American Canyon, CA Personal Injury Law Firms & Lawyers

In Michigan, you will need the Circuit, District or Probate Court to appoint you, or another, as Guardian for your minor son and also ask them to approve the settlement. The money is then held in trust for your son until he turns 18. You are able to recover any out-of-pocket expense you have paid because of the dog bite out of any approved settlement, as long as the court also approves of such payment. Generally you'd want to hire a lawyer to draft and file the proper papers to accomplish this. Sometimes the defendant will set all this up in order to pay the funds, but they really aren't your lawyer and likely will give you no advice on options, what is best, etc. Further, without a lawyer to advise you on whether the amount of the settlement is fair, you may be settling in the dark. Also, there is no requirement that you make/resolve the case now, as your son can bring it on his own within 1 year of reaching 18 and all this other work to get approval and protect the funds will no longer be necessary.

In Michigan you have 2 years to file an action for health care malpractice. There are also several pre-suit notice, affidavit of merit and other requirements that need to be followed to the letter. You must consult with a local Michigan attorney who regularly handles these cases to even have a chance on jumping through all the hoops the legislature has created in order to make these claims hard to pursue.

If the doctor's negligence caused her death, I would not wait more than two years to file a lawsuit. It is possible that three years is the correct amount, but why take the chance this answer is based on the fact that the statute of limitations for filing wrongful death is three years and for health care provider malpractice is two years.