Know what a waiver
can and cannot do.
Plain-English guides to liability waiver law, researched from statutes and court opinions and linked to their sources. Read them before you draft, then take the template to your attorney. General information, not legal advice.
Guides
Are online waivers legally binding?
Online waivers are valid under E-SIGN and UETA if you capture consent, attribution and a tamper-evident record; the release still depends on state law.
Read the guideHow to write a liability waiver that holds up
The clauses, format and plain wording courts have enforced, the mistakes they cite most, and a checklist to run before you publish a liability waiver.
Read the guideLiability waivers for minors: can a parent sign away a child's claim?
Where a parent's signature binds a child, where it does not, and how to run guardian waivers in California, Texas, Florida, New York and Virginia.
Read the guideWhat is a liability waiver?
A plain-English guide to waivers, releases, hold-harmless and indemnity clauses, covenants not to sue and assumption of risk, and what each can do.
Read the guideLiability waivers by state
Alabama liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. This research turned up no Alabama appellate decision deciding whether a parent's signature on a pre-injury release bars the child's own claim, so the question is open.
Read the state pageAlaska liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Alaska is one of the few states where a statute, not a court, answers this question.
Read the state pageArizona liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No Arizona appellate decision decides whether a parent can release a child's own claim before an injury, so the general question is genuinely open.
Read the state pageArkansas liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No reported Arkansas appellate decision found in this research pass decides whether a parent or guardian can release a child's own injury claim before the injury happens, so the question is genuinely open in Arkansas.
Read the state pageCalifornia liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. A minor's own contract can be disaffirmed under Family Code sections 6700 and 6710, but California appellate courts hold that the right of disaffirmance does not extend to a release signed by a parent on the minor's behalf.
Read the state pageColorado liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Colorado is one of the few states where the Legislature overruled its own supreme court here.
Read the state pageConnecticut liability waiver form
Generally unenforceable. No decision of the Connecticut Supreme Court or Appellate Court has decided whether a parent may release a child's own future negligence claim against a commercial operator, and a search of the appellate reports for this research pass found none.
Read the state pageDelaware liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No Delaware decision located in this research decides whether a parent's signature on a pre-injury waiver bars the child's own injury claim.
Read the state pageFlorida liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. In Kirton v.
Read the state pageGeorgia liability waiver form
Enforceable. No Georgia appellate decision squarely holds whether a parent may release a child's own future personal-injury claim, and no statute answers it.
Read the state pageHawaii liability waiver form
Generally unenforceable. Section 663-1.54 says nothing about children, parents or guardians, and this research found no Hawaii appellate decision deciding whether a parent can sign away a child's future negligence claim, so treat the question as open.
Read the state pageIdaho liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Idaho has no statute and no located appellate decision answering whether a parent may sign away a child's future personal injury claim, so a business cannot rely on the guardian signature the way it can rely on an adult's.
Read the state pageIllinois liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. A parent's pre-injury release does not bar a minor child's own cause of action in Illinois.
Read the state pageIndiana liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No Indiana statute answers whether a parent may release a child's own future injury claim, and no Indiana appellate decision squarely decides it either.
Read the state pageIowa liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Iowa is one of the states that has answered this squarely and answered it against operators.
Read the state pageKansas liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No Kansas appellate decision deciding whether a parent's pre-injury signature bars the child's own personal-injury claim was located in this research pass, and there is no Kansas statute authorising it.
Read the state pageKentucky liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. In Miller v.
Read the state pageLouisiana liability waiver form
Generally unenforceable. The question a business asks in most states, whether a parent's signature binds the child, does not really arise in Louisiana, because article 2004 nullifies a pre-injury release of physical injury no matter who signs it.
Read the state pageMaine liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Maine leans hard against parental waivers, and the reason is older than the recreation industry.
Read the state pageMaryland liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Maryland is one of the few states where a parent's pre-injury release of the child's own negligence claim is enforceable.
Read the state pageMassachusetts liability waiver form
Enforceable. Massachusetts is one of the minority of states in which a parent's signature can bind the child.
Read the state pageMichigan liability waiver form
Enforceable. The Michigan Supreme Court held in Woodman v.
Read the state pageMinnesota liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. The Minnesota Supreme Court has never decided whether a parent can give up a child's own injury claim before the fact.
Read the state pageMississippi liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No Mississippi appellate decision squarely holds whether a parent may sign away a child's own pre-injury claim, so an operator cannot treat a guardian signature as a settled defence.
Read the state pageMissouri liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No Missouri statute addresses a parent's pre-injury release of a child's claim, and this research found no Missouri appellate decision deciding the question.
Read the state pageMontana liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Montana has no statute and no decision found that says whether a parent may give up a child's future negligence claim.
Read the state pageNebraska liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Nebraska has no statute and no square holding on whether a parent may sign away a child's own injury claim before the injury happens, so a business cannot treat the question as settled.
Read the state pageNevada liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Nevada has no statute and no published appellate decision deciding whether a parent or guardian may sign away a child's right to sue for a future injury.
Read the state pageNew Hampshire liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. The New Hampshire Supreme Court has never decided whether a parent can sign away a child's future negligence claim, and there is no statute on the question either.
Read the state pageNew Jersey liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Hojnowski v.
Read the state pageNew Mexico liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. New Mexico is now one of the minority of states in which a parent can sign away a child's negligence claim before the activity.
Read the state pageNew York liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. New York appellate authority states flatly that a minor is not bound by a release executed by a parent.
Read the state pageNorth Carolina liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No North Carolina appellate court has decided whether a parent can release a child's own claim before an injury, and there is no statute.
Read the state pageNorth Dakota liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. North Dakota is one of the few states where a parent's signature has actually defeated a child's injury suit.
Read the state pageOhio liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Ohio is one of the few states whose supreme court has upheld a parent's pre-injury release of a child's own negligence claim.
Read the state pageOklahoma liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No Oklahoma appellate decision squarely holds whether a parent or guardian can sign away a child's own pre-injury negligence claim, and no statute authorises it.
Read the state pageOregon liability waiver form
Unsettled. Research found no Oregon appellate decision deciding whether a parent or guardian may sign away a minor child's own personal-injury claim before the injury, and no Oregon statute authorising it.
Read the state pagePennsylvania liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No Pennsylvania appellate court has squarely decided whether a parent's pre-injury release binds a minor, but every court that has considered the question has refused to enforce one.
Read the state pageRhode Island liability waiver form
Unsettled. Rhode Island is unusual in having a statute on the subject at all.
Read the state pageSouth Carolina liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. Neither the South Carolina Supreme Court nor the Court of Appeals has decided whether a parent may sign away a child's own prospective negligence claim, and there is no statute answering it either way.
Read the state pageSouth Dakota liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No South Dakota statute and no South Dakota appellate decision was located that decides whether a parent may sign away a child's own future injury claim, so an operator here is guessing.
Read the state pageTennessee liability waiver form
Enforceable. A parent or guardian cannot sign away a Tennessee child's own injury claim, and the rule has held for more than thirty-five years.
Read the state pageTexas liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No Texas Supreme Court decision squarely resolves the question, but the leading intermediate appellate authority, Munoz v.
Read the state pageUtah liability waiver form
Enforceable. Hawkins v.
Read the state pageVermont liability waiver form
Generally unenforceable. No Vermont appellate decision decides whether a parent may release a child's future negligence claim, so the doctrinal question is genuinely open.
Read the state pageVirginia liability waiver form
Generally unenforceable. Because Hiett voids every pre-injury personal-injury release regardless of who signs, a parent's signature cannot release a child's negligence claim; the point follows from the general rule rather than from a minor-specific decision.
Read the state pageWashington liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. The Washington Supreme Court answered this squarely in Scott v.
Read the state pageWashington DC liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No District of Columbia decision located in this research decides whether a parent's signature on a pre-injury waiver bars the child's own claim against a business.
Read the state pageWest Virginia liability waiver form
Enforceable, strictly construed. No West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals decision decides whether a parent may release a child's negligence claim before the activity, and saying otherwise would overstate the law.
Read the state pageWisconsin liability waiver form
Generally unenforceable. No Wisconsin decision has ever enforced a parent's pre-injury release against a child's own claim, and the leading attempt failed.
Read the state pageWyoming liability waiver form
Enforceable. No Wyoming decision located in this research decides whether a parent's signature can give up a child's own negligence claim, and no Wyoming statute says it can.
Read the state pageFree liability waiver form
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