When Missouri residents step into stores to go about completing their shopping, or they go to an office to meet someone, they expect that the premises they have stepped into are safe. This is also true when they go into another person’s home. This expectation of safety applies not only to commercial areas, but also to homes — when someone comes into your home, they assume that it is reasonably safe and the property owner or the non-owner resident is responsible for ensuring the environment remains relatively safe. If someone slips and falls at someone else’s premises, the property owner or non-owner resident might be held accountable under the theory of premises liability, but it depends on the status of the person who was injured.

Under premises liability, the residents and owners are held liable for any injuries and accidents that take place on their property. But in most states, it matters who it is that got injured as not everyone may be able to make claims under this theory.

When someone is invited onto the property for one reason or another, they are known as invitees. The invitation means that the person owning or occupying the property has taken reasonable steps to ensure the invitee’s safety. A licensee on the other hand has entered the property for his or her own objective and is present with the owner’s consent. Finally, a trespasser is someone who has entered the property without anyone’s consent and has no right to be on that property. With regard to licensees and trespassers, the law generally holds that there is no implied promise that steps were taken to ensure their reasonable safety.

This does not, however, mean that their case will definitely not fall under premises liability — even in the case of trespassers, if the owner was aware that trespassers are likely to enter the property, they should have taken steps to give a warning to prevent an injury.

The law surrounding premises liability can often be confusing and overwhelming. It might be beneficial to consult an experienced attorney who can help an injured party get the compensation they need.