Texas civil law grants to the injured party the exclusive right to file a personal injury lawsuit, meaning that the person who was injured must be the one to initiate any civil action. There are, however, certain situations where the right to file a lawsuit may become vested in someone other than the person who was injured. These exceptional circumstances include:
When the injured party is a minor, defined as being under the age of 18, a parent or legal guardian may file a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of the injured party. However, if the injured party has been “emancipated” (declared to be an adult) by marriage or by successfully petitioning a court for an order of emancipation, a person under the age of 18 may sue on their own behalf.
If an adult was injured so severely that there is no reasonable hope of a full recovery, or if an adult who was injured had previously been deemed by a court as being unable to care for themselves for any reason, that person’s legal guardian may sue on behalf of an injured adult.
If an accidental injury resulted in death, the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Houston usually rests with (and in order of priority) the victim’s spouse, the victim’s children, or the victim’s natural parents. Additionally, an adopted child may sue over the death of an adoptive parent. However, an adopted child may not sue over the death of a biological parent. If any person having the authority to file a wrongful death lawsuit has not done so within three months of the date of death a representative of the victim’s estate, or the executor of the estate, may file unless specifically asked not to do so by a “higher-ranking” relative of the deceased.