Most parents want to protect their sons and daughters. The typical parent welcomes the opportunity to teach his or her child some useful skill. Yet not all parents appreciate the significance of their role as a child’s advocate.
If a child has been injured, then he or she really needs an advocate. The child’s parent should speak for the injured son or daughter within 24 hours of the accident that caused the injury. It is the parent’s job to share with the family doctor or the pediatrician all the details, regarding how the young patient got harmed in some way.
Sometimes, a parent’s view of an automobile accident obscures the fact that one of the young passengers might have been injured. The child may seem healthy, because he or she appears ready to play. Yet even a toddler with a cold virus tries to play with the available toys. In other words, a desire to play does not signal the absence of any injuries.
Some injuries have very mild symptoms, at first. For example, someone with a traumatized brain might simply complain about headaches or trouble sleeping. The smart parent pays attention to such complaints before more severe symptoms enter the picture. For instance, a child’s headaches might die away, only to be replaced by things like increased anxiety, poor grades or even dizziness.
How can a parent help a child to pursue a personal injury claim?
File the case in court; the court authorities will appoint someone to serve as litigation guardian. Normally, the parent’s new role mirrors to a large extent the role of the litigation guardian.
Ideally, the parents’ advocacy has included the hiring of an Injury Lawyer in Mississauga. The lawyer’s help could prove quite valuable, if the insurance company pushes for an early settlement. A public trustee will determine whether or not an early settlement would be in the child’s best interests.
An attorney could alert the client’s advocate/parent to the need for delaying the time for the settlement. It could be that, at that point, not all of the young client’s symptoms have manifested themselves. The insurance company needs to be held accountable for all the damages, not just some of them.
What happens if a court decides to grant an award to a minor?
The court realizes that a minor should not come into possession of a large amount of cash. Consequently, the court will ask one of two people to keep track of the money awarded to the young plaintiff. That role could be given to a public guardian. Alternately, it could be assigned to a public trustee. In either case, the guardian/ trustee keeps track of how the young plaintiff’s monetary award gets spent.
