Kids cavorting carelessly across your lawn. Playful pranks that become vandalism. Party guests who overdo it. Halloween's ghoulish activities can be scary.

Before you put out the Halloween treats, the trick is to make sure your home is safe and that your homeowners insurance policy covers claims that might arise from the season's spirited activities.

Legal experts say your primary concern should be trick-or-treating kids' safety. Despite the holiday urge to create a darkened atmosphere, your property should be well-lighted. Lighting helps keep kids safe while removing the cover of darkness vandals seek.

Clear debris, leaves, garden equipment and other obstructions from your walks, driveways and pathways. If a pumpkin or gourd gets smashed quickly, clean up the slippery, slimy goo.

Swimming-pool owners should secure the pool cover, lock access gates and turn on the pool lights.

If a tyke is injured, you may be held liable if you were negligent about the upkeep of your property.

Most homeowners policies have medical payments coverage, which pays up to a specified amount for emergency treatment, typically $5,000, up to $10,000. The same portion also may cover you if someone gets sick, say from a candy-coated apple or other treat you provided. Ask your agent if you have enough coverage.

The Insurance Information Institute says your policy also has liability coverage ranging from $100,000 to $1 million or more. Ask your agent if it's sufficient to cover your assets. It's triggered if you are found negligent. If the case involves a child, the burden of proof will be on you to prove you weren't negligent. By law, kids are not considered competent and can't be charged with negligence.

If a single insurer writes both your home and auto policy, increase liability coverage inexpensively by purchasing an umbrella policy. For a few hundred dollars a year, up to $1 million of coverage applies to both your car and your home.

Other liabilities could arise if you throw a party, a guest drinks too much and, on his or her way home, crashes the car. In some areas, laws or legal precedent can hold a party host responsible for injuries or property damage caused by an inebriated guest leaving a party. You could be legally responsible for medical bills, vehicle repairs, lost work time and wrongful-death claims.

Check with your insurer and your local law enforcement authorities to determine your potential for liability and insurance coverage.

Halloween pranks that become vandalism and cause permanent damage to your home—say, broken windows and spray-painted siding—are covered by the property-protection portion of your policy. Remember, you'll have to pay a deductible, typically $250 to $1,000 or more.

Report crimes to the police. In some situations, if the bad boys or girls are caught, your insurer can seek damages from the culprits or their insurance company. As a parent, you are liable if your kids vandalize someone else's home or property.

Homeowners policies do not cover crime or intentional acts of vandalism.

If a trick-or-treater gets rowdy, use care and only as much force as necessary to get the person to leave. If you use excessive force and inadvertently break a limb, your homeowner's policy may or may not cover you.

The Insurance Information Institute offers the following tips for a safe Halloween:

•Use face paints instead of masks. Kids should wear comfortable shoes and avoid loose-fitting costumes that could cause a fall. Avoid accessories, such as knives, swords, broom handles and wands, that could cause harm. Add reflective tape to costumes and carry a flashlight.

•Adults should accompany young trick-or-treaters, and older trick-or-treaters should travel with a buddy or in groups.

•Create, go over and stick to safety rules and a trick-or-treating route. Kids should visit familiar neighborhood homes and avoid darkened houses.

•Advise kids to stay on sidewalks, not to cross yards or between parked cars, cross streets at the corner and use crosswalks.

•Inspect all Halloween treats before children start feasting. Discard any food that is not commercially wrapped. Keep homemade food only if you know who prepared it.

Real estate writer Broderick Perkins, executive editor of San Jose-based DeadlineNews.Com, writes regularly for
Almaden Resident.