Cottage-Law.com Blog

Do you entertain in your family cottage or have your children’s friends over to the family cottage for play dates while on vacation? Perhaps you enjoy having family and friends over for summer cookouts in the summer and holiday parties in December on occasion when you are visiting your family cottage. Have you ever thought about what would happen if your brother-in-law severely burnt his hand on the hot grill while trying to help you cook the hamburgers and you knew your grill was not working properly? What about your aunt Helen, who at eighty-six years old insists on wearing four inch heels to your Christmas party and always has the bottomless glass of eggnog in her hand while spinning in circles under the mistletoe waiting for someone to kiss her?

Injuries and legal action are typically not at the forefront of our minds when inviting friends and family over to the family cottage for a few hours of fun and conversation. But when aunt Helen breaks an ankle, or worse a hip, under the mistletoe and she blames it on your freshly polished wood floor, you will wish you had used some forethought before inviting the family and friends over to the family cottage for a party. Even if we lived reclusively, there is the possibility that someone could stumble on an uneven sidewalk paver or slip on a patch of loose gravel in the driveway while trying to deliver a package. Unavoidable accidents happen, but you should know your liability if someone is physically injured while on your cottage property and take precautions to guard against them. Although having adequate liability insurance and additional host liability insurance is a smart thing to have, it does not prevent a lawsuit.

Know Your Liability
A few decades ago, the injured party may not have sought damages, but may have asked the cottage owner to reimburse their medical expenses. Today, a guest who stumbles over a loose threshold may file a lawsuit that continues for years. Everyone has a duty of reasonable care to maintain your cottage property and warn guests of hazards. Under Michigan law, the cottage owner may try to defend themselves by claiming the danger was open and obvious and thus, the cottage owner had no duty to warn of any danger. This defense is successful in varying degrees depending upon the actual hazard the guest encountered on your family cottage property. You could be liable in the following circumstances if you fail to maintain your cottage property or create a condition that may result in injury to a guest:

• If you are aware of a danger and do not eliminate the danger, warn guests of the danger, or erect barriers; or
• if you maintain artificial conditions that attract children, such as a pool without a fence or self-latching gates.

If you furnish alcohol at a party in your family cottage, there are circumstances in which you could be liable as a social host. The liability of a social host in Michigan has been recognized only in the case of providing alcohol to a minor. The “social host” must knowingly provide alcoholic beverages to a minor or have failed to diligently inquire whether the individual was less than 21 years old. The Michigan Courts have held that the social host must actually provide the alcoholic beverages and not just the setting in which the alcohol is consumed. However, if the minor is under 18, the parents may have a duty to supervise the minor children and this can provide the basis for a lawsuit.

Preventative Measures
Keeping your cottage property well maintained is one preventative measure that can be taken to avoid accidents due to negligence. Filling in sink holes, picking up rubbish on your property and keeping walkways clear of debris are just a few obstacles that can be removed in providing a safe environment for guests. If you shine the hardwood floors before a dinner party give your guests fair warning that the floors are slick and to watch their step. If you serve alcohol at your party, ensure that no underage drinking is happening in your family cottage. Clearing snow from the driveway and sidewalks, salting iced over walkways, and not serving alcohol to minors may seem simple and commonsensical, but they can save your visitors injury and save you money and legal action.

Dan A. Penning