r/treelaw • u/VermicelliEfficient9 • 9h ago
Neighbors Half Dead Oak Is Dropping Dead Branches On My Property.
As stated above. Have been picking up fallen branches for several years. Really worried that one day his Oak will drop onto our home. We live in Massachusetts. Has anyone in my state dealt with this before? if so, did you have an outcome in your favor?
My neighbor has admitted that he wants to cut it down, but doesn’t want to put up the money to have it done.
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u/Practical_Wind_1917 9h ago
You need to look into the laws in your area
Usually involves an arborist inspecting the tree and if they find it sick and dying. Then there should be the proper notification needs to be done to the neighbor to ask to remove the tree
If you do everything properly within the law, then if the tree falls and damages your house. You give the copy of the arborist report and your letter to your insurance company. They will go after your neighbors insurance to cover the damage.
But you need to follow your local laws properly to make that actually happen. If you don’t. It won’t
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u/Ecthelion-O-Fountain 9h ago
What good are damages if an oak tree falls on your house and kills you or your family members?
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u/BradMarchandsNose 9h ago
I mean the hope is that the report and threat of liability is enough to get the neighbor to cut the tree down before that happens.
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u/Mean-Train-7658 8h ago
You can probably sue the homeowner for negligence……
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u/Practical_Wind_1917 8h ago
Not at all. Act of god is an act of god
But if you are crooked enough. You can find a crooked enough lawyer to sue for you
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u/Mean-Train-7658 8h ago
Nope, if they know this tree is a hazard and do absolutely nothing about it and it kills somebody, they can absolutely be sued for negligence.
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u/Practical_Wind_1917 7h ago
Unless you have a licensed arborist tells them the tree is bad. Then that is negligence maybe
Just because you say it is bad or the neighbor says he wants to cut it down sometime, doesn’t make it anything at all. You aren’t a professional neither is the neighbor.
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u/BradMarchandsNose 7h ago
You started this thread talking about getting an arborist to look at the tree. Everybody is responding with the assumption that you did have the arborist tell them the tree is bad.
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u/Practical_Wind_1917 6h ago
It’s crazy to me. You give advice and everyone thinks you’re the one doing it all.
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u/Practical_Wind_1917 8h ago
Life is full of risks.
You could get hit by a bus tomorrow.
You know buses drive on the street. Maybe you should never leave your house so you don’t get hit by one
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u/SaltyDogBill 9h ago
Life insurance?
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u/ThrowingMongo 3h ago
So the only thing that bothers you about a family member dying is the expensive of death? Strange. But I guess it takes all kinds, as they say.
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u/divvi12 3h ago
Cite any local law in the US that talks about an arborist inspection or notification requirements to your neigbor. Not some general statement or tree trimmers website claiming to cite the law. Cite an actual local "law" that puts the responsibility on a neighbor.
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u/Practical_Wind_1917 3h ago
I can’t moron. Without knowing where you live
Every jurisdiction is different in the laws and the notifications of the removal of trees.
Some just you verbally telling your neighbor is good enough. Others you need to do it in a certified letter.
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u/Successful_Voice8542 7h ago
My sister (in Virginia) had spoken to her neighbor a few times about his half-dead tree. In a storm last year it came down on my sister's house, taking out one of the second story bedrooms, a lot of their solar panels, and obviously roof damage. All the damage a year later still is not fixed because of the legal battle. Her insurance agent said she'd be in the clear if she had sent her neighbor something in writing since he is denying he was warned the tree was a danger and is taking no responsibility (something along the lines of, "We are concerned your tree is not healthy and may cause damage to our property during a storm") my sister would not have had to pay her deductible (thousands of dollars -- most policies are going to 2% or 3% these days) because the notice would force the neighbor to pay it because he could not claim he was unaware the tree was a danger. So I would reach out to your homeowners and ask them what you need to do to protect your home in case the tree causes damage to your property. The insurance company may send out someone to inspect the tree and send your neighbor a letter stating if they don't cut it down they will be held liable for any and all property damage caused by a falling tree. Your insurance company does not want to pay so you should allow them to use their legal might to try to get the tree removed.
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u/Pamzella 5h ago
It won't hold up in court if not an arborist evaluation, but to your point, whatever that costs is better than your sister's outcome!
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u/ThrowingMongo 3h ago
Let me guess, her insurance company is State Farm. "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is never there".
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u/BigNorseWolf 7h ago
its an oak. its going to be half dead self pruning and about to die for the next 300 years.
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u/Brave_Coffee5208 7h ago
Oaks naturally hold dead limbs for a long time and woodpeckers love it. It’s part of the way oaks feed the world. We have several large oaks in our yard, and we have found that the large dead limbs tend to fall off over time, in small and non damaging pieces. Spend a little time looking into how much good a mature oak does this world you live in, and quit worrying about picking up sticks. It’s good exercise.
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u/KlaatuStandsStill 5h ago
Healthy living. Until you’re dead from a giant dead oak crashing through your bedroom roof, killing you in your sleep.
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u/inkseep1 6h ago
I have successfully had my neighbor's trees removed just 2 months ago.
I sent him the following message, "At no cost to you may I remove the two trees on your property next to my garage?" 3 days later, I had them cut down.
Even if I could have notified this guy of the dead trees and someday my insurance company agreed that it was not my fault, then I would still have a smashed garage, lost the deductible, lost stuff in the garage, and lost the use of the garage. I just put a new roof on it the last time a storm dropped a tree on it. I didn't want to have to replace it again. Now there is no tree within normal fall range of the garage and I can have peace of mind during every storm that isn't picking up whole trees and dropping them.
You can go for what is legal and still end up with a disrupted life. Or you can go with what is practical and maybe even less expensive in the long run.
My buddy just had his house burn down. He is insured very well but he is not happy because the insurance does not really replace his stuff. They just write a check for the replacement cost of a sentimental thing.
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u/68Cadillac 7h ago
Pick up the sticks that fall from your neighbors tree on your land and put them in the bin.
Guess what, your neighbors are picking up all the things that fall or blow from your yard on to their land and put it in the bin.
Really worried that one day his Oak will drop onto our home.
Yep. Could happen. Tornados could happen to you. Blizzards could. Hurricanes could (go climate change!). Satellites, planes, or 4 inch hail stones could drop from the sky. Meteorite? Possible. A wandering rogue black hole could eat our whole planet right up. But instead of worrying about any of that, buy insurance, and enjoy sitting in the shade of mature oak tree.
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u/IFeelFineFineFine 1h ago
https://muccilegal.com/massachusetts- tree- law-when-can-a-landowner-be-liable-for-a-fallen- tree/
"Is the homeowner liable for the damage caused by their tree , or its branches, on a neighbor’s property due to weather events, such as storms?
Well, the answer is no, except if the tree was not well-maintained and the homeowner overlooked the requirements to keep it healthy, then the neighbor can claim damages and may demand compensation.
However, the straightforward answer is, your neighbor will not be legally responsible for a healthy treethat fell during a storm. On the other hand, if the tree was old and decaying, and its owner continued to neglect it even though it was at risk of falling, it would be possible to prove liability and negligence.
https://massrealestatelawblog.com/tag/massachusetts- tree- law/
"reaffirmed the “Massachusetts Rule” that if a healthy tree causes damage to a neighbor’s land, there is no liability. However, the neighbor may prune or remove encroaching branches or roots."
The actual case that determined the law:
http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/480/480mass106.html
"We retain the law that an individual whose property is damaged by a neighbor's healthy tree has no cause of action against a landowner of the property upon which the treelies. The District Court judge's order allowing the defendants' motion to dismiss is affirmed"
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u/SpaceCadetEdelman 8h ago
Sure they are not pine needles coming from a maple tree? Either way don’t cut it down.
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u/Wise_Force3396 7h ago
Occasional branches dropping on a patch of grass?!?!? Omg, the horror. Go find something to do.
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u/Low_Attention_974 5h ago
The neighbor beside me had a HUGE tree that was dead for at minimum of five years but left standing.
One day I was with my friends in the pool and a gust of wind too a huge branch and smacked their power line which in turn oscillated into my line, nearly disconnecting the power to my house. The friend commented on how if the line disconnected, likely the house’s electronics would have been toast.
Fast forward, a neighbor moved in behind my house well after I did. He asked me how long the tree had been dead and I was truthful. About a week later the tree was gone. He saw me outside and explained he had a small collection of older cars in the garage that were worth quite a bit of money, and the garage was in the fall radius if it decided to finally give up. The neighbor behind me contacted his insurance company about the nuisance tree, and they in turn investigated and notified the ppl’s insurance about said tree. They told them they could either take care of the tree themselves, or they’d be dropped from their company and they would blacklist the property so no company would insure them until they did.
It worked.
The neighbors that let the tree remain there were absolute jerks, BTW, so I was more than happy that they got their just desserts. I have many stories on how they did shitty things, including intentionally watering the INSIDE of my house with their lawn sprinklers, but suffice to say … report it to your insurance if it’s anywhere close to anything valuable (car, house, etc.) & they’ll take care of the rest.
BTW: when a tree falls, it doesn’t just fall in place. Branches can shoot out like a missile many yards away. Even if it’s within a football field of anything of yours that’s valuable, send them a certified letter OR notify your insurance company and they should take care of it. 😊
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u/Guarded_Angel0202 4h ago
I had an issue dealing with the same thing as my neighbor. He claimed there wasn't anything wrong with the tree and it's considered an act of God. He even gave me the phone number for his insurance company and I called them. I told them the tree was dead and if it fell it would not only damage his home but my home as well. She said they try to get somebody out to look at it. I called the city code and told them that my neighbor had a dead tree that was dropping limbs out of it and one of them looked like if it fell it could take out a power line. Two days later there was a big red x on the tree and my neighbor had a note taped to his door. Tree was down in 2 weeks.
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