§ 46-5-8. Representation of infants and incompetents.

If any infant or person not capable by law to act in his or her own behalf by the owner of any estate or interest in any land so taken, the court, upon the filing therein of a petition by or in behalf of the infant or other person, may appoint a guardian ad litem for the infant or other person, and the guardian may appear and be heard in behalf of the infant or other person; and the guardian may also, with the advice and consent of the court, and upon such terms as the court may prescribe, release to the state all claims for damages for and to the estate or interest in the land. Any lawfully appointed, qualified, and acting guardian of the estate of any infant or other person, with the approval of the court of probate within this state having jurisdiction to authorize the sale of land within this state of the infant or other person, may, before the filing of the petition, agree with the department of environmental management upon the amount of damages suffered by the infant or other person by any taking hereunder of his or her land or any estate or interest in his or her land, and may, upon receiving that amount, release to the state all claims of damages of the infant or the other person for the taking.