Are Online Waivers Legal in Georgia?

This guide is for Georgia activity businesses: trampoline parks, gyms, climbing walls, river outfitters, adventure tours, camps, farms, stables and event organizers. It covers Georgia's electronic signature law, how Georgia courts treat liability waivers, what is known about minors, and the state's agritourism and animal activities statutes.

This guide is general information about Georgia law, with links to the statutes and cases, so you and your attorney can look into anything that applies to your business.

Waiver Law in Georgia at a Glance

Are Electronic Signatures Legal in Georgia?

Yes. Georgia's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act is at O.C.G.A. Title 10, Chapter 12. Section 10-12-7 provides that "a record or signature shall not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form" and that "if a law requires a signature, an electronic signature shall satisfy the law." The federal ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. 7001) says the same for interstate transactions.

Are Liability Waivers Enforceable in Georgia?

Generally yes. In McFann v. Sky Warriors, Inc., 268 Ga. App. 750 (2004), the Georgia Court of Appeals stated that "exculpatory clauses in Georgia are valid and binding, and are not void as against public policy when a business relieves itself from its own negligence." The court added that contracts are avoided as against public policy only "where the case is free from doubt and where an injury to the public interest clearly appears."

Explicit, Prominent, Clear and Unambiguous

Georgia courts hold waivers to a demanding standard. In Holmes v. Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc., 284 Ga. App. 474 (2007), the court said exculpatory clauses require "a meeting of the minds on the subject matter" and must be "explicit, prominent, clear and unambiguous." Ambiguities are construed against the business that drafted the clause. In Holmes, the waiver only took effect "if" it did not invalidate required insurance coverage, and that condition was enough to send the case back for further proceedings.

The "prominent" part is what makes Georgia stand out: courts look at how the release appears in the document, not only what it says. The decisions above do not set a fixed type size.

McFann also shows how wording can backfire. One of the agreements in that case said the company "shall satisfy any legal liability" arising "solely from the negligence or wilful misconduct" of the company. The court read that language as preserving, not releasing, the company's liability for its own negligence.

Gross Negligence and Willful Conduct

McFann states the rule directly: "exculpatory clauses do not relieve a party from liability for acts of gross negligence or wilful or wanton conduct." Georgia courts describe gross negligence as the failure to exercise even a slight degree of care (see O.C.G.A. 51-1-4), and where the facts leave room for reasonable disagreement, the question goes to a jury. Where the evidence can't support it, courts have granted judgment on the release. In A.H. v. Callaway Gardens Resort, Inc. (M.D. Ga. 2021), a federal court found the boat operator's choices raised at most questions of simple negligence, which the release covered.

Waivers for Minors in Georgia

Georgia has no statute like Florida's or Colorado's authorizing parents to waive a child's future claims, and we did not find a Georgia appellate decision that decides the question either way. In Callaway Gardens, a 10-year-old was hurt tubing after her guardians signed a release on her behalf. The federal court enforced it as to simple negligence, but noted that the plaintiffs had not argued the guardians lacked authority to release her claims, so the court didn't decide that issue. Until a Georgia appellate court rules, a parent-signed release of a child's claims is uncertain protection, and it's worth asking a Georgia attorney how your form should handle children and the parent's own claims.

More Than a Release

A signed agreement does other useful work in Georgia:

• Agritourism immunity. O.C.G.A. 51-3-31 gives landowners who charge admission immunity for inherent risks of agritourism, hunting or fishing for participants 18 and older, but only if they post the statutory warning sign and the participant has signed a waiver form that mirrors the sign's language. The immunity doesn't cover gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct.
• Equine and livestock notice. Written contracts for professional services must carry the statutory warning (O.C.G.A. 4-12-4).
• A record of your warnings and rules. The release in Callaway Gardens also alerted guests to the activity's risks. A signed acknowledgment is evidence of what each guest was told; how much it matters depends on the facts.
• Medical information and consent. Health conditions, emergency contacts, parent consent and photo consent, collected before the activity.

Georgia Activity Laws

Georgia's animal activities statute (O.C.G.A. Title 4, Chapter 12) covers equine, llama and livestock activities. Under O.C.G.A. 4-12-3, sponsors and professionals are not liable for injuries resulting from the inherent risks of animal activities, with exceptions for faulty tack, failing to reasonably assess a participant's ability or an animal's behavior, known latent dangers, willful or wanton conduct and intentional injury. Under O.C.G.A. 4-12-4, equine professionals must post signs in a clearly visible location on or near stables, corrals or arenas, in black letters at least one inch high, and written contracts for professional services must contain the warning "in clearly readable print." A business that doesn't comply with the sign and notice requirements can't claim the statute's protection.

For agritourism, the warning sign under O.C.G.A. 51-3-31 goes at the main point of entry, if there is one, in black letters at least one inch high, and the signed waiver form has to mirror its language.

Points to Raise With Your Attorney

WaiverFile doesn't draft waivers, and the wording of your agreement is a job for you and your attorney. Based on the statutes and cases above, these points are worth raising:

• Prominence: Georgia courts look at how the release is set out in the document, not only its words.
• Release language with no conditions or clauses that cut the other way. The courts in McFann and Holmes faulted agreements for exactly that.
• Evidence of a meeting of the minds, such as initials beside the release paragraph.
• The exact statutory wording for agritourism or animal activities, if those statutes apply to you.
• How the form handles children, given the open question above.

How WaiverFile Helps Georgia Businesses

Once your agreement is written, WaiverFile makes it easy for every guest to sign it and keeps a complete, easy-to-find record of each one:

• Your agreement, laid out your way. Add the text you and your attorney prepared, and use the editor's formatting options (bold, capitals, font size) to lay it out the way it was written. Guests read it on their own screen, one form at a time.
• A checkbox or initials where you want them. Initial boxes inside the agreement text and required checkboxes for the rules, risks and clauses you choose.
• Families on one form. A parent or guardian signs for themselves and adds each child by name and date of birth. Minors are flagged at check-in.
• Health and emergency details. Required questions collect medical information and emergency contacts. HIPAA features add extra protection for health information.
• A record of what was signed. Each signed waiver stores the signature, the answers, and the date and time, plus the IP address and device for online signing. Add a photo of the signer or their ID if you like. Search any waiver in seconds, or download them in bulk as a ZIP file for any date range.
• Sign anywhere. Guests sign ahead by email, text, QR code or your website, during online booking, or on a tablet at the door. The Venue app works offline at farms and rural sites.

Start with one of our free waiver templates, adapt it for Georgia with your attorney, and set up a free account to start collecting signatures.

Sources and Further Reading

• Georgia Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, O.C.G.A. 10-12-7
• Federal ESIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. 7001
• McFann v. Sky Warriors, Inc., 268 Ga. App. 750, 603 S.E.2d 7 (2004)
• Holmes v. Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc., 284 Ga. App. 474, 644 S.E.2d 311 (2007)
• A.H. ex rel. Scott v. Callaway Gardens Resort, Inc., No. 4:20-cv-00100-CDL (M.D. Ga. Oct. 21, 2021)
• O.C.G.A. 51-3-31 (agritourism, hunting and fishing immunity; signs and signed waiver)
• O.C.G.A. 4-12-3 (inherent risks of animal activities)
• O.C.G.A. 4-12-4 (warning signs and notices)

Published November 3, 2020 · Updated November 4, 2026