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Defining your duty of care

On Behalf of | Jul 1, 2019 | Personal Injury |

We here at the Russell & Ireland Law Group LLC are often asked how far does liability extend when an accident occurs on someone’s property. You of course hope that no one who enters your property is ever injured or hurt, yet your responsibility to ensure that does not happen depends on the duty of care that you owe them. That duty can change depending on who is injured and why they were on your property in the first place. 

Kentucky state court rulings have broken down visitor classification into three distinct groups. These are as follows: 

  • Invitees: One who comes on to your land by your invitation or in some capacity connected with your own personal business
  • Licensees: One who seeks to come on to your land, and who secures your consent to do so
  • Trespassers: One who comes on to your land without any legal right to do so

You are not legally required to guarantee one’s safety when they enter on to your property. However, in the case of an invitee, you must warn them of any potential dangers on the property (or correct said dangers before they arrive. You owe licensees the duty to protect them from any artificial features on your property that could cause harm, and to not purposely or wantonly cause them any injuries. 

In the case of trespassers, you owe them no duty of care. Section 381.232 of Kentucky’s Revised Statutes says that you are not liable for any injuries sustained by one who has trespassed on your land (unless, of course, you cause those injuries yourself). 

You can learn more about your duty of care to people on your property by continuing to explore our site.