child cannot access until they reach 18. This protects the money from being spent on other household needs, regardless of how legitimate those needs might be. The funds belong to the child for their future use.
Structured settlements that pay out over time rather than in a lump sum are common in minor injury cases and can have tax advantages and long-term financial planning benefits that a one-time payment does not. A New Bedford personal injury attorney handling a child’s case can help families understand the options and structure the resolution in a way that best serves the child’s long-term interests.
Do Not Let the Insurance Company’s Pace Become Your Pace
If your child was hurt in an accident this summer in the New Bedford area, the most important thing to understand is that you have time. The legal deadlines that create urgency in adult cases do not apply the same way. You are not on the insurance company’s timeline. You are on your child’s timeline, which includes their medical recovery, their developmental trajectory, and their life ahead of them.
Contact a personal injury lawyer in New Bedford for a free consultation before you agree to anything on your child’s behalf. A well-handled claim for an injured child protects their future. A rushed settlement serves the insurance company’s present. Make the call before signing anything.
