New Hampshire's Supreme Court has enforced releases for kart racing, auto racing and a ski season pass, and its test for when a release holds up is one of the clearest in the country. This guide is for New Hampshire ski areas, race tracks, riding stables, summer camps, climbing gyms and outfitters. It covers e-signatures, the three-part test courts use, how New Hampshire courts have treated parents signing for children, and the ski and equine statutes.
This guide is general information about New Hampshire law, with links to the statutes and cases, so you and your attorney can look into anything that applies to your business.
The short answer. New Hampshire courts enforce a clearly written release for recreational activities when it passes a three-part test from Barnes v. New Hampshire Karting Association, and electronic signatures count the same as ink. Courts read releases strictly, so wording and layout matter. The state Supreme Court hasn't decided whether a parent can waive a child's claims, and the trial courts that have applied New Hampshire law refused to enforce those releases.
Waiver Law in New Hampshire at a Glance
| Electronic signatures | Valid under New Hampshire's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (RSA 294-E:7) and the federal ESIGN Act. |
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| Waivers of negligence | Enforced if (1) not against public policy, (2) a reasonable person would understand them, and (3) the claim was within the parties' contemplation (Barnes, 1986; Dean v. MacDonald, 2001; McGrath v. SNH Development, 2009). Strictly construed against the business. |
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| "Gross" negligence | New Hampshire does not recognize degrees of negligence, so calling negligence "gross" does not avoid a valid release (Barnes). |
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| Activity laws to know | Skiers accept the inherent risks of the sport as a matter of law (RSA 225-A:24); equine sponsors are not liable for inherent risks, with exceptions (RSA 508:19). |
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| Parents signing for minors | No state Supreme Court ruling. Trial courts applying New Hampshire law have declined to enforce parent-signed releases against a child's claims. |
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| Reckless or intentional harm | Not addressed in the cases reviewed. |
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Are Electronic Signatures Legal in New Hampshire?
Yes. New Hampshire adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act in 2001. RSA 294-E:7 says a record or signature "may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form," and if a law requires a signature, "an electronic signature satisfies the law." The federal ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. 7001) does the same nationwide. A waiver signed on a phone, computer or tablet counts as signed.
Are Liability Waivers Enforceable in New Hampshire?
In Dean v. MacDonald, 147 N.H. 263 (2001), the Supreme Court put it this way: "Although New Hampshire law generally prohibits exculpatory contracts, we will enforce them if: (1) they do not violate public policy; (2) the plaintiff understood the import of the agreement or a reasonable person in his position would have understood the import of the agreement; and (3) the plaintiff's claims were within the contemplation of the parties when they executed the contract." The business carries the burden of showing the release meets the test.
1. Public Policy
The test comes from Barnes v. New Hampshire Karting Association, 128 N.H. 102 (1986). The business must show "that no special relationship existed between the parties and that there was no other disparity in bargaining power." A special relationship exists where the defendant is "a common carrier, innkeeper or public utility, or is otherwise charged with a duty of public service." Recreation usually passes: the court held kart racing is not "a service of great importance to the public," and in McGrath v. SNH Development, Inc., 158 N.H. 540 (2009) it said the same of snowboarding, adding that the fact an activity is regulated by statute "is not determinative of a public policy violation."
2. A Reasonable Person Would Understand It
Barnes upheld a release whose language "clearly and specifically indicates the intent to release the defendant from liability for personal injury caused by the defendant's negligence," and courts strictly construe these contracts against the business. Formatting matters: McGrath noted that in its season pass release "neither the font nor the formatting obscured the exculpatory clause," and contrasted Wright v. Loon Mountain Recreation Corp., 140 N.H. 166 (1995), where a horseback riding release failed because its structure and wording suggested it covered only inherent risks. Not reading the release is no excuse: in Barnes, "the plaintiff's failure to read the entire release does not preclude enforcement."
3. Within the Parties' Contemplation
The claim must be the kind of thing the parties had in mind, though "the parties need not have contemplated the precise occurrence." In Dean, a racer struck while crossing the track was covered because the release was meant to apply to "a broad range of accidents occurring in automobile racing." In McGrath, a snowboarder hit by a ski area snowmobile was covered because the release reached any negligence, "not just ... negligence inherent to the sports of skiing and snowboarding."
Gross Negligence and Intentional Harm
In Barnes the plaintiff argued the release could not cover gross negligence. The court disagreed because "New Hampshire law does not distinguish causes of action based on ordinary and gross negligence." The cases we reviewed did not decide whether a release can cover reckless, willful or intentional conduct.
Waivers for Minors in New Hampshire
The New Hampshire Supreme Court hasn't decided whether a parent can release a child's own injury claim before it happens, but the trial courts that have applied New Hampshire law have said no:
- In McKenna v. American Institute for Foreign Study Scholarship Foundation (D.N.H. Sept. 12, 1997), a federal judge predicted the state Supreme Court "would hold that the pre-injury release signed by [the mother] is unenforceable against her son's claims." He relied on Roberts v. Hillsborough Mills, 85 N.H. 517 (1932), which held a parent can't bind a child's legal rights outside a court proceeding or guardianship, and reasoned that if a parent can't release a child's claim after an injury without court approval, "it makes little sense" to allow it before. That case involved an au pair program, not recreation.
- A 2019 article in the New Hampshire Trial Bar News reports two more: a federal court in Massachusetts applying New Hampshire law to a parent's release for a motocross track (Harrigan v. New England Dragway, 2014), and a New Hampshire Superior Court in a ski lift case (Perry v. SNH Development, 2017), which also refused to enforce a clause requiring the parent to indemnify the ski area.
Trial court rulings don't bind the Supreme Court, but they are the best guide available. A parent's signature still records the parent's permission, the rules and risks they accepted, and the child's medical and emergency information.
New Hampshire Activity Laws
- Ski areas (RSA 225-A:24): people who ski, snowboard, snow tube or snowshoe accept "as a matter of law, the dangers inherent in the sport," including terrain, snow and ice conditions, trees, lift towers and collisions. RSA 225-A:25 adds a two-year deadline to sue an operator, with written notice to the operator by certified mail within 90 days of the injury.
- Equine activities (RSA 508:19): sponsors and professionals are not liable for injuries from the inherent risks of equine activities, and participants must heed posted warnings. The protection does not apply to faulty tack the sponsor knew or should have known about, failing to assess the rider's ability, known latent dangers without conspicuous warning signs, willful or wanton conduct or intentional injury.
More Than a Release
A signed New Hampshire agreement also does work that doesn't depend on the release:
- A record of what each guest was told. The Barnes test asks what a reasonable person would have understood. A signed agreement that lays out your activity's risks and rules, with an acknowledgment of each, is evidence of what the guest was told. How much it matters depends on the facts.
- Inherent risks on the slopes and in the saddle. The ski statute treats skiers as accepting the inherent risks as a matter of law, and the equine statute expects riders to heed your posted warnings. A signed agreement can describe those same risks and warnings in writing.
- Rules and equipment. Guests agree to your rules, ability levels and rental equipment terms.
- Medical information and consent. Health conditions, emergency contacts, parent permission and photo consent, collected before the activity.
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 cases above, these are points worth raising with a New Hampshire attorney:
- Whether the release clearly and specifically refers to the business's own negligence, the language Barnes upheld.
- Font and layout. McGrath noted that nothing obscured its release, and Wright faulted a release whose structure suggested it covered only inherent risks.
- The intended scope. The McGrath release reached negligence beyond the inherent risks of the sport, and the court enforced it that way.
- How to handle minors, given the trial court rulings above, including any indemnity clause aimed at parents.
- A clear record of who signed, when, and which version of the form they saw.
How WaiverFile Helps New Hampshire 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 as written.
- Acknowledgments where you want them. Initial boxes inside the agreement text and required checkboxes for the rules, risks and clauses you choose.
- Read at home, not in the lift line. Guests sign before they arrive from their own phone or computer by email, text or QR code link, or as part of online booking, with each guest's status at check-in. Tablet kiosks work offline in the Venue app.
- Families on one form. A parent or guardian signs for themselves and their children, adding each child by name and date of birth, and minors are flagged at check-in.
- Medical questions. Required questions collect health conditions and emergency contacts. HIPAA features add extra protection for health information.
- A record of each signature. Each signed form stores the signature, the answers, and the date and time, plus the IP address and device for online signing. Add a photo of each signer or their ID if you like. Records are encrypted, visible only to the staff you choose, searchable in seconds, and downloadable in bulk as a ZIP file for any date range.
Start with one of our free waiver templates, review it with your attorney, and set up a free account to start collecting signatures.
Sources and Further Reading
- RSA 294-E:7 (UETA, legal recognition of electronic signatures)
- Federal ESIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. 7001
- Barnes v. New Hampshire Karting Association, 128 N.H. 102 (1986)
- Dean v. MacDonald, 147 N.H. 263 (2001)
- McGrath v. SNH Development, Inc., 158 N.H. 540 (2009)
- McKenna v. American Institute for Foreign Study Scholarship Foundation, No. CV-94-671-B (D.N.H. Sept. 12, 1997)
- Israel F. Piedra, "Mommy, What's an Exculpatory Contract?": Parental Liability Releases in New Hampshire, N.H. Trial Bar News (Spring 2019)
- RSA 225-A:24 (responsibilities of skiers and passengers)
- RSA 225-A:25 (ski area claims: notice and time limits)
- RSA 508:19 (equine activities)
General information, not legal advice. WaiverFile is not a law firm, and this article is not legal advice. Laws change and courts decide each case on its own facts, so have a local attorney review your waiver.
Published November 4, 2026