Is an Attorney Required to Present the Minor Settlement for Approval?

Absolutely not. You can present the case yourself for approval. However, in most jurisdictions, an independent Guardian ad Litem (guardian for the litigation - most often an attorney) will be appointed to review the settlement and report to the court whether the terms and conditions are satisfactory. The court will then give approve the settlement, issuing a formal order.
 
Are You Expected to Do This Yourself?
 
No. An attorney is usually appointed Guardian ad Litem, and she will write her own report and present an order to the court. You may have to sketch out a petition, and we provide you with a form of Petition for Approval of Minor Settlement pro se. In that petition, you - as the parent - are asking the court to appoint a Guardian ad Litem and approve the settlement.
 
What Are the Costs and Fees For This Process of Obtaining Court Approval for Settlement of a Minor's Insurance Injury Claim?
 
There are four choices to start out the process of petitioning the court for approval of a minor settlement: either:

• You prepare the Petition yourself; or
  
• The insurance company "in-house" attorney prepares the Petition (at no cost to your child); or
  
• The insurance company hires a petitioning attorney to prepare the Petition (at no cost to your child); or
  
• You hire a petitioning attorney and pay him from the minor's settlement award as an expense of obtaining settlement.
  

 
If you are unable to get the insurance company to handle the court approval process at their expense, then try first to go it alone (if the claim and injury are straightforward). If you are able to prepare the petition, your child will bear no expense.
 
Your last choice is to hire an attorney to prepare the petition. You will have to agree to have the fees paid from your child's settlement award.
 
The Guardian ad Litem will charge fees for interviewing you and your child, investigating the accident facts, reviewing the medical records and talking to doctors, writing her report, and presenting it to the court. The order will be entered and filed with the clerk. Thereafter, the GAL may become involved in setting up the accounts (if you or the insurance company did the Petition) or verifying that the funds were disbursed as ordered by the court. Total expected costs are as follows:
 
Here is a breakdown of what work must be done, who must (or can) do it, and what it should cost. Note that "GAL" stands for the independent Guardian ad Litem.
 

 
Who Pays for This Approval Process?
 
The key here is to require the tortfeasor's insurer to pay for the entire process as part of the settlement negotiations. The arguments to use and timing strategies are contained in Minor Settlement Approval Negotiations. In short, the process is largely for the benefit of the insurance company, since it is designed to preserve the integrity of the settlement from a later challenge. Unless you otherwise reach an agreement with the insurance carrier, those costs and fees are going to be borne by your child. They will be deducted from the amount of the settlement and paid to the respective attorneys at the time the court order is entered. The insurance company will pay the funds into the registry of the court and the court clerk will issue checks out of the registry of the court. One check to each attorney, one check to itself for filing fee (or to reimburse you if you paid the filing fee), and one check to the bank or insurance institution for investment of the child's funds. No money will be disbursed to the child until he reaches 18 years of age.
 
This seems like a difficult and long involved process. Maybe it was made for bigger claims than for my son. How can I avoid this whole hassle, because his injury is only going to settle for around $5,000?
 
Check with a local personal injury attorney or your court clerk and see if there is a threshold amount beneath which no approval is required. There is one potential way around this court process. If there was never any claim of liability being made against you, then you may choose to enter into a parent's guarantee with the insurance company. Some companies will have nothing to do with this and want all cases approved by the court. However, most companies - particularly in claims under $10,000 - will allow the parents to sign a guarantee to hold the company and the tortfeasor harmless.

Basically, the parents are guaranteeing that the claim was fairly negotiated, that it is an appropriate settlement for the child, that they will invest the funds in a blocked account for the benefit of the child, and that they will hold the company and its insured harmless if the child ever makes a claim that the settlement was inadequate. The insurance company likely has such a form, and it is appropriate to sign it and bypass the court approval requirement in a great many cases. You could explain to the insurance adjuster that his company would save money by your taking a risk in signing this guarantee. As a consequence, you want a letter from him stating that no negligence was attributable to you.
 
Can't the insurance company be required to pay?
 
The answer depends upon your negotiation. First, investigate whether a court approval is required, and at what level, etc. If your case is one in which court approval will be required for your minor child, then ask the defense adjuster to have his company pay for a court approval. Why should they? It is for the insurance company's benefit. After the court approves the settlement, the child cannot come back and sue the tortfeasor or insurer again. Therefore, since it is for their benefit, they are the ones who should pay. When you are nearing a settlement agreement, raise the topic. Tell them that their settlement offer is satisfactory, conditioned upon their agreeing to pay to have the court approve the settlement. Continue to Minor Settlement Approval Negotiations.
 
What if They Want to Use Their Own Attorney for Drafting the Petition, etc.?
 
That is fine. The court will want an independent attorney as the Guardian ad Litem, but the insurance company can save money by having any competent person draft the petition. You can cooperate with their attorney.

In the first place, there is nothing that involves an attorney's exercise of discretion or judgment in filing the petition. All he is going to do is to put the matter before the court and ask the judge to appoint a Guardian ad Litem (GAL).

The insurance company can use an in-house attorney for this purpose, and there is no problem with your providing her all the information she needs to draft the petition. When it comes time for disbursement, there is a split.

Most companies will ask the court to authorize them to disburse directly to the lien holders, or those who are entitled to reimbursement, such as your own insurance company, unpaid doctors, and expenses you have incurred. They then will pay the residual directly into a blocked account selected by you.