Assuming you are the owner of the pool and the land in which the pool sits, you should seriously consider enclosing your pool within a fence, especially if it is not a raised pool but dug into the ground. There is a high likelihood that any such pool owner will be held liable for a swimming accident. A landowner’s liability is limited only in cases involving injuries sustained by trespassers.
If your primary concern is adult trespassers, you may be okay concerning liability in court. However, if possible it is usually better to avoid the hassle of going to court. After all, just proving that someone is a trespasser will require time, energy, and attorneys (i.e. – money). The legal definition of trespassing includes the physical invasion of the real property of another, where the real property is the invader’s intended target.
The situation becomes more complicated when you mix water and people—including children as trespassers. Attractive nuisance is a legal loophole in the traditional doctrine of trespassing described above. It basically states that your liability as a landowner is higher if there is an attractive object on your property that is visible from beyond your property. For instance, a playground on your property is likely to attract children. So if children trespass in order to get to a playground that is not properly obscured, and they are injured, you could still be liable under the attractive nuisance theory. The same principle applies for personal pools. If it is not properly obscured or protected, but it could be observed by children (or sometimes animals), then your risk of liability for injury is much greater.
Whatever the injury or its magnitude, a reasonably prudent pool owner must take certain precautions in controlling the access to the pool. Without safeguards, you as the owner of the pool could be held negligent and liable for damages that could run into the six and seven figures. You could be held liable for much more if death occurs. In addition, some areas have passed ordinances making it easier for landowners to be held liable for a child’s swimming pool injury or death when they have failed to erect a fence around a pool.