property liability--neighbors in yard

I live in Missouri. I live in a house, and the yard has a double lot; the house is on one lot, and second lot is now empty. There used to be a pool on the extra lot, which I have since removed due to liability reasons concerning placing fencing around the pool (when I bought the property, the poool was there, with NO fence around it). My question involves neighbors, and their teenaged children who come into my yard to play ball, etc, because they do not have room in their yard. They have never asked my permission, nor have I actually ever told them to leave, because I have never actually SEEN them in my yard. I travel a great deal with my job, and am away from home more often then I am at home; however, other neighbors have told me that this is happening. If they are in my yard, and somehow get injured; step in a hole, run into a tree or the garage, etc, am I liable because they were injured ON my property? Or, am I off the hook because I did not give them permission to be there in the first place....

Normally you are off the hook but you may want to post a notice or write the parents etc. to confirm and strengthen your position

the same thing happens with me, my neighbor does not respect my property. sometimes they bring in their little grandson to play with my kids basketball hoop and i dont want a law suit, its kind of ridicoulous, but i feel i cant say anything because i dont want to start trouble they live right next to us and it would make it worse. i dont know what to do!

Unfortunately in today's world you could be held liable for an injury. If a kid is playing and is hit with a ball or a bat or trips over his/her own two feet, then you are probably ok. But, if a dog comes along and digs a hole in your yard, you find out about it and you don't repair the problem, you could be held liable for neglecting to repair the problem if one of those kids breaks an ankle or something in that hole.

I am not an attorney but similar instances have arisen where I live regarding hunting access on private property. If a landowner has ruts on an old logging road on their property and doesn't fix it and a hunter breaks an ankle or leg in that rut, the owner can be held liable for neglecting to take care of the property. This has caused a lot of panic among land owners which have subsequently shut off access to their property.

I would talk to a lawyer to be certain.