On Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:11:04 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:09:11 -0700 (PDT), Joe
wrote:

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.

It's HIS tree. It fell into YOUR yard. HE is responsible to clean it
up, either personally or by hiring professionals. If this was to go
to court, the judge would agree, because that is the law. If it's
posing a risk, that's even more of a concern. It may damage your tree
too. If he refuses to get it removed, take photos and get the job
done, and present him with the bill. If he refuses to pay, take him
to court.

Of course if you're handy with a chainsaw and need firewood, maybe you
and him can work out other arrangements. But if this is simply a
matter of removing the tree by hired contractors, its his
responsibility to pay. His insurance might pay for the removal too,
depending on his policy.... This is storm damage, so he should ask
his insurer.

LM

As pointed out by others, tree law can vary significantly from area to
area -- it might be the neighbors responsibility, it might be the OP's
responsibility (at least for the part now over the property line), it
might depend whether the tree was known dead or got knocked over in a
storm, etc.

In any case, it should be removed ASAP -- talk to the neighbor first,
pointing out the danger; that may be enough to get it taken care of.
If not, find out the law in the area and contact whomever is needed to
help with that (whether that's the local authorities, a tree trimmer,
your insurance company, etc).

Josh