Does a child get their compensation?

Question

does a child receive their compensation following an accident or is it held in trust until they are 16. The latter was told to me by a neighbour.

Answer 1

In the US, the money should be held in trust at least until the age of 18.  Depending on the terms of the trust, it could be held until age 25 or even longer.

Answer 2

Depends largely on what the compensation is for. As a child does not earn anything, any costs incurred/expected as a result of the injury would be born by the parent and therefore reimbursed/paid to them.

If you are talking about a serious injury which is expected to affect the child into adult hood then yes the element of the settlement relating to the long term effects of that injury would be held in trust until they are older.

Answer 3

As a child has no income, settlement can often be difficult to determine as no measurement.  Dependant on the age of the child and what they have lost will determine settlement but the payment will usually go to the parent or guardian for a number of reasons.  Mainly you will have a bank account a child may not.  2 the additional expenditure you may have to incur i.e. tutors if school cannot be attended will be incurred by the adult not the child.  If no additional expense and simply  a benefit payment you may find a limit within the policy for a minor.

Hope this helps

Answer 4

A car accident?   It depends on the judge or the settlement.

Answer 5

In the US - the money is held in trust until the minor reaches that age of majority (18).

If the settlement exceeds a certain amount - you have to have a judge approve the settlement.

I would expect the UK to have a similar process.