California homes can come with elaborate features that help to enhance the lives of the homeowners. Unfortunately, some of these features may be considered an attractive nuisance and open the homeowner up to liability when an accident occurs. As a homeowner, it’s important to understand what attractive nuisances are so that you can protect yourself from any legal repercussions.
What is an attractive nuisance?
An attractive nuisance is any feature that would entice young children to enter your property and could potentially cause them harm. Some examples of attractive nuisances include swimming pools, tree houses, trampolines, water features and even play sets. While you may be surprised to find out that you can be held liable for a child’s injuries even if you didn’t invite them on the property, that’s the way state premises liability law is set up.
How to protect yourself
If you’ve evaluated your property and determined that you have an attractive nuisance, it’s important that you do your part to help protect yourself from liability. One of the best things that you can do is to fence off the area to keep children out. For example, if you have a swimming pool outside, you’ll want to put up a fence that locks around the entire pole. This will help to keep children out and prevent you from lawsuits regarding the attractive nuisance.
While you may not have given a thought to what would happen if a child stumbled on your property and found the various features enticing, it’s important that you do so. As a homeowner, you’re liable for injuries that happen on your property due to an attractive nuisance. If you’re not sure whether or not your home amenities qualify as an attractive nuisance, it’s a good idea to speak to an attorney.
