When a child is seriously injured, every priority changes. Once doctors stabilize them, parents are left facing a different kind of emergency: how to protect their child’s future, manage the mounting medical bills, and make the right legal decisions before time runs out.
The first questions we hear from parents are almost always the same:
- Who pays for my child’s recovery?
- How much time do we have to act?
- And how do we make sure any settlement is protected for their future?
Texas law gives families powerful protections in these situations, but only if you know how to use them. The rules for child injury cases are not the same as those for adults. The state gives minors extra time to file a claim, but the parents’ right to recover medical expenses runs on a much shorter clock. Missing that window could permanently limit your family’s financial recovery.
Our role is to make sure that doesn’t happen. We explain every deadline, safeguard your child’s rights, and handle the legal process so you can focus on their healing.
If your child has been injured and you’re unsure what to do next, call (210) 941-1301. We’ll answer your questions and explain your options clearly.
Key Takeaways for Child Injury Claims in San Antonio
- Texas has two separate deadlines for child injury claims. Your child has until their 20th birthday to file for their own damages, but the parents’ claim to recover medical expenses must be filed within two years of the incident.
- A judge must approve any settlement for a minor. The court's primary role is to ensure the agreement is in the child's best interest, and the settlement money is typically placed in a protected account that the child accesses as an adult.
- Multiple parties might be responsible for your child’s injury. Liability extends beyond the obvious at-fault person and includes property owners, schools, or product manufacturers who fail to provide a safe environment.
How Is a Claim for a Child Different From an Adult's in Texas?
Many parents believe they have years to decide what to do, but that is not the whole story. While your child has more time, your own right to recover the money you've spent on their medical care is tied to a much shorter clock. Missing this deadline means you are left with the financial weight of an accident someone else caused. Here’s a breakdown of what makes a minor’s case unique.
The "Tolling" of the Statute of Limitations for the Child
In Texas, there is generally a two-year window to file a personal injury lawsuit, a deadline known as the statute of limitations. But for an injured minor, the law makes a special exception.
The legal deadline is "tolled," a legal term that means the clock is paused. This pause continues until the child's 18th birthday. From that point, they have two years, until their 20th birthday, to file a claim for their own damages, such as pain, suffering, and future losses. This rule recognizes that a child is not legally able to make decisions for themselves and protects their right to seek justice once they are an adult.
The Parents' Claim Has a Strict Two-Year Deadline
While your child's claim is protected, you, as the parents, have your own separate claim for the financial costs you have paid before your child turns 18. This claim is not tolled and must be filed within two years of the date the injury occurred. It typically includes:
- Medical Bills: Every dollar you've paid for doctors, hospitals, physical therapy, and other medical care related to the injury.
- Loss of Services: A legal concept that accounts for the practical contributions a child might have made to a household that are now lost due to the injury.
With rising healthcare costs in the San Antonio area, failing to file the parents’ claim in time could leave a family with significant, unrecoverable debt, even if the child later secures compensation for their own damages.
The Court's Role in Protecting the Child
Any settlement for a minor must be reviewed and approved by a judge. The court’s duty is to ensure the settlement is fair and in the child’s best interest. To provide another layer of protection, the judge may appoint a "guardian ad litem." This is an independent attorney whose only job is to investigate the settlement, evaluate its fairness from the child's perspective, and report their findings back to the judge.
What Kind of Compensation Is Available for My Child's Injury?
When a child is seriously injured, it is impossible to know the full extent of the harm right away. Parents are often worried about immediate bills and the long-term, unseen costs that may not appear for years.
A quick settlement offer from an insurance company might cover the current medical expenses, but it rarely accounts for the future. Will your child need ongoing physical therapy? Will they have developmental delays because of a traumatic brain injury? Will they lose the ability to pursue certain careers? Accepting a low offer means giving up the right to compensation for these future needs.
Our firm focuses on building a case that accounts for the full scope of your child’s life, both now and in the future. The law allows us to pursue compensation for a wide range of damages, which are typically broken into two categories.
Economic Damages: The Tangible Financial Costs
These are the calculable expenses tied directly to the injury. They are meant to make the family financially whole again.
- Past and Future Medical Care: This goes beyond the initial emergency room visit. It includes projected costs for surgeries, rehabilitation, assistive devices, medication, and psychological counseling. For catastrophic injuries, this involves planning for a lifetime of care.
- Lost Earning Capacity: If the injury prevents your child from being able to work or limits their career options as an adult, we work with financial and vocational experts to project that future income loss.
- Educational Support: This includes costs for tutoring, special education programs, or other services needed to help a child with cognitive impairments resulting from an injury.
Non-Economic Damages: The Human Costs
These damages are harder to calculate but are just as real. They compensate for the ways the injury has diminished your child's quality of life.
- Pain and Suffering: The physical pain your child has endured and will continue to experience.
- Mental Anguish: This includes compensation for fear, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress related to the incident.
- Physical Impairment: If your child has lost the ability to walk, run, play sports, or engage in activities they once enjoyed.
- Disfigurement: Compensation for scarring or other visible injuries that cause embarrassment and emotional distress.
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of injury for children. These incidents frequently result in significant non-economic damages due to the trauma involved.
Who Is Held Responsible When a Child Is Injured?
When a child gets hurt, the cause is not always as clear as a typical car accident. Injuries could happen at a friend’s pool, a local playground, or even at daycare. Texas law holds property owners and organizations to a certain duty of care. When they fail to meet that standard and a child is injured as a result, they may be held responsible. This area of law, known as premises liability, is particularly relevant in child injury cases because children are less able to recognize and avoid danger.
You want to ensure that all responsible parties are held accountable for their role in your child’s injury, not just the most obvious one. A thorough investigation uncovers negligence you may not have been aware of, strengthening your child's case for fair compensation.
Injuries at a Private Residence (A Friend's or Neighbor's House)
Property owners have a duty to warn visitors of, or fix, known dangers. Common examples that lead to child injuries include unfenced swimming pools, aggressive dogs, unlocked gun cabinets, or rickety treehouses. Most of these claims are paid by the homeowner's insurance policy, not out of the homeowner's pocket. Many people hesitate to file a claim against a friend, but that is why they have insurance.
Injuries at a School or Daycare
These facilities have a heightened duty of care to provide a safe environment and adequate supervision for the children they are paid to protect. Common examples of negligence include unsafe playground equipment, failure to address bullying, unqualified staff, or not following safety protocols for food allergies. Texas has specific and detailed regulations for licensed daycare centers, and a violation of these rules serves as strong evidence of negligence.
Injuries Caused by Defective Products
Manufacturers of toys, car seats, cribs, and other children's products could be held liable if a design flaw or manufacturing defect causes an injury. These cases require a deep understanding of product liability law to prove that the product was unreasonably dangerous.
Car and Truck Accidents
These are a common cause of serious child injuries in San Antonio. Liability extends beyond the at-fault driver to include their employer if they were on the job, or even a vehicle manufacturer in the case of a safety system failure. Our firm has seen a rise in cases involving catastrophic injuries to children in accidents with commercial vehicles on major San Antonio highways.
What Happens to the Settlement Money? How Is It Protected?
If your child's case is successful, the compensation they receive could be a substantial amount of money. The single biggest question on parents’ minds at this stage is: how do we make sure this money lasts and is used for our child's benefit?
Texas law has a clear answer: the money belongs to your child, not to you as the parent. The courts have put strict systems in place to protect these funds until your child is a legal adult. This system prevents the money from being spent improperly and ensures it is available for your child's future needs as intended. It also shields the funds from creditors or potential misuse. Your attorney will guide you through setting up the proper legal and financial structures, which are approved and monitored by the court.
The Court-Registry Trust or Annuity
For significant settlements, a judge will almost always order the funds to be placed into a protected financial product. Two common solutions are:
- Annuity or Structured Settlement: The settlement money is used to purchase an annuity from a highly-rated life insurance company. That company then makes a series of guaranteed payments to your child over time. Typically, payments begin when the child turns 18 and are timed to coincide with life milestones like college tuition payments or a down payment on a home.
- Court-Registry Trust: The money may also be deposited into a special trust account managed by the court's clerk. No funds are withdrawn without a specific court order, which would only be granted for expenses that directly benefit the child, such as necessary medical treatments or unique educational opportunities.
What if My Child Was Partially at Fault?
You may have been told that because your child ran into the street, or was not paying attention, you do not have a case. This is one of the most common misconceptions we hear from parents.
Texas uses a legal rule called "proportionate responsibility," sometimes known as comparative fault. Simply put, this rule means you still recover compensation as long as your child is not found to be more than 50% responsible for the incident.
Even if your child made a mistake, it does not erase the negligence of an adult who was speeding through a neighborhood or a property owner who failed to fix a broken gate. The proportionate responsibility rule is designed to achieve that fairness, so do not assume you lack a case. Our role is to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure blame is not unfairly shifted to your child.
How the 51% Bar Rule Works
A jury assigns a percentage of fault to everyone involved in the incident. If your child is found to be 20% at fault, their final compensation award would be reduced by 20%. If your child is found to be 51% or more at fault, they cannot recover any compensation under Texas law.
A Special Rule for Young Children
Texas law recognizes that very young children lack the judgment to be negligent. As a general rule, a child under the age of 5 is legally incapable of being at fault for their injuries. For older children, their actions are compared to what a reasonably careful child of the same age, intelligence, and experience would have done. An insurance company may try to argue a child was at fault, but our job is to provide the full context to a jury.
Frequently Asked Questions About Child Injury Claims
Do we have to go to court?
Most personal injury cases, including those for children, are settled out of court. However, because a judge must approve any minor’s settlement, a brief court hearing is usually required to finalize the agreement and ensure it is in the child’s best interest.
How much does it cost to hire Cowen | Rodriguez | Peacock?
We handle child injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay no upfront fees. Our firm advances all the costs of investigating and pursuing the case. We only receive a fee if we successfully recover compensation for your child.
Can we bring a claim if our child was injured at a San Antonio city park?
Yes, but claims against government entities in Texas have different rules and much shorter deadlines. You are typically required to provide a formal "notice of claim" very quickly, sometimes within just a few months of the incident. We advise contacting an attorney immediately if your child was injured on public property.
What is our role as parents during the legal process?
Your most important role is to focus on your child’s recovery. You are also the primary source of information about how the injury has affected your child’s daily life, their emotions, and their activities. We handle the legal work, the paperwork, and the communications with the insurance companies so you focus on your family.
Your Child's Future Is What Matters Most
Worrying about the legal system should be the last thing on your mind. You do not have to sort through statutes and deadlines on your own. The law provides a pathway to secure your child's future, and our role is to guide you through it.
The first step is a simple conversation about what happened. Call Cowen | Rodriguez | Peacock today for a no-cost consultation at (210) 941-1301.