I live in a suburban neighborhood where a typical lot is about 100 ft wide. At the rear corner of my lot is a large Oak tree. One large branch (about 8" in diameter) extends over the next door neighbors yard. My neighbor has two young girls (8 & 10) who play in the back yard quite a bit. A couple of days ago the neighbor put up a rope swing using the above described branch. The swing consists of a large rope (swung over the branch) that splits into three ropes and then is attached to a 4' wide disk that the girls sit on. I don't mind them using it at all, but do have some concerns. What would happen if one of the girls, or their playmates, were swinging on the rope swing and the branch snapped seriously injuring someone. Could I be liable? BTW. The neighbors and I are on very good terms. My wife and I enjoy watching the girls play outside, plus my dog and their dog romp in the backyards together. I've discussed this with the neighbor and he said he would take it down if I so wished. I said "no, I'm just concerned about the liability issue if something happened". Would some sort of Hold Harmless agreement be in order? I know my neighbor would never sue me, but their attorney would. The chances of something serious happening are slim to none as my neighbor said both he and another adult tried out the swing and said it was very safe.

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It's Alive !!

He built it, it would all fall on him. Though I could see them coming after your homeowners insurance since the tree grows on your property, but no more. But hey I'm a scientist not a lawyer, I just enjoy being on the forum really late at night. Caj should be here soon to give you a real answer..ha

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Still just a kid at heart

I don't know about Minnesota but a friend of mine here in Florida had a somewhat similar situation where his neighbor's Oak tree had a large branch that hung over the property line and was above his home. When he asked the neighbor to have it pruned back they said "No" so he went to the county to see what he could do. They told him that any part of the tree that was over his property was considered his and the neighbor would not be responsible for any damage caused by it. I went over with my pole-saw, climbed on his roof and took care of it.

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sticks-n-stones&hollowpoints

How about ask your homeowner's insurance agent?

Don't worry about it. That's what your insurance is for.

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Not in jail.

in florida if a tree branch grows over my property line it is legal for me to cut it. as far as insurance goes every one has liability which is required if u have a loan on your home. so u dont get sued the insurance company pays said claim. i know in florida if neighbors tree falls on my property he is responsible for any damage. i guess u could be held liable. limb might week tree could have a disease remove limb no more problems tuff call kids are having fun like other gentleman said doesent hurt to make phone call and ask

Here in Illinois the law apparently is the same as was stated for Florida, i.e., any part of the tree overhanging onto my property becomes mine. We had neighbors behind us with a massive and very old oak tree that had a major limb extending over my small back yard and blocking the sun most of the time. I told this neighbor that I was going to have it trimmed back. In my case he agreed to take care of it himself because he wanted a specific tree surgeon to do the work and make sure it did not kill the entire tree. But the concept was not questioned that I had the right to do something to a tree that was growing over my property.

relax Max...

Here in the people’s republic of NY anything that crosses the boundary is someone else’s problem /blessing. If it has fruit on it its yours.

The only thing is about the tree itself if you can visibly see the tree is dead or in real bad shape and YOU do nothing about it the damage to others property is on you. If your neighbor tells you the tree is bad and you do nothing about it same answer. I would check with a real estate lawyer and/or your home insurance company ASAP.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Believe it or not-trees on property lines are very complicated when it comes to the questions above posted. Liability is VERY fact specific and depends on state laws involving tort and property rights so I will not hazard any opinion regarding this other than to agree with Onomea-Check with your homeowners carrier and get whatever he says in writing. A visit to a lawyer is going to get you a very big "it depends". Not what you want to hear but your fact situation is fraught with "what if's". If it was my tree in Louisiana-I'd tell the neighbor to have at it as long as the tree limb is healthy and not rotten and can carry the load. If something happens and I get sued-so what? I've got homeowners-let them handle it. This ain't legal advice, it's just what I'd do if it was my tree.

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Forum consigliere

Yes, I'll just let it be. The father checked out the branch and said is was plenty strong and I'm sure that he would not put is kids in danger. The chances of something happening is probably equal to lighting striking. Must have woke up in the middle of the night with a case of the "noids". I did do some interesting reading of tree branches overhanging neighbors yards. Also read CAJ's post. I got just what I was looking for. "this is what I would do if it were my tree". Never expected a legal opinion.

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It's Alive !!

Now just how and why would the neighbors lawyer sue you if the neighbor didnt tell him to? I would just forget about the situation. If push came to shove I just cant believe a jury would find for the neighbor kids. If so I would stand my ground like that bundy guy. If this country has gone that far left its time to take a stand!

Not relevant to the OP but this thread reminded me of an old neighbor of mine when he saw 3 kids climbing one of his trees. He yelled "Get down!" One of the kids asked "Why? Is it your tree?" and he answered "No. It's God's tree but it's on my property and you're trespassing."

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sticks-n-stones&hollowpoints

This situation calls for a well trained beaver!

I agree with the previous suggestions that you contact your home owners policy agent and present the issue to them for a response.

There are so many variables of state tort law (much of which is case law) and insurance involved in something like this that trying to predict the outcome of such an event on a forum like this not a good use of time.

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NHI, 10-8.

Then ignore the post and move on with your life.

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It's Alive !!

This isn't legal advice either, but just an interesting observation.

In real-estate class, we learned that one's property rights extend from the center of the earth, upward to the property boundaries on the surface, and from there, straight up to "the highest heavens." The above-surface rights are known as "air rights."

Pretty cool, huh?

Personally, I have resisted the urge to bill the airlines, federal government, and other nations' space programs for using my little piece of the sky. I also have given a free pass to birds, baseballs, and bullets (as long as they're at an acceptable altitude.)

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

Agree. Have you checked with Jake,....... from State Farm?

In Pa you may trim a branch off a neighbors tree that hangs over your property. BUT here is the tricky part. If you remove too much that will inure or make the tree structurally unstable you can be held liable.

Also in Pa if a neighbors tree falls on your property causing damage your homeowners or you deal with tree-damage. Most neighbors pay for the removal to be nice.

The only way i have run into grey area is when a tree is on the property line itself which makes it a shared tree. It only takes a small part of the base to cross the line to make it shared.

Once i did a tree job removing trees that the neighbor trimmed too hard, Owner sued the neighbor and got 40 grand.
ouch
Good luck in your state

What is Jake wearing?

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NRA Benefactor/Cert Instructor

You are a lucky man if that is all you have to worry about.

And we haven't even begun to explore the tree roots that extend over the property line, and who owns them and who is responsible for any damage they cause, or if the tree falls because the roots fail....

I think this calls for an attorney-arborist, or in England, a barrister-botanist -- in any event, a new specialty in the legal....ahem...field.

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

You can only get in touch with him at three in the morning.

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Don

Actually it calls for a shrubberer-bring me a shrubbery........and a herring.

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Forum consigliere

He is waring Khakis.

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Don

Ever wonder how many fewer legal problems we'd have without lawyers

Probably some sort of blend, I'll bet.

Yea but then all you would have to make fun of would be the French

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Forum consigliere

Here is a easy one for you, how can you tell if a lawyer is lying to you.

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Don

Just to show you how bizarre Murphy's tree law is: Aprox. 20 yrs. ago, a friend and co worker's wife and their young children were at her brother and sister in-laws house for an afternoon of swimming in their pool. My friends wife and her SIL were sitting on lawn chairs in the shade of a large seemingly healthy tree. A low hanging tree limb broke off and hit my buddies seated wife and broke her back. It took years of operations, rod implants and re rehabilitation to get walking again. Meantime the BIL's homeowners insurance covered $350,000 as that was the policies limit. If the friend and his wife chose to sue the BIL/SIL chances are they would have won and cost them their life savings.

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SOS USA

If it's that big of a concern to the OP is there any legal reason he can't cut the limb off the tree at the trunk where it's clearly on his property?

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Retired Career Security Guard

If he's talking?

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Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire

Next time you got legal problems, call a plumber.

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SOS USA

Your neighbor might need to sue if someone got hurt hurt and his insurance required a suit against you.

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Buy American
Vote Responsibly

Good point. If you want to drain your account, might as well call a pro.

Just think how much do do you would be in if your tree roots went into and wrecked your neighbors sewer line!? Now that could cause some real ****** situation, right? Who pays to clean up that mess?

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Don't leave home without it!

If you were to check your policy you'd probably notice that anything above ground is considered an act of God, whereas below ground is obviously an act of the Devil, neither of which would be covered under your current plan, and even with the outside chance that root damage is addressed, the offending tree was most likely a Fica, which as you know, is not covered under any specific or umbrella policy.

Let's suppose you're a lawyer. Let's suppose your next door neighbor is a plumber. One night a meteorite falls to Earth, bounces off the tree in your front yard, rolls over to the plumbers house and sets fire to it. The plumbers dog alerts the family to the fire and the plumber, his wife and a 19 year old girl run out the door to safety. Police and Fire Depts. show up and it's revealed that the plumber and his wife kidnapped the girl, held her for ransom, and she's actually a Nubian Princess. Reward for her safe return is 2 million golden casabas. Who gets the reward?
This actually happens here a couple times a week and has yet to be resolved. I know it's impossible, how could a lawyer afford to live next door to a plumber?

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SOS USA

Let's suppose your neighbor has a duck. Yes, that's what I said, a duck.................

Pet duck attack leads to neighbor's $275,000 injury lawsuit - WPEC-TV CBS12 News :: News - Top Stories

Now that's just plain quacked-up.

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Don't leave home without it!

case settled out of court, neighborhood duck roast.

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Don't leave home without it!

Back in the early 1950's my grandfather had an old oak tree out back.. It was huge...mid summer he put a swing on the lowest limb for my brother and i and the neighborhood kids. Couple of days later neighborhood dad came by and said how nice it was for his kids to play on our swing, BUT if his kids got hurt he was going to sue us... One week later the swing and tree were both gone. Which leads to another story......while the guys were cutting down the tree, a cannon ball fell out of the limb that held the swing..my father bought it to a museum in Boston and they told him it was from the Revolutionary War.. Cool.....he brought it home were it stayed down the basement for a few more years till my mother found it, said what's this piece of , and threw it out.. Ma liked throwing thing out...

Which leads to another story...actually a question that seems appropriate at this point in the thread:

Mydogmax, are you sorry yet that you asked?

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

The local bar tender gets the reward because he's got dirt on both the lawyer and the plumber

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sticks-n-stones&hollowpoints

I'll go with this. Just take a good look at the branch every so often, and proof test it for strength (Grab a beer, and go hang off the branch and bounce up and down a bit. If the branch is solid, celebrate with a beer. If the branch breaks, have a beer and go grab a couple aspirin.

The kids will surely be amused if you fall on your butt and bring down the branch they play on!!!!

Yeah, I thought this post would end at #11 when I said I'd just let it be.

Hah. I always thought that song was endless...