What is the legal defintion of a guest?

[Cormac0]

Hi Folks,

After reading some of the posting about people who came to visit who werent staying over night, I was intrigued as to what the legal definition of a guest was so I looked it up

1) in general, a person paying to stay in hotel, motel or inn for a short time. ( No surprises there)

2) a person staying at another's residence without charge, called a "social guest." An important distinction is that a non-paying guest is not owed the duty of providing a safe boarding space, as is a paying customer. 

Thus if a social guest trips on a slippery rug, he/she has no right to sue for negligence, but a paying guest might.

The point I want to make is that when a Host wants to describe a problem there having with additional unpaying Guests they should use the term "Social Guests" so we can have a common parlance and understanding what we're talking about.

[David126]

Obviously this is a world wide site and the legalities will vary from one Country to another, and in the US from State to State, as a general rule you can have a duty of care be held liable for injuries to a Social Guest due to your negligence. 

[Cormac0]

@David126

I agree, it’s all down to circumstances, but perhaps we should discourage "Social Guest" in are hosting for this very reason.