Suing a Parent Over a Minor's Accident Settlement Years Later

Attorney Answer

Probably not, and it is important you hear that plainly before you spend money on it. The good news is narrower than it sounds: your deadline almost certainly did not start running when you were a child — but a late-starting clock does not create a claim that did not exist.

The governing law. NRS 11.250 suspends the running of a limitations period while the person entitled to bring the action is under 18. The time you spent as a minor does not count against you. So the ten years since the accident is not the number that matters; what matters is how long it has been since you turned 18, measured against whatever limitations period applies to the particular claim you would bring.

That is the whole of what the statute gives you. It says nothing about whether you have a claim against your mother, and I am not going to tell you that Nevada law establishes one. A claim of that kind would have to rest on some duty she owed you in handling money recovered on your behalf, and this answer does not have verified authority establishing such a duty on these facts.

The practical problem is proof, not law. You have told me you have no documentation, no settlement agreement, and no idea what was recovered or where it went. Everything you would need to allege — that a settlement existed, what it was worth, that funds were meant for you, and that they were used improperly — is currently unknown to you. Before anyone can advise you whether there is a case, you have to find out what actually happened.

There is also a real possibility that nothing wrong occurred. If the recovery was consumed by medical bills for surgeries involving rods and screws in your forearm, pelvis and hips, that is exactly what such a settlement is for, and there would be nothing to sue about. Find the records before you decide what you believe.

What you can do

1. Ask your mother directly, in writing, for the name of the insurance company, the claim number, and the name of any attorney involved. A text or email creates a record. 2. Search the Nevada court records for the county where the accident happened for any petition to approve a minor's compromise or any guardianship or blocked-account filing in your name. Court files are the single most useful thing you can find. 3. Request your own complete medical billing history from the hospitals and surgeons who treated you, showing what was billed and what was paid and by whom. 4. If you learn the insurer's name, write to it requesting the claim file and any release you signed or that was signed on your behalf. 5. Once you know what a settlement was and what it paid for, take those documents — not this question — to a Nevada attorney and ask specifically what cause of action, if any, the records support.

⏱ Time limits apply. Under NRS 11.250 the limitations clock was suspended while you were under 18 and began running when you reached majority. How much of that period remains depends on which claim you are actually bringing and on your specific facts, including your date of birth and when you first learned of the facts you are complaining about. Do not assume you have time; find the records now.