You can file a lawsuit on behalf of someone else, but only in specific situations the law recognizes: as a parent or guardian for a minor child, as a court-appointed guardian or agent under a durable power of attorney for an incapacitated adult, and as the personal representative of a deceased person’s estate. A few other categories exist, including whistleblower suits and class actions, but they work differently. Filing a lawsuit on behalf of someone else also almost always requires hiring an attorney, even when you clearly have the authority to bring the case.
Why the Categories Are Narrow
Courts require the person bringing a lawsuit to have a personal stake in it. This is called standing, and the Supreme Court has laid out three elements: an actual, concrete injury to the plaintiff; a connection between that injury and the defendant’s conduct; and a realistic prospect that a court order can fix it.1Legal Information Institute. Standing Requirement Overview – U.S. Constitution Annotated You cannot sue over an injury that belongs to someone else, because you have not been harmed.
The exceptions below exist for one reason: certain injured people cannot go to court themselves. A toddler hurt by a defective toy has been harmed, but obviously cannot file paperwork. An adult in a coma cannot sign a complaint. A person who has died cannot sue at all. In each of these situations, the law lets a designated representative step into the injured person’s place.
Filing on Behalf of a Minor Child
Children under 18 cannot file lawsuits on their own. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17(c) allows a minor’s general guardian or conservator to sue for them. If no guardian has been formally appointed, the child may sue through a “next friend” or a court-appointed “guardian ad litem.”2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 17 – Parties Plaintiff and Defendant; Capacity
A next friend is usually a parent or close family member who steps forward to start the case. A guardian ad litem is appointed by the court itself, often when the judge wants an independent voice for the child rather than relying on a family member who may have competing interests. Many states now use the terms interchangeably, though the appointment process differs.
The money belongs to the child, not the parent. Judges routinely require settlement proceeds to be placed in a blocked account or structured settlement the child cannot touch until turning 18. The parent or guardian runs the litigation as a fiduciary, meaning every decision has to prioritize the child’s interests.
Filing on Behalf of an Incapacitated Adult
Adults who cannot manage their own affairs due to conditions like advanced dementia, a severe brain injury, or a prolonged coma also need someone to act for them. Rule 17(c) covers this too: a guardian, conservator, or similar fiduciary may sue or defend on behalf of an incompetent person.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 17 – Parties Plaintiff and Defendant; Capacity
There are two main paths to getting the authority you need.
The first is a court-appointed guardianship or conservatorship. A family member or other interested person petitions the court, submits medical evidence of incapacity, and asks to be named guardian over the person’s legal and financial affairs. This is the usual route when no advance planning was done.
The second is a durable power of attorney signed by the person while they still had capacity. The document must be “durable,” meaning it stays effective after incapacity, and it should specifically cover legal proceedings. A general power of attorney limited to financial transactions may not be enough to file a lawsuit, depending on the jurisdiction.
Courts may require a guardian or conservator to post a surety bond before managing the person’s affairs. The bond protects the incapacitated person’s assets if the representative mismanages them, and the amount varies by jurisdiction and the size of the estate.
Filing on Behalf of Someone Who Has Died
Legal claims do not vanish when someone dies. The authority to pursue them passes to the personal representative of the estate, sometimes called the executor or administrator. That person is either named in the will or appointed by a probate court when there is no will.
Two distinct types of lawsuits arise after a death, and the difference matters.
A survival action continues a claim the deceased person could have brought while alive. It covers damages the person experienced before dying, including medical bills, lost income between the injury and death, and pain and suffering. Any recovery goes to the estate and is distributed under the will or state intestacy rules.
A wrongful death action is a separate claim for the surviving family members’ own losses, such as lost financial support, lost companionship, and funeral expenses. The personal representative typically files it, but the beneficiaries are the surviving spouse, children, or other close relatives as defined by state law. A handful of states limit wrongful death recoveries to punitive damages only.
The personal representative often files both actions at the same time. Who counts as a beneficiary and what damages are available vary significantly by state.
Taxes on What You Recover
Compensatory damages received on account of a personal physical injury or physical sickness are excluded from federal gross income, whether they come from a settlement or a judgment.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 104 – Compensation for Injuries or Sickness Punitive damages are generally taxable, with one exception: in states where the wrongful death statute provides only for punitive damages, those damages can be excluded.4Internal Revenue Service. Tax Implications of Settlements and Judgments Damages for purely emotional distress, without a physical injury, are taxable unless they reimburse actual medical costs. Talk to a tax professional before spending a significant recovery.
Other Representative Lawsuits
Two other situations sometimes come up when people ask about suing for someone else, but they are structurally different from the categories above.
The first is a qui tam action under the federal False Claims Act. A private citizen who discovers fraud against the government can file a lawsuit “in the name of the Government” as a whistleblower, called a relator, and share in any recovery. The complaint stays sealed for at least 60 days while the government decides whether to take over the case. If it does, the relator receives between 15% and 25% of the recovery; if the government declines and the relator proceeds alone, the share is between 25% and 30%.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 U.S. Code 3730 – Civil Actions for False Claims
The second is a class action. One or more lead plaintiffs who were personally injured sue on behalf of a large group who suffered the same type of harm from the same defendant. The lead plaintiff has standing because they were directly harmed; the representative element is that the case binds every class member the court certifies into the class. Certification requires that the group is too large for individual suits, that legal questions are common to everyone, that the lead plaintiff’s claims are typical, and that the lead plaintiff will adequately protect the group. Class members usually get notice and can opt out, but anyone who stays in is bound by the outcome.
You Will Almost Certainly Need a Lawyer
Having authority to file for someone else is not the same as being allowed to run the case yourself. Federal law lets parties “plead and conduct their own cases personally or by counsel.”6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1654 – Appearance Personally or by Counsel Courts read “their own cases” strictly: you can represent yourself, but you cannot represent someone else unless you are a licensed attorney.
This catches parents off guard most often. A parent may have the legal authority to bring a claim on behalf of an injured child, but the majority of federal appeals courts have held the parent cannot litigate the case without hiring a lawyer. The reasoning is that the right to competent representation belongs to the child, and a non-lawyer parent cannot waive it. A narrow exception exists in some circuits for appeals of denied Social Security benefits.
The same principle applies to guardians of incapacitated adults and to estate representatives. You can be the right person to initiate the lawsuit, but conducting it without counsel is treated as the unauthorized practice of law in most jurisdictions.
Deadlines Work Differently When Suing for Someone Else
Every lawsuit has a statute of limitations, and when the injured person cannot sue for themselves, the clock often behaves differently.
Most states pause the statute of limitations for people under a legal disability when the claim arises, meaning minors and mentally incapacitated adults. The clock does not start running until the disability is removed, typically when a child turns 18 or an incapacitated person regains capacity. Once it lifts, the person gets the full statutory period. If the normal deadline is two years and the injury happened when a child was 10, the child would have until age 20 to file.
Tolling is not a reason to wait. Evidence degrades, witnesses forget, and defendants dispose of records. Tolling rules also vary: some states cap the total extension, and some do not toll at all for certain claims. Check your state’s rules early rather than assuming the clock is paused.
Wrongful death and survival actions run on shorter, more rigid clocks. Many states impose a two-year statute of limitations on wrongful death claims, measured from the date of death rather than the date of the original injury. Missing that window ends the claim regardless of its strength.