Imagine a situation where a young child, a Florida resident, suffers a serious injury from the negligence of another. A parent of the child, also a Florida resident older than 18, files suit on behalf of the minor child and a jury awards $500,000 to the child. What happens after a child is awarded that kind of money? Who gets the money? Does the child get the money immediately and make it rain candy bars? Does the parent get the money and buy that Tesla they always wanted? The answer to all of that is no. While the money is the child’s, there are laws in Florida made in the interest of public policy to keep the money safe from being used in most situations until the child becomes a legal adult.

Under Florida law, anyone under the Age of 18 is considered a minor. Under Florida Law, any minor that gets a judgment or settlement of greater than $15,000 or any amount of money when dealing with a wrongful death suit must have a guardian to be appointed to watch over that money until the minor turns 18. This type of guardianship is called a guardianship of the property of the minor. A person qualifies to be a guardian of the minor if: they are over the age of 18 and a resident of Florida; they are a nonresident and 18 years or older but have a close lineal relation to the minor; just to name a couple of the qualifications. A person may not be appointed as guardian of the property if: they are a convicted felon, suffer from an illness or incapacity that makes them unable to perform or be suitable to a guardian; a child abuser; or are found guilty of some form of sexual misconduct listed under section 435.04 in the Florida Statutes.  In our hypothetical scenario, the parent would be the likely party to be appointed by the court to be the guardian of the property of their child.

The money of the minor child is placed in a restricted depository account. A person who is appointed guardian that wishes to use funds from that account must get the court’s permission to withdraw funds from the account. This is to prevent a guardian of the property to not use the funds of the minor improperly. The system does have its drawbacks. While the system does allow for a guardian to make a court approve periodic withdrawal,  a guardian may have to pay a sudden and large expense for the ward and may be delayed from getting access to the fund while waiting for a court order allowing for the expense to be paid through the restricted account. Even then, many banks, concerned about legitimate fraud may require additional documentation on top of a court order to allow a guardian to withdraw from the restricted account.

You may be wondering when is it appropriate for a guardian of the child’s money to use that money? If at least one of the minor’s parents is still alive and is able to care for their minor child they cannot use the guardianship funds to pay for “the minor’s health, maintenance, and education unless authorized to do so by the court.” If a minor’s parents are not alive, then the guardianship funds can be used for “reasonable living expenses of the ward without court approval, unless funds are in a depository account.” In Ash v. Coconut Grove Bank, a case that involved a minor child who was injured at birth due to medical malpractice,  the minor’s father was liable for normal child-rearing expenses, however, “extraordinary expenses” could be used from the guardianship by court approval.” Extraordinary expenses can be medical bills, therapy, and a special school for a child who is mentally or physically disabled. If a guardian of the property fails to get court approval to use restricted depository account funds, they can be held liable for the money spent. Thus, a guardianship of the property of a minor is one that must be taken seriously by the guardian. The money is the minor child’s to have when they reach the age of majority, absent extraordinary circumstances. Clearly a “minor” situation with major consequences.