Are Online Waivers Legal in Utah?

Utah is full of businesses built on adventure: ski schools, canyoneering guides, climbing gyms, ATV rentals, horseback outfitters, trampoline parks and youth camps. Utah courts have a lot of experience with liability releases, and the Utah Supreme Court has enforced clear ones for a ski race and a horseback ride. This guide covers e-signatures, when Utah courts enforce releases, the ski area exception, the rule on minors that started with Hawkins v. Peart, and what else a signed agreement does for you.

This guide is general information about Utah 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 Utah at a Glance

Are Electronic Signatures Legal in Utah?

Yes. Utah adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act in Title 46, Chapter 4 of the Utah Code. Section 46-4-201 provides that a record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form, and that an electronic signature satisfies a law requiring a signature. The federal ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. 7001) sets the same rule for interstate commerce. A waiver signed online or on a tablet is signed. Whether a court enforces it depends on the rules below.

Are Liability Waivers Enforceable in Utah?

Usually, for adults in recreational settings. The Utah Supreme Court has said it has "joined the majority of jurisdictions in permitting people to surrender their rights to recover in tort for the negligence of others." Courts will not enforce a release that offends public policy, falls within the public interest exception, or is unclear or ambiguous.

• Enforced: a ski race. In Berry v. Greater Park City Co., 2007 UT 87, 171 P.3d 442, a racer signed a release before a skiercross event. Applying the Tunkl public interest factors, the court found the race was a non-essential activity for experienced competitors and enforced the release against the ordinary negligence claim. The court noted that releases must be communicated in a clear and unequivocal manner.
• Enforced: a horseback ride. In Penunuri v. Sundance Partners, Ltd., 2013 UT 22, 301 P.3d 984, the court held that Utah's equine statute "does not invalidate preinjury releases of liability for ordinary negligence," and the release barred the negligence claims.
• Not enforced: regular skiing. In Rothstein v. Snowbird Corp., 2007 UT 96, 175 P.3d 560, the court held a ski resort's releases void as "contrary to the public policy of this state." It reasoned that the Inherent Risks of Skiing Act was a bargain: operators are freed from liability for inherent risks so they can carry insurance and stay responsible for risks that aren't inherent. Releases would undo that bargain.

Context matters. A clear release for a recreational activity is often enforced in Utah, but where the legislature has set up a specific liability scheme, as it has for skiing, a court may decide a release conflicts with it.

Gross Negligence, Recklessness and Intentional Harm

In both Berry and Penunuri the release barred the ordinary negligence claims while the gross negligence claim went forward. In Berry the court noted that the release did not purport to cover gross negligence and sent the gross negligence question to a jury. Penunuri expressly left open whether a release that tried to cover gross negligence would be enforceable. A release can't be counted on to cover gross negligence, reckless conduct or intentional harm in Utah.

Waivers for Minors in Utah

In Hawkins v. Peart, 2001 UT 94, 37 P.3d 1062, a mother signed a release before her daughter went horseback riding. The Utah Supreme Court held that "a parent may not release a minor's prospective claim for negligence." It also refused to enforce the indemnity clause that would have made the parent repay the business, saying an agreement that "shifts the source of compensation from the negligent party to the minor's parent" creates an unacceptable conflict of interest between parent and child.

The legislature later made one narrow exception. In 2006 it amended the equine and livestock statute, which now lets a sponsor give notice by "providing a document or release for the participant, or the participant's legal guardian if the participant is a minor, to sign" (Utah Code 78B-4-203). In Rutherford v. Talisker Canyons Finance Co., 2019 UT 27, 445 P.3d 474, a ski resort argued that this change showed a general policy in favor of parental releases. The court disagreed, called the equine change a "very narrow area," and reaffirmed that "a parent cannot release his or her minor child's prospective claims for negligence unless this rule is altered by a statute enacted to make such releases enforceable." We did not find a later Utah statute broadening the exception.

Utah Activity Laws

• Equine and livestock activities. Sponsors must give notice of inherent risks either by posting a sign in a prominent location or by providing a document or release to sign, and the notice is sufficient if it includes the statutory definition of inherent risk and states the sponsor is not liable for those risks (Utah Code 78B-4-203).
• Skiing. The Inherent Risks of Skiing Act protects ski area operators from liability for inherent risks of skiing. Rutherford clarified that a listed risk is protected only when it is an inherent part of the sport as skiers reasonably encounter it, and Rothstein held ski area releases for regular skiing void.

More Than a Release

A signed agreement does other work for Utah businesses:

• Equine and livestock notice. A signed document is one of the two ways a sponsor can give the notice section 78B-4-203 requires, and for a minor the legal guardian can sign it. Penunuri also holds that the equine statute doesn't displace a release of ordinary negligence.
• A record of your warnings and rules. A form that describes the activity's risks and your rules, with each acknowledged, is evidence of what each guest was told before they took part. How much it matters depends on the facts.
• Information for families. Outside the equine and livestock context a parent's signature won't bar the child's negligence claim, and Hawkins means an indemnity clause aimed at the parent won't fill the gap. The parent's form still records consent to participate, health conditions and emergency contacts.
• Medical information and consent. Health details, consent to emergency treatment and photo consent, collected before anyone takes part.

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, especially if you serve minors:

• Clarity. Utah courts won't enforce releases that are unclear or ambiguous, and Berry looked for a release communicated in a clear and unequivocal manner.
• The setting. Berry weighed that the race was optional recreation for experienced participants.
• Industry statutes. Rothstein asked whether a release undermined the scheme the legislature set up for skiing.
• The equine notice. Section 78B-4-203 says what the notice must include.

How WaiverFile Helps Utah 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 agreement text you and your attorney prepared, including any statutory notice, and use the editor's formatting options (bold, capitals, font size) to lay it out the way it was written. The wording and format are up to you.
• A checkbox or initials where you want them. Add initial boxes inside the agreement text and required checkboxes for the paragraphs, risks and rules you choose, so each one has its own acknowledgment.
• A record of what was signed. 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.
• Families on one form. A parent or guardian adds each child by name and date of birth, and minors are flagged at check-in, which helps staff with age limits and supervision.
• Experience and medical questions. Required questions capture riding experience, health conditions and emergency contacts. HIPAA features add extra protection for health information.
• Sign anywhere. Guests sign ahead by email, text, QR code or your website, or on a tablet on-site, in multiple languages, and the Venue app works offline at trailheads and remote venues. Waivers are built into online booking, so you see each guest's status at check-in.
• Records you can produce. Search any waiver in seconds, send guests an email copy, or download signed waivers in bulk as a ZIP file for any date range.

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

Sources and Further Reading

• Utah Code 46-4-201 (Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, legal recognition)
• 15 U.S.C. 7001 (federal ESIGN Act)
• Hawkins v. Peart, 2001 UT 94, 37 P.3d 1062
• Rutherford v. Talisker Canyons Finance Co., 2019 UT 27, 445 P.3d 474
• Rothstein v. Snowbird Corp., 2007 UT 96, 175 P.3d 560
• Berry v. Greater Park City Co., 2007 UT 87, 171 P.3d 442
• Penunuri v. Sundance Partners, Ltd., 2013 UT 22, 301 P.3d 984
• Utah Code 78B-4-203 (equine and livestock activities, notice and release)

Published November 4, 2026