On Apr 29, 2:11*pm, 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.

It certainly isn't the law everywhere or I would suspect even most
places in the US, where much of this is based on common law.
Generally, just because a tree is on HIS property and falls onto YOUR
property, doesn't mean he's responsible. If it was a tree that had
no obvious problems and just fell one day, then in most cases the
person who's property it was on is not responsible. Examples of this
happening could be that it was brought down by a wind storm or had
internal rot that was not apparent from the outside.

On the other hand, if it was obvious the tree was dead or had a
problem and the property owner did nothing about it, then he probably
is liable.

If you have a legal reference that says otherwise, let us have a look.





*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