LEGAL MATTERS: Handling Tricky Tree Problems

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

John T. Longo, GoLocalWorcester Legal Contributor

Determining where your property begins and ends can be tricky when it comes to trees and shrubs.

Wondering if you can trim the branches from your neighbor’s tree that hang over your pool? Or worried a storm might blow it into your pool? A basic understanding of the law regarding trees may help you.

Cutting Branches

As a general rule, when you own land you also own the air space above it and the earth below it. Since you own it, you can remove anything that encroaches onto it, that hangs over it, or that runs underneath it. Applying that general rule to trees, you can cut the branches and roots off your neighbor’s trees where they cross your property line.

Before you get out your chainsaw, keep in mind every rule has exceptions. For example, there may be a local ordinance, or a homeowners’ association rule, or deed restrictions that regulate tree cutting in your area. You also cannot act recklessly–so if cutting off the branches will cause the tree to fall over onto your neighbor’s house, you better not.

Rotten Trees

Your neighbor must protect your property from his rotten trees. If one of his rotten trees falls onto your property, he has to pay you for any damage it causes including the cost of removing it. If his tree is healthy but it falls anyway–maybe because of a hurricane–then the law is not as clear. Some courts have held tree owners absolutely liable for any damage their healthy trees cause while other courts have let them off the hook if the trees were healthy before they fell.

No Right to Views or Sunshine

You usually have no right to protect your views from your neighbor’s trees. So if he has small trees on his land that do not block your views of say, the ocean, you cannot force him to keep them trimmed. Worse than that, if you get in a fight with him and he decides to plant trees to block your view, you usually cannot stop him.

Similarly, you usually cannot protect the sunlight that now reaches your land from his trees. If your neighbor plants or grows trees that block the sun from reaching your garden, there is probably nothing you can do.

Some places have passed laws to protect views and sunshine but the courts have not always upheld them.

Boundary Line Trees

If a tree’s trunk is located wholly on your land, you own the tree and can cut and trim it however you want.

If the line dividing your property from your neighbor’s goes right through a tree’s trunk, then you both own the tree together. Without each other’s permission, neither of you can cut it down and neither of you can do anything to hurt it. (Cutting off half its branches will usually hurt it.)

Obstinate Neighbors

If your neighbor is being unreasonable–maybe by refusing to remove a rotten tree or by refusing to trim the pine tree branches that are constantly dripping sap onto your car–you can take him to court. If a judge believes his behavior is causing a nuisance or endangering your property, he or she can order your neighbor to fix the problem. Of course that will cost you time and money so be sure you have plenty of insurance to protect your property in the meantime.

John Longo is a consumer rights attorney practicing law in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He represents consumers who have disputes with businesses, employees cheated out of their wages or overtime, car buyers stuck with Lemons, and people in need of bankruptcy protection. He is a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, and the Rhode Island Association for Justice.