Are there any universal laws, or state laws dealing with tree and
neighbor
issues?


Ex. Leaves from my tree fall on the neighbors yard - who cleans it up.


The neighbor

Roots come to the surface on his property - who has to cover them with
soil.

No one has to. If the neighbor wants to, it's up to him

Leaves fall into the neighbors gutters.

The neighbor cleans them


Roots penetrate neighbors sewer line - who pays for unclogging. On and
on.

Neighbor pays

Esthetics of trimming.

In general, you can trim a tree that is not on your property back to
the property line. But you have to do it in a reasonable way, ie try
as best as possible not to harm the tree. I'd also be careful about
cutting roots from a neighbors tree. Certainly if they are causing
problems, you can trim them back. But if you went out and just
starting cutting roots off from a healthy tree that;s on your neighbors
property, for no reason at all, and the tree died, the neighbor could
sue and might win.

If a tree from your property falls onto the neighbors house, it's his
problem. Unless the tree was obviously a danger due to rot, or you had
been told the tree was a danger, etc, then the neighbor would have a
negligence claim against you.


Of course this works both ways, because I may be getting leaves form
his
tree as well.


Everyone in the neighborhood benefits from having trees around, but
some of
my neighbors are not rational in this respect - as least in my opinion.