Injury Claims for Children in California: Court Approval and the Minor's Compromise
Your child was hurt. A driver hit them in a crosswalk on the way home from school, a neighbor's dog bit them in the face, or they were in the back seat when someone ran a light. They are healing, and now an adjuster is calling about a settlement and asking you to sign a release on your child's behalf.
You cannot. Not by yourself, and not for any amount. A parent has no authority to sign away a child's injury claim in California, the filing deadline is not the one you would expect, and the money almost certainly does not go into your bank account. Very little about a child's claim works the way an adult's does.
Quick answer: A child's injury claim in California is tolled while they are a minor under Code of Civil Procedure section 352, so the ordinary two year period generally does not begin until their eighteenth birthday. A minor cannot sue or settle alone, and must appear through a guardian ad litem under Code of Civil Procedure section 372. Any settlement, of any size, requires court approval through a petition governed by Probate Code sections 3500 and 3600 and California Rules of Court rule 7.950. Probate Code section 3611 then controls where the money goes, and the usual answer is a blocked account no one can touch until the child turns eighteen.
The Approval Process, Start to Finish
Parents are surprised by how formal this is for a small settlement. The steps are the same whether the number is two thousand dollars or two million.
- 1. Guardian ad litem appointed. What happens: The court appoints an adult, nearly always a parent, to act for the child. Who handles it: Application by the parent or attorney.
- 2. Settlement negotiated. What happens: Terms are agreed with the insurer subject to court approval, so nothing is final yet. Who handles it: Guardian ad litem and attorney.
- 3. Medical bills and liens resolved. What happens: Providers, health plans, and lienholders identified and reductions negotiated first. Who handles it: Attorney.
- 4. Petition prepared and filed. What happens: A verified petition on the mandatory Judicial Council form covering injury, treatment, recovery, terms, fees, and costs. Who handles it: Attorney, verified by the petitioner.
- 5. Hearing. What happens: A judge decides whether the settlement is in the child's interest. Petitioner and child attend unless excused. Who handles it: The court.
- 6. Order entered. What happens: The court approves, reduces the fees, or rejects the settlement, and directs how funds are held. Who handles it: The court.
- 7. Funds deposited and receipt filed. What happens: Money goes into a blocked account or other approved arrangement, and proof is filed. Who handles it: Attorney and depository.
The Deadline Is Tolled While Your Child Is a Minor
Code of Civil Procedure section 352 provides that when a person entitled to bring an action is under eighteen when the claim arises, that period of minority does not count against the limitations period. In a standard injury case the two year clock generally does not start until the child's eighteenth birthday, giving them until roughly age twenty to file.
There are exceptions, and they are the kind that end cases. A claim against a city, county, school district, or transit agency is subject to a very short claim presentation requirement that this tolling generally does not extend, and claims involving medical negligence follow different and shorter rules for children. If a government vehicle, a public school, or a hospital is involved, treat the deadline as immediate. Our post on California filing deadlines covers how short those windows are.
Why Waiting Until Eighteen Is Usually a Mistake
The tolling rule protects children who were never told they had a claim. It is not a reason to sit on a good one.
Witnesses move and forget. Surveillance footage is overwritten within days. Vehicles are repaired and sold. The dog that bit your child gets rehomed and its history disappears. Records connecting the injury to the incident are cleanest when treatment starts immediately. A claim filed at nineteen is legally alive and evidentially dead.
The Guardian ad Litem
A minor cannot appear in a California court on their own. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 372, a minor must appear through a guardian ad litem appointed by the court, and that person is authorized to act for the child in the case, including agreeing to a compromise subject to court approval.
The appointment is routine. It is usually a parent, the application is short, and courts grant it as a matter of course unless the parent's interests conflict with the child's. That happens most often when the parent was the driver in the crash that injured their own child, and the court then appoints someone else.
Every Settlement Requires Court Approval
This is the part that surprises people most. There is no small settlement exception. Whether a lawsuit was ever filed or not, a compromise of a minor's claim requires a judge to approve it.
Probate Code section 3500 provides the route when no action has been filed, allowing a parent to compromise a child's claim with court approval. Probate Code section 3600 applies when a court approves the compromise of a pending action, and requires the court to direct what happens to the money before anything is paid out.
The reason is straightforward. The court is protecting the child from the adults, including a parent who might settle cheaply because rent is due, and an insurer that would like a signed release from someone with no authority to give one. The insurer benefits too: an approved settlement is final and cannot be reopened when the child turns eighteen.
The Petition and What the Judge Actually Reviews
California Rules of Court rule 7.950 requires a verified petition, on the mandatory Judicial Council form, containing full disclosure of all information bearing on the reasonableness of the settlement. Verified means signed under penalty of perjury, and full disclosure is taken seriously.
Judges look at a consistent list:
- The nature and extent of the injury, and whether recovery is complete
- What treatment was received, what it cost, and whether future care is expected
- Whether the amount is reasonable given the injury and the available insurance
- The attorney fees and costs requested, itemized
- The bills and liens being paid from it, and whether they were negotiated down
- The net amount the child will actually receive
- Where that net amount will be held until the child is an adult
A judge who thinks the settlement undervalues a permanent injury, especially a facial scar in a dog bite claim, can and does refuse to approve it.
The Hearing, and Whether Your Child Has to Come
California Rules of Court rule 7.952 provides that the petitioner and the minor must attend the hearing unless the court excuses attendance for good cause. Courts frequently excuse a very young child or one away at school, but assume attendance is required until the court says otherwise.
The hearing itself is brief. If the petition is complete and the numbers are sound, many are approved in minutes. Delays come from incomplete petitions, unresolved liens, and fee requests the judge will not allow.
Where the Money Goes
Probate Code section 3611 sets out how the funds may be held. The most common order is a deposit into an insured account at a bank or credit union, subject to withdrawal only on court order, which is what people mean by a blocked account. On the child's eighteenth birthday the funds are released to them directly.
Other options are used in larger cases: a trust for the child, an annuity that pays on a schedule after eighteen, or payment to an existing guardian of the estate. In a serious case a structure that pays in stages through the child's twenties is often better than handing an eighteen year old a lump sum.
What a parent cannot do is spend it. Withdrawing from a blocked account before the child is eighteen requires a separate court order, and the court grants those sparingly, for the child's needs rather than the household's.
Attorney Fees and the Bills You Already Paid
Fees Are Set by the Judge
In a minor's case the contingency percentage in the retainer agreement is a request, not a rule. The court determines a reasonable fee independently, and many judges start below the percentage that would be standard in an adult case, adjusting up where the case required litigation. A fee that looks routine for an adult can be cut on a child's claim, and the reduction goes to the child.
Medical Expenses a Parent Paid
Parents are obligated for their children's medical care, and a parent who paid those bills or remains liable for them has a claim for those expenses in their own right. In practice the medical expenses are resolved as part of the same settlement, with the parent reimbursed for what they actually paid and the balance going to the child's blocked account.
The court examines that split closely, because it is the obvious place for money to be diverted from the child. Keep every receipt and explanation of benefits, and expect reimbursement to be documented rather than estimated. How the categories divide is covered in our post on what a California injury case is worth.
When You Probably Do Not Need a Lawyer
If your child scraped a knee, was seen once and released, has no scar and no ongoing symptoms, and the insurer is offering a modest sum, you may not need an attorney. You still need court approval, and some courts will walk a parent through the petition on their own. A contingency fee, even a reduced one, on a very small settlement leaves the child with less.
Get help when there is a permanent scar, a broken bone involving a growth plate, a head injury, an injury still healing, a public entity or school involved, or a death in the same incident. Get help also when your child was struck as a pedestrian, because those cases combine serious injuries with contested fault.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I just sign the settlement for my child?
No. A parent has no authority to release a minor's claim. The settlement requires a court order approving it, regardless of the amount involved.
How long does my child have to file a claim?
Under Code of Civil Procedure section 352 the limitations period is generally tolled during minority, so the two year period begins around the eighteenth birthday. Claims against public entities and medical negligence claims are the major exceptions and are far shorter.
Do we really need court approval for a small settlement?
Yes. There is no minimum. The petition process under Probate Code section 3500 applies even when no lawsuit was ever filed.
Does my child have to go to the hearing?
Usually yes. Rule 7.952 of the California Rules of Court requires attendance by the petitioner and the minor unless the court excuses it for good cause, which courts often do for very young children.
Can we use the money for my child's expenses before eighteen?
Only with a further court order, and courts grant those narrowly for the child's own needs. A blocked account is designed to be hard to reach, and that is the point.
What happens to the money when my child turns eighteen?
It is released to them directly, with no conditions. That is one reason a trust or an annuity is worth considering in a larger case rather than a lump sum on a birthday.
Your Child Was Injured and an Insurer Wants a Signature? Geller Legal Can Help.
Children's cases are lost in two ways. They are settled early, before anyone knows whether a growth plate injury will affect development or whether a scar will need revision, and a judge approves it because the petition made the injury look resolved. Or they are set aside on the theory that there is time until eighteen, and by then the footage, the witnesses, and the vehicle are gone.
Geller Legal | Personal Injury Attorneys handles these cases with the detail they demand. We file the guardian ad litem application, negotiate the medical liens down before the petition goes in, prepare the petition so the judge has what the rules require, and structure the funds so the money is there when your child needs it.
We serve injured clients throughout California, with offices in Walnut Creek, Oakland, and Los Angeles. If your child was hurt and an adjuster is already asking for a release, that is a case worth a conversation before anything is signed.
Contact Geller Legal for a free, confidential consultation with Attorney Michael Geller.