Coastal Access Toolkit
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Liability
If someone gets injured while using my land, can I be held liable?
The Maine Landowner Liability Law Maine has a strong law that protects landowners from liability, should someone become injured while using their land. The Maine Landowner Liability law limits the liability of landowners who knowingly or unknowingly provide access to their land for recreational or harvesting purposes, such as clamming. The law also acts as a disincentive to litigation by requiring that the parties bringing a suit against a landowner must pay legal and court fees in the event that the litigant loses. Landowners are not required to maintain their land safe for public use but should be aware that they can be held liable for willfully failing to guard against injury. Since the law was enacted in 1979, no landowner in Maine has been found liable, or at fault, for accidents that have occurred on their land by persons who are using those lands.
For more information on landowner liability, visit the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website. Click here to see the language of the law itself.
For more information, see:
- Access to Coastal and Inland Waters, the Public Use of Private Lands Duff, J. 2004.
- Public Shoreline Access in Maine: A Citizen’s Guide to Ocean and Coastal Law (revised). Orono and Portland, ME: Maine Sea Grant and the Marine Law Institute.
- Maine’s Landowner Liability Law