# Tree Law, aggressively pruning neighbor **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502 "2009-06-30T18:29:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/41 "2009-07-17T15:42:04Z")
> [@JerseyFrank](#): > > Working with your analogy, I fully expect my car in his driveway to be a no-go. But if during his removal he decided it was best to cut it up with a reciprocating saw, would that be ok? It’s not necessary, or reasonable, to cut up a car because the car can easily be removed by other methods. If you know of some way to remove tree branches other than with a saw, I’d like to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/42 "2009-07-20T19:31:37Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > My BIL had a sort of similar situation. At one corner of his backyard his fence joins up with 2 neighbors’ fences (nextdoor neighbor and neighbor to the rear). A tree that was entirely on the property of the rear neighbor fell, crushing parts of all 3 of the fences. My recollection is that each homeowner’s individual insurance paid for the damage to their own fence. Had my family over yesterday and asked if this situation was as I had remembered it. BIL said yes, each property owner’s insurance paid for their own damage with no subrogation. Sister added that soon after they had had a limb fall off of one of their trees damaging another neighbor’s fence. My sister said she felt apologetic when she told the neighbor that her understanding was that the neighbor would have to contact their own insurance to have it covered. The neighbor had no objection, as he had already contacted their own insurer and heard the same thing. So that appears to be the way tree damage is handled - at least in this corner of suburban Chicagoland. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/43 "2009-07-20T21:14:25Z")
> [@BillyJames](#): > > Sorry to be contrary, but yes it is. For the most part, if you own a piece of real property, you own the ground below it and the airspace above it. I own the airspace above my property? Do you have a cite for that? Can I charge rent to the airlines that fly overhead? Charge my neighbor with property damage when the sap and pollen from his oak discolors my car? Demand that he remove the tons of leaves left each year? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/44 "2009-07-20T21:20:42Z")
I think you all first need to answer the question of who owns the portion of tree overhanging another property: the owner of the property where the tree trunk enters the ground, or the owner of the property being overhung. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/45 "2009-07-21T14:22:12Z")
It has been a long time since I took property law, but traditionally a property owner owned all of the space above his property extending out into space, and down to the center of the earth. Nowadays I believe it is is generally limited to that portion one might reasonably use. And I believe in the US at least, federal law specifically gives the US government control of air lanes. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/46 "2009-07-21T15:09:06Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > It has been a long time since I took property law, but traditionally a property owner owned all of the space above his property extending out into space, and down to the center of the earth. Nowadays I believe it is is generally limited to that portion one might reasonably use. And I believe in the US at least, federal law specifically gives the US government control of air lanes. I am specifically pulling information out of my fundament here, but it’s my understanding that the “wedge of the Universe” still holds, but subject to an easement held by the U.S. government in behalf of The People for the use of the airspace. (I.e., you as a private pilot may fly above any land not specifically prohibited using the easement but you have no claim as against the landowner deciding to lease land to Amalgamated Cellphones for a tower, presuming all appropriate permits, flightplans, and such for your plane and for the tower to be in place.) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/47 "2009-07-21T15:10:44Z")
By the way, after having read the title of this thread one too many times, “aggressively pruning neighbor” would subject you to charges for assault causing grave bodily harm – even if he’s being a dick about your tree, he’s not subject to maiming! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/48 "2009-07-21T15:52:12Z")
> **[Can I declare a “no-flight zone” over my house?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342266/can-i-declare-a-no-flight-zone-over-my-house)** Cecil on airspace rights. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/49 "2009-07-21T16:23:29Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > **JerseyFrank** , I hope you don’t mind if I jump in with a sorta-related question? > > I live in NJ too. I have several large trees in my yard, and I am very closely situated to my neighbors. For the last few years, I’ve been kind of eying one of the trees nervously. The trunk is covered in ivy that we haven’t been able to kill off even with poison and cutting off all of the roots a few feet off the ground, and the ivy seems to be killing the tree (the tree is producing fewer and fewer leaves every year, and some of the branches are pretty much bare in the middle of summer). I’m 95% sure that the tree is on my property (hence, trying to kill the ivy), but it’s right on the edge of the line so I’d need to have someone out to actually check it. > > The problem is the positioning. It’s about five or six feet up the heavily overgrown, nearly vertical slope up to the neighbor’s property, right next to my back deck and with its branches overhanging both of our houses. The houses are maybe 12 or 15 feet apart. If it decides to come down in a storm, it’s almost certain to fall directly onto one or both houses. From what I’ve read online, taking it out is going to require someone to cut it down one piece at a time, and their equipment is going to have a devil of a time getting to it. It’s going to cost a _fortune_, and I am unemployed and don’t have the cash right now. > > Also, my neighbors must have noticed the problem, but they’ve neither said anything to me nor trimmed any of the overhanging branches. > > Assuming that it is, indeed, on my property, and I don’t move immediately to have it taken out (…I’ve been considering for about three years, so for some value of “immediately”, considering the cost), what happens if some part of it does fall on my neighbor’s house? Will insurance refuse to pay because I knew that there was a possibility of it falling, even though I didn’t know for sure it would happen or when? Any other potential problems I haven’t considered? > > Obviously, the smart thing to do would be to suck it up and have the tree taken down, and maybe see if I can talk the neighbors into covering part of the cost, but I seriously won’t be able to afford that until after my bankruptcy is done and I get a new job. In MN here. My FIL’s neighbor had a nearly dead tree. FIL was after him to get it cut down as it was very large and right on the property line. Neightbor refused. A storm came and knocked the tree down into FIL’s property and damaged the house (though not that much). FIL approached the neighbor and asked what he was going to do about it and for insurance info. Neighbor told him nothing…that the tree and damage was FIL’s problem and he wasn’t going to pay a cent or do any work/effort. FIL went to a lawyer and, sure enough, the tree and damage was 100% FIL because the tree fell into his yard. It cost him over $6000 out of pocket to get it removed. I find this to be complete bullshit. If you are responsible for a neighbor’s tree falling in your yard you should have the authority to deal with it before it does. If you do not have that authority, then it should be the neighbors responsibility for damage and fallen tree removal. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/50 "2009-07-21T16:52:47Z")
I’m envisioning a wooded area subdivided into lots where every single tree has been hacked off such that no branch or twig crosses a property line. It would make a neighborhood such as [this one](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hurst,+tx&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=44.658568,65.039063&ie=UTF8&ll=32.828516,-97.184758&spn=0.001454,0.001985&t=k&z=19) in Hurst, Texas look mighty strange… (For those who don’t feel like clicking the link, it’s a residential area in suburban Fort Worth where it appears nearly every single lot contains at least one tree that overhangs their neighbor’s property.) I grew up in that area, and to be honest don’t know what the law on the matter is. That aerial photo is representative of the actual practice. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502/51 "2009-07-21T20:15:39Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > In MN here. > > My FIL’s neighbor had a nearly dead tree. FIL was after him to get it cut down as it was very large and right on the property line. Neightbor refused. > > A storm came and knocked the tree down into FIL’s property and damaged the house (though not that much). > > FIL approached the neighbor and asked what he was going to do about it and for insurance info. Neighbor told him nothing…that the tree and damage was FIL’s problem and he wasn’t going to pay a cent or do any work/effort. > > FIL went to a lawyer and, sure enough, the tree and damage was 100% FIL because the tree fell into his yard. It cost him over $6000 out of pocket to get it removed. > > I find this to be complete bullshit. If you are responsible for a neighbor’s tree falling in your yard you should have the authority to deal with it before it does. If you do not have that authority, then it should be the neighbors responsibility for damage and fallen tree removal. You’d think there would be some allowance for demonstrable negligence on the part of the tree owner, such as noted here: [Cite 1](http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/my-neighbor-s-tree-fell-on-my-property-is-he-respo-27916.html) [cite2](http://books.google.com/books?id=JBgb2w_8UNQC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=tree+damage+to+neighboring+property+through+negligence&source=bl&ots=NodNEMOXLG&sig=BaUzcex8nsyucvoqgk2o0MIjHmc&hl=en&ei=0iBmSr-HJ4_IMIa36aEB&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3) [cite 3](http://www.electricinsurance.com/articles_02/who_pays_when_tree_falls_on_neighbors_property.asp?VCF=WX) Of course, any of these would require proof of the situation, and that the neighbor was aware of it, plus it would require your FIL to go to court to sue the neighbor. I wonder if the lawyer discussed the negligence aspect of it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-law-aggressively-pruning-neighbor/501502.md?page=2)