You have a paranormal team, a client and a “legal duty”

Many new people are joining the ranks of paranormal investigators. New teams are formed ever day around the country. Joining a ghost hunting group is fun, exciting and rewarding, but it is also laden with responsibilities which must be considered.

If you are conducting or participating in recreational ghost hunts without clients that is one thing. But if you are a group that is taking on clients then you need to understand you have put yourself in a whole new class of responsibilities, legal duties and potentially liability.

You need to be very certain what it is that you and your group is trying to accomplish and make sure that is clearly communicated to your client. Before you accept a case or conduct an investigation, you need to understand what your client is wanting and needing from you. You must understand their expectations and determine if that is in line with your group’s mission, skills and intent. Simply going in and conducting an investigation “as seen on TV” is not enough and you could find yourself in some legal “hot water” at some point.

You must prepare some process for capturing your client’s expectations and assessing your group’s ability to meet those expectations. For example, a potential client calls asking if your group does investigations at private residences to which you eagerly reply “yes”; and take on the case.

You and your team go to the client’s house on the appointed date and time, set up your cameras and audio recording devices, conduct your investigation and get ready to pack up and call it a night. Your client on the other hand, wants to know how you are going to help them before you leave. Their expectation was not only that you were coming in to conduct an investigation to capture and document evidence, but that you are there to do something about their problem.

The fact that you had not instituted a process for capturing their expectations and assessing your ability to address those expectations is not only damaging to reputations, but could land you and your team in court.

The failure to understand the responsibilities that come with you organizing a team and conducting investigations is happening all too frequently. It has taken years for paranormal groups to become accepted and your failure to understand your client, their needs and your legal obligations has serious consequences, to you and others.

If your group is about doing this for fun and within the scope of capturing and documenting evidence only, then that needs to be clearly defined to the client so they can determine is that is sufficient to meet their needs. If not, they need to be able to find someone else who can help them in ways that exceed your desires or abilities. You have a duty to your client and that duty begins with understanding their expectations and the limits of your training, skills and abilities to meet those expectations.

In some cases, your client may simply want an investigation, to see if any evidence can be captured and documented. If that’s the expectation and that is what you are prepared, equipped and trained to do, then you are clearly fulfilling your obligations to that client.

This is but one example of the legal duties and responsibilities you take ownership over when you take on clients and accept investigations. It is vital that you carefully consider what you are really getting yourself into. As I previously stated, you have a “legal duty” to your client. You should speak to your legal and business advisors for specifics in your jurisdiction and state.