Before your child ever earns a first paycheck, an injury can already be closing doors in school and at work. For Sarasota families facing that uncertainty, the questions can quickly run past the next doctor's visit. What about all the earning years still ahead?

Yes. Florida law does allow recovery for a child's loss of earning capacity. A child injured in Florida can seek these damages when the injury is expected to limit the child's future earning ability, and the family can show the loss with reasonable certainty. Because many children have little or no wage history, the projection instead draws on evidence of what they can do and what work realistically remains open to them.

What Florida law allows for an injured child

Under Florida law (Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Tompkins), a minor can recover damages for loss of future earning capacity when competent evidence links the injury to a measurable drop in earning ability, even without a prior work history. However, Florida Standard Jury Instruction 501.2(e) splits this claim into two distinct legal periods:

• Pre-Majority Loss (Under Age 18): The right to recover lost earnings or diminished earning capacity during minority belongs legally to the parents, not the child (Wilkie v. Roberts).
• Post-Majority Loss (Age 18 and Beyond): The right to recover diminished earning capacity from adulthood through work-life expectancy belongs directly to the child.

An injury alone does not establish lost earning capacity. A diagnosis says nothing about how much income your child might be unable to earn as an adult. The evidence must tie lasting restrictions to realistic work options—for example, showing that jobs requiring prolonged standing are no longer realistic.

Building a claim without a long wage history

Lawyers typically start with the injury's lasting effects and the child's education, then bring in qualified vocational or economic professionals to estimate how those limits could shape future employment and income. The goal is a supported projection, not a promised career.

Medical prognoses and school records often factor in. So do academic performance, demonstrated interests, documented limitations, and testimony about realistic occupations. A vocational assessment might consider what training your child could realistically complete while managing ongoing cognitive limitations.

Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal requires future economic damages to be established with reasonable certainty. Jurors need evidence that permits a reasonable calculation, not speculation about a high-paying career.

Age and health can inform the analysis, as can occupation and circumstances. Earnings before and after an injury may also matter. Without prior wages, a child's claim depends more heavily on other documented indicators. No single school report establishes a lifetime earnings figure.

How future earnings differ from care costs

Lost earning capacity measures a reduced ability to earn. Medical and rehabilitation damages address care costs, while quality-of-life damages concern personal harm, such as pain or limits on daily activities, rather than income. Correctly sorting these categories matters at settlement and at trial because each one requires different proof.

A loss of earning capacity in Florida claim sits alongside future medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, and loss of quality of life, and the chart below shows the evidence supporting each category.

Florida's civil jury instructions (501.2(e)) separately recognize a parent's claim for economic losses incurred while caring for an injured child. This includes the parent's lost wages and the lost value of the child's services and earnings before the child turns 18.

Putting future losses in today's dollars

The calculation compares projected earnings without the injury with projected post-injury earning ability, then reduces the future difference to present value. The Florida Bar Journal describes this method and explains that Florida generally uses gross income rather than after-tax income. Juries do not subtract hypothetical income taxes.

For example, an economist might compare a supported career path requiring physical work with suitable work that accommodates permanent mobility restrictions. The estimate could account for work-life expectancy and each path's projected earnings. Present value expresses that future difference as a sum in today's dollars rather than simply adding future paychecks. No formula guarantees an award.

Practical steps for Sarasota-area families

Keep detailed medical records alongside school reports, IEPs, and notes on new accommodations. Proving a minor's lost earning capacity generally requires two key experts: a vocational rehabilitation specialist (to define work restrictions) and a forensic economist (to calculate present-day financial loss).

Families should also keep two critical statutory provisions in mind:

• Court Approval of Minor Settlements (Fla. Stat. § 744.387): Any personal injury settlement involving a minor exceeding $15,000 gross requires circuit court approval to safeguard the child's best interests. Settlements of $50,000 or more may require a court-appointed Guardian ad Litem.
• Statute of Limitations (Fla. Stat. § 95.11 / § 95.051): Negligence actions carry strict filing deadlines. While Florida law provides limited tolling for minors in specific situations, parental derivative claims are subject to standard two-year limitations. Early legal guidance ensures evidence is preserved and all statutory procedures are followed.