Short answer. The beneficiary — the minor — must be named in the title of the case and is deemed the real party in interest, per Section 3 of Rule 3. You act as the representative (guardian) bringing or defending the action, but the case is captioned to include the person you represent.
What the law says
Where the action is allowed to be prosecuted or defended by a representative or someone acting in a fiduciary capacity, the beneficiary shall be included in the title of the case and shall be deemed to be the real party in interest.
Rule 3, Section 3 — Representatives as parties. Read the full provision →
The representative brings the action, the beneficiary is the real party
Section 3 addresses situations where an action is prosecuted or defended by someone acting in a representative or fiduciary capacity rather than in their own right. It specifically names trustees of an express trust, guardians, executors or administrators, and any other party authorized by law or the Rules. In every one of these roles, the person actually before the court is not suing for their own benefit — they are acting on behalf of someone else, the beneficiary, whose actual right the litigation is meant to vindicate. A creditor of the beneficiary, for instance, cannot object simply because the named plaintiff in the caption is the guardian or trustee rather than the beneficiary personally.
Why the beneficiary must appear in the case title
The section requires that the beneficiary 'be included in the title of the case and shall be deemed to be the real party in interest.' This is not a mere formality: it identifies whose actual right is at stake in the litigation and whose interest the judgment will bind. A guardian litigating for a minor, for example, is the one filing and signing pleadings, but the case caption must show the minor as the party whose right is being vindicated in the proceeding. This titling requirement binds how the case is captioned; it does not itself decide who has authority to act as the representative in the first place, which is governed by the separate rules on guardianship or fiduciary appointment.
The special case of an undisclosed principal
Section 3 also addresses agents. An agent acting in their own name for the benefit of an undisclosed principal may sue or be sued without joining that principal — except when the contract at issue involves things belonging to the principal, in which case the principal typically needs to be joined. This carve-out recognizes that some agency arrangements are structured so the agent, not the principal, is the visible party to the transaction and to any resulting litigation. This distinction between the visible party and the person actually bound by the outcome runs through the whole of Section 3, not just the agency scenario.
Related provisions
- Rule 3, Section 3 — Representatives as parties
- Rule 3, Section 1 — Who may be parties; plaintiff and defendant