Scarring and disfigurement
Disfigurement is compensable in California in its own right, separately from the medical cost of treating it. It is also the one injury whose evidence degrades in the claimant's favor — scars fade, and by the time a case resolves nobody can see how it looked.
Photograph it properly, from the start
This is the most actionable advice on this page and it costs nothing.
- Photograph at every stage — the original injury, after surgery, with sutures, at two weeks, at six weeks, at three months, then monthly. Fading is gradual and you will not notice it happening.
- Consistent conditions. Same lighting, same distance, same angle, no flash if possible. A scar photographed in harsh overhead light looks different from the same scar in daylight, and inconsistency invites argument.
- Include a scale. A ruler or coin in frame.
- Both context and close-up. One showing the scar in relation to the face or limb, one showing detail.
- Keep the metadata. Do not screenshot, crop or filter. The original file with its date is the evidence.
What drives value
- Visibility. Face, neck and hands are weighted far more heavily than areas covered by clothing — not because the harm is medically greater but because the daily experience of it is.
- Size, texture and color, and whether the scar is raised, depressed, hypertrophic or keloid.
- Whether it affects function — contracture limiting movement, eyelid or lip distortion, hair loss in a scalp scar.
- Age and circumstances. A scar carried for sixty years is a longer harm than one carried for twenty.
- Permanence after treatment. What a plastic surgeon says the realistic final appearance will be after revision, which is never 'gone'.
Children
A facial scar in a child is a lifetime injury, and it cannot be evaluated while they are still growing. Scars change as the face develops, and revision is usually staged over years with the definitive work often deferred until growth is complete.
This is the strongest possible reason not to settle a child's facial injury quickly. California requires court approval of a minor's compromise, which exists in large part to stop exactly that. See claims involving children.
Questions people ask
Is scarring compensable on its own?
Yes. Disfigurement is recognized in California as non-economic damage in its own right, separate from the cost of medical treatment. It is valued on visibility, permanence, effect on function, and the claimant's age and circumstances.
My scar is fading. Does that reduce my claim?
It is one reason photographic documentation through every stage matters so much. The harm included living with it at its worst, and the final appearance after full maturation and any revision is what is valued at the end. Without the early photographs, only the faded version can be shown.
Should we wait before settling my child's scar?
Almost always yes. Scars change as a child grows and definitive revision is often deferred until growth is complete, so no plastic surgeon can give a reliable view of the adult outcome early on. California requires court approval of a minor's settlement, partly to prevent early undervaluation.
Related
Reviewed October 2026 by Simon Aziz Budhwani, Esq., the attorney responsible for this site. Legal statements here name the California code section they rely on, so you can check them rather than trust them. This is information about the law in general, not advice about your situation.
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