Court Approval for Minor Settlements in Arizona

Executive Summary

• Arizona law considers any individual younger than eighteen a minor, and it prevents them from agreeing to legal representation or a personal injury settlement without their parents’ or legal guardians’ signatures.
• In Arizona, personal injury settlements for minors usually require approval from a probate court, even when an insurance company tentatively agrees on a settlement before going to court.
• Before an Arizona court approves the minor’s personal injury settlement, it typically demands an appointment of a conservator who will retain the awarded money until the child turns eighteen.
• An experienced personal injury attorney can help you by compiling essential documents, submitting evidence and explaining the process for minor settlements, helping you obtain the best possible outcome.

How Do Personal Injury Settlements Work for Minors?

The same components necessary in an adult personal injury lawsuit are also needed in a juvenile’s case. To prove negligence, the legal party seeking the settlement must first demonstrate that the other party owed a duty, the obligation was broken and the breach of duty directly resulted in harm or damages.

Even though personal injury settlements for minors and adults both require proof that the injured individual is entitled to damages, other elements of the approval process differ. For minors, personal injury settlements usually need to be accepted by the probate court, which handles the division of assets. Arizona law does not give minors direct agency over their settlement money until they turn eighteen, so a conservator is typically appointed before the court approves the child’s personal injury settlement.

Understanding the court approval process for minors’ personal injury settlements is essential. Consult an experienced personal injury lawyer to increase your chances of achieving the best possible outcome.

Legal Framework for Minors’ Personal Injury Settlements

For the state of Arizona, ARS 14-1201 defines a minor as anyone under the age of eighteen years old. Legally, minors do not have the same agency as adults, and their court cases may require additional measures. ARS 1-601 gives the minor’s parents the ability to direct their upbringing, education and healthcare to promote the minor’s best interest.

Similarly, a minor cannot sign legally binding contracts—their parent or legal guardian must act on their behalf. This also applies to signing a representation agreement with a lawyer or legal practice and any kind of personal injury settlement.

Under Arizona law, minors are not considered competent to handle settlement money or make asset-related decisions independently. Therefore, a probate court has to approve settlements that involve an injured minor and financial restitution. Probate courts are a component of the judicial system that deals with wills, estates, conservatorships and guardianships. Most of the time, minor settlement approvals require conservators to be appointed to safeguard funds and distribute them when the child turns eighteen years old.

When Court Approval Is Required

In Arizona, personal injury settlements for people younger than eighteen always require probate court approval for all amounts exceeding $10,000. Still, some situations may also necessitate court approval for amounts less than $10,000. For example, some insurance companies request court approval for any minor settlement to verify the extent of damages incurred, and they may refuse to pay out the restitution until the probate court greenlights it.

What Compensation for a Minor’s Personal Injury Case Looks Like

Following court approval, personal injury settlements for minors can take different forms. The two most common settlement types are:

• Structured – Sometimes, large settlement payments are divided and spaced out for months or years, giving the injured party a consistent flow of periodic deposits to promote long-lasting financial security.
• Lump sum – If a settlement is relatively smaller and more manageable, the court may order it to be paid out all at once to finalize the claim and force the injured party to forgo their rights to future benefits.

Before an Arizona court decides on a compensation plan for a minor’s personal injury case, the case must go through a complicated, document-intensive approval process, so having a highly qualified personal injury attorney leading you through each step is an excellent idea.

The Court Approval Process

The road to approval for a minor’s personal injury case can look different depending on the severity of the injury and the other party’s willingness to settle. Still, most personal injury settlements for minors in Arizona involve the following steps before approval.

Consulting With an Attorney

You should rely on trustworthy legal representation like the team at JacksonWhite Law. An experienced personal injury attorney can assist you in getting the best result possible by helping you get a tentative agreement from the other party, completing paperwork on your behalf, compiling substantial proof to support your case and educating you on the settlement procedure for minors.

Filing a Petition for Settlement Approval

Before going to court, you and your attorney will file a petition for a full and final settlement approval, requesting a hearing per ARS 23-941. Your lawyer will also attach supporting documentation and evidence to expedite the review process.

Presenting the Settlement for Review

When your settlement is ready to be presented, your attorney will take you and your minor to court, where you’ll answer basic questions about the settlement process, including whether or not you approve of the proposed settlement on behalf of your minor.

Conserving the Money

Once the proposal has been reviewed, the judge can approve the settlement and designate the funds owed to you or the elected conservator in a structured or lump sum payment arrangement that the minor can access when they turn eighteen years old.

When Is a Conservator Needed?

For several reasons, a minor may need a conservator after a personal injury settlement. Some examples of situations that legally require the appointment of a conservator for a minor in the state of Arizona are:

• The minor possesses assets worth more than $10,000 that need to be managed or protected in some other way.
• The minor has assets or business dealings that could be endangered or prevented due to their status as minors.
• The minor requires money for sustenance, education and protection but cannot independently access their funds.

Depending on your relationship with the minor, you may qualify to be appointed as their conservator, but it may be more reliable to use a professional, experienced conservator.

Who Can Be the Conservator?

ARS 14-5410 outlines who can be appointed a conservator and the prioritization of these requests. In the specified sequence, the following people are eligible to be considered for appointment as a conservator over a minor:

1. A conservator, property guardian or other similar fiduciary designated or approved by the court in any other jurisdiction where the minor resides.
2. A person or organization the minor nominated if the minor is at least fourteen years old and the court determines that the minor possesses the mental capacity to make an informed decision.
3. The person nominated to serve as conservator in the minor’s most recent durable power of attorney.
4. A parent of the minor or a person nominated by the will of a deceased parent.
5. Any relative of the minor who the minor has lived with for more than six months before the filing of the petition.
6. The nominee of a person caring for or paying benefits to the minor.
7. A private fiduciary who is licensed under section 14-5651.
8. A public fiduciary who is licensed under section 14-5651.

Relying on professional conservators is an excellent way to ensure the minor’s money is conserved responsibly. JacksonWhite Law offers top-of-the-line conservatorship services that give the minor’s money security and a chance to grow. The funds would be invested in a five-star-rated investment fund that presents a low risk but allows the money to increase conservatively over time.

Considerations of the Court

After determining that the other party’s breached obligation, such as driving through a red light, directly caused an injury to the minor, the court will consider several other things before approving the minor’s personal injury settlement. Some of the factors that the court will evaluate are:

• The severity of the injury.
• The permanence of the injury.
• The length and nature of the treatment plan.
• The estimated cost of past and future medical expenses.
• The best interest of the minor.

It is the court’s job to ensure fair and reasonable compensation for the incident. If you and your legal team talk to the responsible party and everyone amicably agrees on a settlement amount, the court process may be expedited. However, if you and the responsible party cannot agree, it may extend the process and force the judge or jury to make the final, binding verdict.

Get the Best Chance of Court Approval

Insurance companies usually require the court’s approval before paying any personal injury payment to a minor to confirm the total amount of losses suffered. This procedure can be convoluted and document-heavy. To maximize your chance of achieving the most optimal outcome, you should work with a personal injury attorney from the greater Phoenix, Arizona, area. Instead of putting your minor’s settlement in the hands of a court with no help, partner with the team at JacksonWhite Law for superior legal counsel who can help you get the settlement approved. At JacksonWhite, we can also set up a conservatorship while seeking court approval so that when approved, your minor’s funds will be protected until they turn eighteen.

Get Help With Minor Settlement Approvals

Personal injury settlements for minors require more steps and intentionality than the adult equivalent. You may still have to prove that the injury resulted from negligence or intentional wrongdoing by the other party, so having an attorney assemble important documents and submit evidence on your behalf can be helpful. Minors will only have free access to court-awarded money once they turn eighteen, but your attorney can help you appoint a conservator who will maintain the money until then.

If you need court approval for your minor’s personal injury settlement, contact the Personal Injury team at JacksonWhite Law. Throughout your case, our highly qualified legal team will be steered by Jared Everton, a skilled attorney with over two decades of experience fighting for minors’ personal injury settlements. He and the other talented legal minds at JacksonWhite will help you work toward achieving the most ideal outcome possible..

Call our Personal Injury team at (480) 744-3989 to discuss your case today.