On May 26, 11:48*am, John wrote:
I'm curious about people's opinions on the following not-so-
hypothetical situation:

If you have two neighbors, call them Dan and Bob. *There is a tree
whose trunk is on Dan's property, but there are branches that overhang
onto Bob's property, in fact, one branch hangs over Bob's pool causing
Bob some grief. *The tree is mature, and existed before either moved
into their houses, * Bob wants that branch (and several others)
trimmed, but Dan does not want to trim the tree on his property.
Who's responsibility is it to have the branch trimmed?

I know that Dan has no legal obligation to trim the tree, but is there
an implied moral obligation (it's Dan's tree therefore he should trim
it), or is it implied that the trim is for Bob's sole benefit,
therefore Bob should do it? *(And splitting the cost does not seem to
be an option here).

This can be a tricky situation.

Here's how it works in many areas, but you should check with your own
municipality for the rules/laws specific to where you live.

If the tree is not a "boundary tree" (i.e. not on the property line)
and the trunk is fully on Dan's property, then it is Dan's tree.

If any part of Dan's tree extends over the property line between Dan &
Bob's property, then Bob has the right to trim the tree back to the
property line without Dan's permission. However, many municipalities
also have words to the effect "In trimming Dan's tree, Bob is not
allowed to unduly harm Dan's tree."

So let's say you have huge tree with the base of the trunk right
inside Dan's property line, with huge limbs and multiple trunks
extending over the line. It's reasonable to expect that if Bob
exercises his rights to trim the tree back to his property line he
will "unduly harm" the tree. That where it gets tricky and that's
where Bob should be careful.

Even if the trimming won't unduly harm Dan's tree, Bob needs to also
consider how the tree will look after it's trimmed and how it will
react.

Depending on how the tree is trimmed, it might send out new growth
from the trimmed areas, simply recreating the problem that Bob was
trying to solve. It might also look unbalanced from various viewing
angles and/or really ugly from Bob's side of the tree.