Q: Can my daughter's father hire a lawyer for an accident our minor daughter was in w/o my consent?

A: If your child is a minor, then the court will appoint a guardian ad litem to approve any settlement that is reached for the minor and advise the Judge if said amount is in the child's best interests. If the judge approves the settlement, said monies are placed into a trust for the child (usually a child's annuity) to be paid out to the minor when she reaches the age of majority. However, for very small settlements, the rules do not require the aforementioned. Discuss with counsel about the unique facts of your case.

A: Though I agree with Mr. Black, I would add that the atrocious conduct of your ex, not conferring with you and not even notifying you until after the decision was made, must be addressed. If you don't already have a family court order that requires the parents to confer with each other for major decisions affecting the child, you need to retain a family law practitioner to seek such an order. One of those potential decisions may be who will have control over the funds if the amount recovered is less than the threshold amount that would trigger a guardianship account.

A: Yes, however the better question is do I have a right to claim damages suffered by your daughter. While you do also have rights, the ultimate issue will be who controls (supervises) the money until your daughter turns 18. If the case is not yet in suit, you can hire a lawyer to advise the responsible party/insurance company of the wrongdoer(tortfeasor), and make them aware of your interest in the outcome, and, moreover that you are the primary residential parent, who presumably has the majority of the expenses day to day interaction with your child. What if anything does your Fina judgement/Marital settlement Agreement say regarding this situation? I suspect it requires joint decision making, as its a matter of shared parental responsibility. id be wary of the ex spouse trying to grab the settlement funds for his personal use, as any settlement over $15,000 net to your daughter must be court approved. Let the lawyer who he hired know of your interest in seeing to a fair outcome, and that you expect the money to be court approved and supervised. if there is enough money involved id' hire a lawyer (who will work on a contingency basis) and if a relatively small amount contact the attorney on the case now and discuss your rights, then depending upon the answer proceed from there.