Do Waivers Hold Up in Alabama? What Parents Need to Know.
Summer means trampoline parks, skate parks, birthday parties, and a stack of waivers to sign before your kid can do any of it. Most parents sign them without thinking twice, and most assume that by signing they’ve given up any right to pursue a claim if something goes wrong. David Greene and The Judge joined WKRG News 5 to explain why that assumption is usually wrong.
Waivers Are Not as Airtight as They Look
The whole point of a waiver, from a business owner’s perspective, is to make you believe you have no options if you’re injured on their property. Insurance companies encourage this. It keeps claims from being filed.
The reality is that waivers are invalid in many cases. Greene & Phillips looks at these situations routinely, and in the vast majority of them, a signed waiver doesn’t actually prevent a claim from moving forward. If a business was negligent and someone got hurt, a signed piece of paper often won’t change that.
A Child Cannot Sign a Waiver
This is where it gets especially important for parents. A child cannot legally enter into a contract, which means any waiver a child signs is invalid from the start. David is currently handling a serious case where the business had the child sign the waiver rather than the parent. It won’t hold up.
And if the child signed a parent’s name? Also invalid.
Even a parent signing a waiver on a child’s behalf is often unenforceable, depending on the circumstances. The law in Alabama doesn’t allow parents to sign away a child’s right to pursue a claim in most situations.
You Probably Still Have a Case
David puts the number at about 99% of the time: if you were hurt and you signed a waiver, you can still make a claim. That’s not a guarantee for any specific case, but it means the waiver alone is almost never the reason a claim can’t move forward.
If you or your child were hurt at a summer activity and you assumed the waiver closed the door, it’s worth a conversation. Greene & Phillips never charges anything to talk through a situation, and there’s no appointment needed at either the Mobile or Birmingham office. You can also reach the firm through the contact page.
