DELVENTHAL LAW
INJURY OR WRONGFUL DEATH OF A CHILD
Suffering injuries due to someone else’s negligence is bad enough. When it happens to your children, it’s a hundred times worse. It’s important to understand that your child has the same rights that you do to recover damages in a personal injury lawsuit. Further, you, as their parent, have the right to recover damages for your losses. Ultimately, if your child has suffered injuries due to someone else’s negligence, it is imperative that you reach out to a dedicated child injury attorney in Fort Wayne, IN for immediate help.
CHILDREN’S RIGHTS TO COMPENSATION IN INDIANA
In Indiana, children are defined as anyone under the age of 18. Children are considered legally “incapacitated”. In other words, they cannot file a lawsuit on their own behalf. For that reason, the statute of limitations on personal injury lawsuits is tolled until the child turns 18. In other words, the statute of limitations won’t start ticking down until after the child’s 18th birthday.
Parents, on the other hand, can file lawsuits on their children’s behalf—and they don’t have to wait until the child is 18. There may also be instances in which the court will appoint a guardian for the purpose of the lawsuit. This is known as a “guardian ad litem”.
In Indian, the court has the right to approve any settlement over $10,000. Often the court will assign a guardian ad litem for the purpose of ensuring that the settlement is commensurate with any injuries that the child has sustained. Those proceeds are payable directly to the child but are often kept in a trust until the child turns 18.
COMMON CASES INVOLVING CHILDREN
Children are often injured in car accidents, playing at school, during sporting events, and due to dangerous conditions on another’s property. Sometimes, they are also injured by doctors during medical procedures. In each case, the child is entitled to much of the same compensation that an adult would be entitled to. They can recover damages for pain and suffering, permanent impairment, or disfigurement.
The question, however, is how did the injury happen? In certain cases, when an adult can be held to blame for the child’s injuries the case can be fairly easy to make. In other instances, another child injures your child. In that case, the court must decide the extent to which the at-fault child understood the consequences of his actions. Ultimately, the parents are liable for the wrongdoing of their children.
HOW PARENTS CAN RECOVER DAMAGES WHEN THEIR CHILDREN ARE INJURED
Generally speaking, when a child is injured, it’s their parents who end up paying the co-pays and taking their children to see various doctors. When the injuries are severe this can take up a lot of time and money. One parent may be required to quit a job in order to care for the child full-time. If that’s the case, then the parent can and should be compensated for their lost wages.
The parent may also be required to pay for full-time care for their child. If the child requires perpetual medical care because of their injuries, then the parents are entitled to be compensated for that.
Attractive Nuisance Lawsuits
One of the most common personal injury lawsuits involving children is known as “attractive nuisance” lawsuits. What is that? Well, an attractive nuisance, roughly defined, is any object, structure, or condition that is irresistibly attractive to children and simultaneously dangerous. These laws are on the books because children have a propensity to drawn to dangerous places that they think are fun.
For instance, swimming pools in backyards. They’re very attractive and very dangerous to children. Property owners have a responsibility to ensure that young children don’t wander off and end up in a pool. When they do, the property owner can be held responsible.
PROVING ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE LAWSUITS
In order to prove an attractive nuisance lawsuit, the plaintiff must show that:
- The property owner knows or should know about the attractive nuisance
- The attractive nuisance can potentially cause death or serious bodily injury
- The children are too young to understand the danger of the attractive nuisance
- The cost of securing or removing the attractive nuisance is not excessive
- The property owner fails to take reasonable measures to secure or remove the nuisance
When those elements are all present, the plaintiff has satisfied all the criteria for an attractive nuisance claim.
Contact a Child Injury Attorney Today
If your child has been injured by another’s negligence, you can recover damages both for your own expenses and your child’s suffering. The Delventhal Law Office can help your family aggressively pursue a claim against a negligent party. Give us a call or contact us online for a free case evaluation.
The Indiana law that applies to your child accident case
Indiana provides special protections for injured minors. The general two-year personal-injury statute of limitations in IC 34-11-2-4[1] is tolled during minority under IC 34-11-6-1[2], so the clock generally does not start running until the child turns 18 — except for medical-malpractice cases, which carry compressed minor-tolling rules. Indiana's 51% modified comparative-fault rule (IC 34-51-2-6[3]) applies, but young children below the age of capacity cannot be assigned comparative fault. Court approval is required to settle any minor's claim, and structured settlements are routinely used to protect the recovery.
How insurance carriers fight Fort Wayne child accident claims
Insurance carriers in child-injury claims attack on three predictable fronts. First, they argue parental supervision — that the parent's failure to supervise was the proximate cause, not the defendant's conduct. Indiana does not allow parental immunity in most negligence contexts, but the supervision argument still surfaces. Second, they push the open-and-obvious doctrine, arguing the playground hazard, pool, dog, or product danger was apparent. Third, they argue the child contributed to the injury, even though young children are presumed incapable of contributory negligence. We counter with developmental-psychology expert testimony on the age-appropriate capacity standard, scene preservation, product-recall histories from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission[4], and pediatric-injury research that defeats the supervision-blame defense.
Evidence we preserve in the first 48 hours
Child-injury cases require rapid scene preservation and careful coordination with pediatric specialists who can document the developmental and long-term impact.
- Photographs of the scene, hazard, or product taken before cleanup or repair, including any age-inappropriate warning labels or missing safety features.
- Witness statements from teachers, daycare staff, coaches, or other supervising adults present at the time of injury, taken within days of the incident.
- Complete pediatric medical records — emergency department, hospital admission, surgical operative notes, and all follow-up specialty care.
- School and developmental records documenting the child's pre-injury baseline academic performance, behavior, and any specialist evaluations.
- Product recall histories and prior-incident data when a defective toy, crib, car seat, ATV, or other consumer product is involved in the injury.
Damages categories in an Indiana child accident case
Child-injury damages cover medical care from the date of injury through expected lifetime needs, future earning capacity (often the largest component when the injury impairs cognitive function or schooling), pain and suffering, and the lifelong impact of disfigurement or disability. Indiana courts routinely approve structured settlements to protect the recovery until the child reaches majority. Pediatric-injury severity research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention[5] documents the elevated harm children face in adult-scale incidents, which grounds the long-term-impact damages model.
What our child accident clients ask most
How long does my child have to file a personal-injury claim in Indiana?
Indiana tolls the two-year personal-injury statute of limitations during minority under IC 34-11-6-1[2]. The clock generally does not begin running until the child turns 18, meaning suit can be filed until the 20th birthday in most cases. Medical-malpractice claims have a compressed rule, and Tort Claims Act notice deadlines against government defendants are not fully tolled, so early evaluation matters.
Can my child be found partly at fault for the injury?
Indiana courts presume children under age seven incapable of contributory negligence as a matter of law. Children between seven and 14 are presumed incapable but the presumption is rebuttable. Children 14 and older are evaluated under the age-appropriate care standard. Comparative fault analysis takes the child's developmental capacity into account, not an adult reasonableness standard.
Does a settlement of my child's claim require court approval?
Indiana courts must approve any settlement of a minor's personal-injury claim under Trial Rule 17(C) and applicable probate procedures. The approval ensures the settlement is in the minor's best interest, that fees are reasonable, and that the net recovery is properly safeguarded — typically through a structured settlement or a restricted account that releases at majority.
What is a structured settlement and is it required?
Structured settlements convert the lump-sum recovery into a tax-free annuity that pays out over time — often funding college years, age-21 lump sum, age-25 lump sum, and lifetime medical-care needs. They are not legally required but are routinely used in Indiana minor-settlement approvals because they protect the recovery from premature dissipation and preserve the long-term care plan.
Can I sue my child's school or daycare for an injury?
School and daycare liability arises when supervisory negligence contributed to the injury. Public schools and government-operated daycares trigger Indiana Tort Claims Act notice deadlines as short as 180 days under IC 34-13-3-8[6], with a damages cap under IC 34-13-3-4[7]. Private daycares face standard negligence rules and carry general-liability insurance, with supervision-ratio and protocol records as central evidence.
What happens after you hire us
From the day we open the file, we preserve the scene, photograph the hazard, retain pediatric specialists to document developmental impact, and serve any required Tort Claims Act notice. We coordinate ongoing pediatric care, retain a structured-settlement broker before mediation, and file in Allen Superior Court when needed. Court approval of any settlement is a non-negotiable step. Every step is on a contingency-fee basis: no fee unless we recover.
