Liability question on family-owned hunting camp.

What is the name of your state? PA. Nine family members [brothers and nephews] own a hunting camp. Each owns an equal share. Ages of the owners range from mid-thirties, most are over 60 and retired. Children of the owners freely use the facility. There are rules of conduct in place but not fully controllable since not all owners are present during use. The activities of some users [carelessness in safety, drinking too much, etc.] are a deep concern with regard to their well-being and the legal liability of the owners. Besides the owners' responsibility to control behaviour, what legal advice can be given to limit liability on this touchy situation among family members? Incorporate? LLC? Keep individual ownership of shares? If individual ownership, what is extent of liability to each owner with regards to property jointly owned, IRA's, retirement income,etc. Thank you for your help.

hunting camp liability

first off, the children of the owners, how old are they? how many camps are within distance of your camp? any water around the camp? the reason i am asking these questions is because if the children are minors, and if there is alcohol in question and something happens to one of them, be it an injury, a fall in the water, another camp getting ruined, you are probably going to be liable and if the children are under the age of 21 which is the legal age for drinking, you will be liable for the damages and possibly criminal charges. it will difficult to prove, however, the justice system can invoke the penalities, as well as a private individual whose property is damaged can sue all of the owners for compensation. check all this out with an attorney to get the definite laws that prevail in your state. i hope this helps. one other item, is there paperwork defining who the owners are of this camp.

Reggi is not correct.
If you are concerned about minor drinking, don't be. As long as you are not providing the alcohol to them, you have no liability for THEIR consumption.

I would consider having an attorney draw up a Disclosure and Indemnification document that all members should sign. This would protect the members from claims made by others. Make sure that no one is allowed use of the property without a 'designated responsible' party (family member or guest).

thank you

jetx,
thank you so much for your answer. i was not sure in this instance. you gave me a little insight on matters. thank you so much. it will help me out as well.

Thanks for your advice. But I'm more interested in resolving the potential liability against the personal assets of the owners. Even though they may be adamant about behaviour on the property, they may not be present to control an unapproved action of another.
Unnapproved activities are not typical on this property but all it takes is one bad decision to affect the interests of others including those who have no connection with those that use the property. For example, if an injury should occur to an innocent party off the property as a result of drinking on the property, I would believe ALL the owners would share responsibility. In addition, any number of things could happen on the property through accident where no one was at fault. Should injury or damage occur to anyone [owners or their families, guests] or anyone's property, it would be prudent for owners to limit liability and I'm seeking the best way to do it. Here's a repeat of my questions above:

"Besides the owners' responsibility to control behaviour, what legal advice can be given to limit liability on this touchy situation among family members? Incorporate? LLC? Keep individual ownership of shares? If individual ownership, what is extent of liability to each owner with regards to property jointly owned, IRA's, retirement income,etc. Thank you for your help."

Simply, you can't have it both ways. You cannot have the property free for all to use as their own personal playground for any legal or illegal activities and still protect yourself from ALL possible occurrences.

So, go out and buy a large insurance policy that would protect you.

And have an attorney review your issues. Insurance may not provide covereage from liability due to illegal activities that you knew or should have known of.