My daughter strayed from us while we were visiting a farm and ended up breaking her arm when she fell off a tree. Are we entitled to make an injury claim for falling from a tree or is it our responsibility that she was hurt?
The circumstances surrounding the injury, the impact it has on your child’s life and the severity of the injuries are all aspects that will determine who is liable in your injury claim for falling from a tree. Claims such as these can be very complex therefore it is strongly recommended that you speak with a personal injury lawyer as they will able to determine who is responsible for your child’s injuries.
It could be the case that both parties are responsible for the injury sustained, if this is the case the value of your injury claim for falling from a tree may be adversely affected.
Under the USA statute of limitations, children aged less than 18 are forbidden from pursuing a compensation claim for falling from a tree nor are they allowed appoint a lawyer to act on their behalf. Once they turn 18 and are legally recognised as an adult under USA law they may seek compensation but if you do not want to wait that long, they may be eligible to pursue compensation using a ‘litigation friend’.
‘A litigation friend’ is appointed to represent the child in the claim, generally this will be a parent or guardian. The litigation friend must be approved by the court and must not have a conflict of interest in the claim.
To pursue compensation successfully you will need to prove that the third party responsible for the safety of your daughter failed to provide her with a duty of care. In order to do this you will need to substantiate your compensation claim with evidence to show that negligence on behalf of a third party resulted in the accident and subsequent injury to your child. Therefore it is best advised that you speak with a personal injury lawyer without delay to ensure all relevant evidence is gathered as quickly as possible.
Often in personal injury claims, evidence that may prove useful include photographs of the scene, a medical report of the injury and eye witness reports if possible. Although you have a time limit of three years from the ‘Date of Knowledge’ – that is the date on which the accident occurred – to make an injury claim for falling from a tree, that fact that contributory negligence could be a factor means that your claim may be complicated therefore you are advised to speak with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.