A Bradenton child injury lawyer represents children and their parents after a child is seriously hurt through someone else's carelessness, in car crashes, pool and drowning incidents, dog attacks, daycare and school settings, dangerous property, and defective products. Florida law treats injured children differently in several ways, including who brings the claim and how a settlement is approved.
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☎ Call NowHeintz Law represents injured children and their families in Bradenton, Palmetto, Manatee County, and the Suncoast. Founding Partner Steven E. Heintz and our Bradenton child injury attorneys handle these cases as part of the firm's personal injury lawyer practice. A child's case often lasts longer than the child's medical treatment, because the losses being measured can stretch across a lifetime.
Yes. When a child is hurt because a driver, property owner, business, daycare, school, or manufacturer failed to use reasonable care, Florida law allows a claim. Because children cannot bring lawsuits on their own, a parent or guardian brings the child's claim, and parents often have separate claims of their own.
An injury claim on behalf of a child usually involves two related claims:
Both claims usually move forward together in one case. Keeping them separate on paper matters, because the money for each claim is handled differently under Florida law.
Our Bradenton child injury attorneys handle cases involving car, school bus, pedestrian, and bicycle crashes, swimming pool and drowning injuries, dog bites, daycare and school negligence, playground and sports injuries, unsafe property, defective products, burns, and wrongful death. Each type has its own rules about who is responsible.
Responsibility depends on who had a duty to keep the child safe and failed to do it. That may be a driver, a property owner, a landlord, a pool owner, a dog owner, a daycare or school, a coach or program operator, a product manufacturer, or a government agency responsible for a park or road.
Florida law generally expects those who care for or invite children onto their property to anticipate how children actually behave. Children run, climb, explore, and do not recognize dangers that adults would. A property owner, daycare, or program that ignores those realities may be responsible when a predictable injury happens.
Florida also recognizes the attractive nuisance rule. Even when a child enters property without permission, an owner may be responsible when a dangerous condition, such as an unfenced pool, is likely to attract children who cannot appreciate the risk.
Very young children, generally under age six, cannot be found negligent under Florida law. Older children may be judged by what a reasonable child of the same age, intelligence, and experience would do, rather than an adult standard. Defendants sometimes try to blame parents instead.
Florida uses modified comparative fault, which means an injured person found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing, and a person found 50 percent or less at fault recovers damages reduced by their share. How fault is assigned in a child's case can have a large effect on the outcome, so evidence of the defendant's conduct and the child's age and understanding is central.
An injured child may recover for pain and suffering, mental anguish, scarring and disfigurement, disability, loss of enjoyment of life, medical care after age 18, and loss of the ability to earn money as an adult. Parents may recover medical expenses during childhood and, with severe permanent injuries, loss of the child's companionship.
Measuring a child's future losses often requires the outside professionals we retain, such as pediatric specialists, life care planners, and vocational economists, because a child has no work history to show what they would have earned.
A child's injury can look different years later. Brain injuries, growth plate fractures, and burn scars can change as the child develops, and some effects, such as learning or behavioral problems, may not show up until school demands increase. Settling too soon can leave future needs uncovered.
Injuries that often require long-term monitoring include:
For most negligence claims arising on or after March 24, 2023, Florida's statute of limitations is two years. Many parents assume the deadline waits until the child turns 18, but under Florida law it generally does not pause while a parent or guardian is able to bring the claim. Medical malpractice and government claims follow different rules.
Claims involving a public school, county park, or other government entity also require written notice to the agency and the state before a lawsuit can be filed, as explained in our article on suing the government. Our Florida statute of limitations page explains the deadlines in more detail.
Often, yes. In Florida, parents may settle a child's claim on their own only when the total amount does not exceed $15,000. Larger settlements generally require court involvement, and often a guardianship of the child's property, so a judge can confirm the settlement is in the child's best interests and the money is protected.
For larger settlements, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem, an independent person who reviews the settlement and reports to the judge. The child's share is commonly placed in a restricted account, a structured settlement, or a trust, and used for the child's benefit until adulthood.
Planning for court approval early helps avoid delays. It also helps families account for liens, such as health insurance or Medicaid reimbursement claims, before the settlement is finalized.
A child hurt as a passenger is usually covered by personal injury protection, called PIP, under the household's auto policy or, if the household has no policy, under the policy of the vehicle the child was riding in. PIP pays 80 percent of reasonable medical bills up to its limits, and care must begin within 14 days.
Children hurt as pedestrians or cyclists may also be covered by the household's PIP. Uninsured motorist coverage on a parent's policy may protect a child hurt by an uninsured or underinsured driver, as explained on our uninsured motorist lawyer page.
Florida requires children age five and under to ride in a federally approved child restraint, with a separate carrier or integrated seat for children through age three, and a booster or other approved restraint for children ages four and five.
Not necessarily. Florida allows parents to waive certain claims against commercial activity providers, such as trampoline parks or camps, but only for injuries from the activity's inherent risks, and only if the waiver uses specific required language. A waiver generally does not cover injuries caused by the provider's own negligence beyond those risks.
Waivers signed for noncommercial activities, such as community leagues, are judged under different rules. Saving a copy of any waiver, registration form, or online agreement helps determine what was actually signed.
Get your child medical care first and follow every treatment recommendation. Then report the incident in writing to the school, daycare, business, or property owner, photograph the scene and injuries, save clothing and products involved, collect witness names, and avoid recorded statements to insurers.
Our Bradenton child injury attorneys handle each case in stages, from first contact through investigation, pre-suit negotiation, discovery, mediation, trial, court approval of any settlement, and appeal. Every file is prepared from the start as if a jury will hear it, because the defense's view of trial risk shapes how it values the claim.
When a child dies because of negligence, Florida law allows a wrongful death claim brought by the personal representative of the child's estate. Parents may recover for their mental pain and suffering and for medical and funeral expenses they paid. The two-year deadline generally runs from the date of death.
Our wrongful death page explains who can bring the claim and what Florida law allows.
Steven E. Heintz is the Founding Partner of Heintz Law, a Bradenton firm that represents only injured people and their families. His approach is careful preparation, aggressive advocacy where the facts call for it, and trial readiness from the first conference. Settlement on the right number is welcome. Settlement that shortchanges a child is not.
Child injury cases are handled on a contingency fee, so there is no fee unless there is a recovery.
If your child was seriously hurt in Bradenton, Palmetto, or anywhere in Manatee County or the surrounding counties, Heintz Law can review what happened, protect your child's claim and your own, and explain your options under Florida law.
Have our 30 years of experience in personal injury go to work for you. No fees or costs unless we get results.
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