"Joe" wrote in message
...
My neighbor has had a dead tree in the back of his property for about
a year, last night the wind finally broke the trunk and it fell a
little toward my yard but was stopped by a large oak tree on my
property. I'm worried that it might break apart and fall when my
children are playing in the yard. I need this tree to come down and
I'm worried that my neighbor won't do it. They have a habit of only
doing the kind of maintenance that is absolutely necessary. How do I
approach them to make sure they take care of this problem? I'm on
good terms with this neighbor and I'd like to take care of this in the
most tactful way possible but I get the feeling they are going to tell
me that if I want the tree down I'm going to have to pay for it
myself.


First thing I would do is mention it to the neighbor, presented as a safety
issue and see what they say.

From a legal perspective (here) alive or dead once it crossed the property
line, the part that crossed the line became your property and your problem.

Since it sounds like the bulk of the tree remains on their property where
you have no rights you have to work with the neighbor or let your local code
enforcement office deal with them.

A dead tree leaning into another property and threaten the safety of
property, children or pets would be a 24 hour notice to correct in these
parts.

When the city gives you 24 hours to correct a problem it tends to become
"maintenance that is absolutely necessary".

Colbyt