Tennessee Minor Settlement Approval: When a Court Must Approve a Child's Injury Settlement

Does a Tennessee Court Have to Approve My Child's Injury Settlement?

Sometimes, and the dividing line is the size of the settlement.

Under T.C.A. § 29-34-105, as amended in 2022, court approval is not required when the settlement is a lump sum under $10,000 and an attorney represents the child.

At $10,000 or more, or when the settlement is structured, or when the child has no lawyer, a judge has to approve it at a hearing.

A second statute, § 34-1-104, sets a different $25,000 line that decides whether a guardian of the property must be appointed to hold the money.

Those two numbers get mixed up constantly, and mixing them up is how families give away protections a child is owed.

The approval hearing happens in the same court where the injury case sits, usually a circuit or chancery court.

The judge's job there is to confirm the deal is fair to the child and that the money will still be there when the child grows up.

Getting this step right protects the recovery, and getting it wrong can stall or unravel it.

When Tennessee Requires Court Approval of a Child's Settlement

A minor cannot sign a binding release in Tennessee. Because a child has no legal capacity to settle, the state decides when an adult, and when a judge, may close a case on the child's behalf. The 2022 version of § 29-34-105 draws the line at $10,000.

Under $10,000, with a lawyer. When the settlement is a single lump sum of less than $10,000 and the child is represented by an attorney, no court approval is needed. The parent or guardian can accept and the release binds the child.

$10,000 or more, or structured, or no lawyer. When the settlement reaches $10,000, or any part of it is paid out over time as a structured settlement, or the child has no attorney, a judge must review and approve it at a hearing before it is final.^[1]

The hearing is held in the court where the tort case belongs. In Tennessee that is a circuit or chancery court, the same courts that handle injury claims. Probate court handles decedents' estates and formal guardianships, so a straightforward injury settlement for a living child is approved on the civil side, not in probate.

$10,000 vs. $25,000: Two Tennessee Thresholds Families Confuse

These are two different statutes doing two different jobs, and reading one number as the other causes real harm.

The $10,000 figure in § 29-34-105 decides whether a judge has to bless the settlement at all. The $25,000 figure in § 34-1-104 decides something separate: whether a formal guardian or conservator of the property has to be appointed to hold the child's money once the settlement is approved.

Under § 34-1-104, when a minor's total property does not exceed $25,000, no guardian or conservator need be appointed.^[2] Instead the court may direct the funds one of several ways: paid to the child's natural guardian, paid to the person the child lives with, held by the clerk of the court, or placed into a trust under the Tennessee Uniform Trust Code.

So a $15,000 settlement clears the $10,000 line and needs court approval, but sits under the $25,000 line, so the court can approve a protected holding arrangement without appointing a formal guardian of the property. A $40,000 settlement needs approval and, because it tops $25,000, generally puts a guardian of the property, a restricted account, or a structure in place. The section that comes next explains what those protections look like.

How the Settlement Money Is Protected Until Your Child Turns 18

Once a settlement clears the $25,000 line, Tennessee does not let the cash pass straight to a parent to spend. The money belongs to the child, and the court chooses a way to hold it that keeps it that way. Three tools do most of the work.

A guardian or conservator of the property. A person, often a parent, is formally appointed to manage the funds under court oversight, with duties to account for how the money is used and limits on withdrawals.

A restricted, or blocked, account. The funds go into an account that no one can draw on without a court order, and the balance releases to the child at 18. It is a plain, low-cost way to lock a moderate recovery until adulthood.

A structured settlement. Instead of one lump payment, an annuity pays the child over time, often starting at 18 with later payments scheduled for college or early adulthood. The tradeoff between a structure and a lump sum is worth understanding before the hearing, which we cover in our guide to structured settlements versus a lump sum.

For a child whose injury brings lifelong needs, or who receives means-tested benefits, a plain blocked account can do more harm than good, and a special needs trust is often the better vehicle so the recovery does not disqualify the child from care. Which tool fits depends on the size of the recovery and the child's situation, and the court weighs that at approval.

How Long You Have to File a Child's Injury Claim in Tennessee

Tennessee's one-year deadline for personal injury claims is the shortest in the country, but a child gets breathing room the law calls tolling. Under § 28-1-106, a person who was under 18 when the claim arose may bring it after reaching adulthood, within the limitation period for that type of claim, unless that period is longer than three years, in which case the window is three years.^[3]

Because a Tennessee personal injury claim carries a one-year period, a child injured before 18 generally has one year after turning 18 to file. Read it as the underlying deadline, held open until adulthood and capped at three years, rather than a flat rule. Our overview of the Tennessee statute of limitations for personal injury lays out how the one-year clock runs for adults.

One trap costs families their case, and it involves medical care. The three-year medical malpractice statute of repose in § 29-26-116(a)(3) is not tolled by a child's age. In Calaway v. Schucker, the Tennessee Supreme Court held in 2005 that a minor's health care liability claim must be filed within three years of the negligent act, regardless of how young the child was.^[4] A newborn harmed during delivery does not get until adulthood; the family gets three years, with narrow exceptions. If a child's injury involves possible malpractice, the timeline is unforgiving, and our Tennessee medical malpractice lawyers explain how that repose period works.