Spending a Minor's Injury Settlement in Mississippi

Attorney Answer

No — you almost certainly cannot simply take the money and buy a car with it. A minor's personal injury settlement in Mississippi has to go through the chancery court, and the court decides what the funds may be used for.

Mississippi's guardianship and conservatorship law is now the Guardianship and Conservatorship Act at Miss. Code Ann. §§ 93-20-101 et seq. (the older Chapter 13 provisions many websites still quote were repealed effective January 1, 2020). Under § 93-20-414, a conservator must obtain specific chancery court authorization to settle or release a claim belonging to the conservatorship estate. That is why an injury settlement for a child is presented to the court for approval rather than simply signed by a parent.

One section will look like it solves your problem, and it does not. Section 93-20-431 allows an amount due a minor to be transferred without appointing a conservator — to a person having care or custody of the minor with whom the minor resides, to a guardian, to a UTMA custodian, to a financial institution account in the minor's sole name, or to an ABLE account — but only where the amount is a liquidated sum certain not exceeding $25,000 in a twelve-month period. A personal injury settlement is not a liquidated sum certain, so the $25,000 figure matching your number is a coincidence, not a shortcut. Court approval of the compromise is still required. Section 93-20-433, added in 2024, does let the chancery court dispense with forming a full conservatorship for a minor awarded settlement funds, which can simplify the administration considerably.

Memorial Hospital at Gulfport v. Guardianship of Proulx ex rel. Proulx, 121 So. 3d 222 (Miss. 2013), shows the shape of this process: after a minor was injured in a car accident, his parents obtained letters of guardianship and petitioned the chancery court for authority to compromise and settle his claim. The Mississippi Supreme Court also affirmed dismissal of a hospital's claim against the settlement proceeds, because the hospital had no assignment, lien, or other legal right to payment from them. That second point is worth knowing if medical providers are circling your child's settlement. Proulx predates the current Act, so treat it as the procedural picture and the provider point, not as authority on what the money may be spent on.

What you can do

1. Ask the settling attorney, before anything is signed, exactly how the compromise will be presented to chancery court and what structure is proposed. 2. Do not spend or commit any of the funds in advance, including a deposit on a vehicle. 3. If you believe a vehicle genuinely serves your son's needs, raise it with the court through the petition, with a specific proposed use and cost — do not decide it yourself and explain later. 4. Ask about the options the Act allows, including a restricted account, a UTMA custodianship, or the § 93-20-433 route that avoids a full conservatorship. 5. Ask whether any medical provider, health insurer, or Medicaid claims a right to the proceeds, and on what legal basis. Under Proulx, a provider without an assignment, lien, or contractual right does not automatically reach them. 6. Keep records of anything you do spend on his behalf if the court authorizes disbursements.