ABA Family Legal Guide

Personal Injury

Negligence

Injuries at Your Home and on Your Property

A group of eight-year-old children has been playing in a vacant lot that I own. Could I be liable if one of them gets injured?

Yes, the law generally places a greater burden on landowners when injuries involve children. The reason is that children are too young to understand or appreciate danger in certain situations. Under a legal theory known as the attractive nuisance doctrine, owners who know or should know about potentially dangerous artificial conditions on their lot must warn children who are playing there, or must take reasonable precautions to protect them. If, for example, there is machinery or other equipment on your vacant lot that could present an unreasonable risk to children, you should remove it. If you don't, you very well could be liable to the children for any injuries they suffer, even if they were trespassing. In some jurisdictions, the attractive nuisance doctrine is being replaced by a duty of reasonable care under the circumstances.