Legal Question in Personal Injury in Colorado
Alright my son age 8 had an accident here in colorado and we have an atty. nd the last offer wAS $8500 and when that was offered he asked permission to make a counter and i said yes. Then he told me for the first time since we hired him that suince my son is a minor that once it hits $10,000 it will be put in a savings for him thru a probate court. Well i told my wife and she said settle. I called him only 5 minutes after he and i got off the phone and told him to settle and he told me oh dont worry the offer will probably be around $9500 and then we could settle. Well the next day came and the offer was $10,000 so he said it is out of his hands so we should just go higher now that it is over 10,000. Now it has settled he wants me to sign consent to settle but now we r brokie dont have anything and we r the ones who too my son back and forth to school.(it ws a bus accident) Cause he wouldnt ride it. So we are mad because we asked to settle at 8500 and now it will be stuck in a probate svings. Question is should our atty have done what we asked? Or what can we do to get reinbursed for all the gas and money lost due to this wreck?
1 Answer from Attorneys
The answer to your question is, yes, your attorney can only make demands or accept offers with your permission. Without knowing exactly what you or your wife told him, or what you gave him permission to settle for, I do not know if your attorney violated his duties to you.
In my opinion, however, an attorney in Colorado should take any case involving a settlement with a minor should go through the probate process, whether the settlement is for more than $10,000 or not. Something that many people do not know is that money received by your son in settlement of his claims is his money alone, and you cannot use that money to satisfy your obligation to support him. It should be placed in trust for his benefit. I would need to know more facts, but there is a decent argument that you are not entitled to repayment for gas or other expenses to take your son to school because you have an obligation to do that as his parent.
I hope this was helpful, and I wish you and your son the best of luck.
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