tree law
It’s the time of year when farmers are cleaning up fence rows and boundary lines to prepare fields for planting season. Tree law questions pop up a lot during this time. Here are answers to the most commonly asked questions we receive about trees along boundary lines in Ohio’s rural areas. Note that there can be different laws addressing trees within a city or village.
Who owns a tree that’s on the property line?
When a tree is on the boundary line between two properties, both neighbors have ownership interests in the tree. However, if only the branches or roots of a tree extend past the property line and into a neighbor’s property, the branches and roots do not give that neighbor an ownership interest in the tree.
Can I cut down a tree on the boundary line?
No, not if your neighbor doesn’t agree to the removal. Because both you and your neighbor jointly own the tree, you must both agree to cutting down the tree. If you remove the tree without the neighbor’s approval, you could be liable to the neighbor or the neighbor’s share of the value of the tree, or for three times the value of the tree if you behaved “recklessly,” explained further on.
Can I trim the branches of the neighbor’s tree that hang over my property?
Yes, even if the tree isn’t on the boundary line and you don’t have an ownership interest in it, you still have the legal right to trim branches that hang over your property. However, you must take “reasonable care” in trimming the branches. Failing to act with reasonable care and causing harm such as disease or death of the tree could result in liability.
How does the law determine liability for harming or cutting down a tree?
Ohio Revised Code 901.51 addresses injury to vines, bushes, trees, or crops on land of another, referred to as the “reckless destruction of vegetation law." The law states that a person shall not “recklessly cut down, destroy, girdle, or otherwise injure a vine, bush, shrub, sapling, tree, or crop standing or growing on the land of another or upon public land.” The word “recklessly” means the action occurred with complete disregard to the rights of the landowner. Violations of the reckless destruction law can result in criminal misdemeanor charges or a civil negligence lawsuit by the tree owner. The law provides potential punitive “treble damages” that make the violator liable for three times the value of the damaged tree, crop, or vegetation.
If my neighbor’s tree falls onto my property, is the neighbor liable for the damage?
Possibly, if the neighbor had knowledge that the tree was diseased, weak, or “patently dangerous.” If the tree was not in a weakened or damaged condition or the neighbor had no knowledge of its condition, the law would not likely create liability for the damage. You'd have to take action against the neighbor to establish liability, however. If there is harm to a structure, your insurance provider might be involved and take the lead on establishing responsibility under the neighbor's insurance coverage. Even so, there is no law that creates an affirmative duty for the neighbor to clean up the tree. Landowners are expected to use the remedy of “self-help,” i.e., to clean up natural and ordinary tree debris on their property, even if from a neighbor’s tree. Likewise, the neighbor is expected to clean up debris from your trees that fall onto the neighbor’s property.
Can I keep the timber or firewood from the neighbor’s tree or a boundary tree that fell on my property?
Ohio law doesn’t address this issue. The “self-help” remedy for tree debris that falls on the property suggests that you are responsible for removing the debris, which could logically allow you to do as you wish with the debris. But if the tree is valuable or was a jointly owned boundary tree—might the neighbor have rights to the tree or its value? Because Ohio law doesn’t clearly answer this question, it’s wise to talk with the neighbor and provide a reasonable amount of time for the neighbor to claim ownership and remove their share of the tree. Document the notice given to the neighbor as well as the timber or firewood resulting from the tree in case the neighbor fails to respond until after tree removal and claims an ownership interest at that time.
Tags: boundary law, property law, tree law, overhanging branches, neighbor law
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Here at the OSU Extension Farm Office, we get questions about all sorts of topics, but one topic in particular shows up in our inbox rather frequently. Line fence laws regulate those fences, sometimes called partition fences, that are located on a property boundary between adjacent parcels of land. Ohio has had laws on this topic for well over a hundred years, and these laws represent an important piece of history in the development of property rights in our state. While one might hope that by now all the kinks and questions would be resolved, there are still some misunderstandings and gray areas about the law that we grapple with to this day.
In order to help landowners better understand their rights and responsibilities, the OSU Extension Farm Office team has complied a number of resources about Ohio’s line fence laws on our website at farmoffice.osu.edu/our-library/line-fence-law. When the Ohio General Assembly significantly changed the line fence provisions in the Ohio Revised Code in 2008, our director, Peggy Kirk Hall, wrote a number of fact sheets that provide an overview of the changes, summaries of key elements of the law, and also guides for townships.
The Ohio Line Fence Law Fact Sheet provides an in depth look at the 2008 changes. It explains what a line fence is, how costs are allocated, the different types of line fences addressed, special rules for line fences containing livestock, procedures for building a fence, procedures for disputes between neighbors, and more. A shorter summary of that same information is available in the fact sheet titled, A Summary of Ohio’s Line Fence Law.
In addition to the overviews of the law, there are also resources that explain particular aspects of the law more in depth, along with guides for township officials. These include:
- Alternative Landowner Agreements Under Ohio’s Line Fence Law
- Ohio Partition Fence Law: A Procedural Guide for Townships
- Notice of Rights and Responsibilities for Townships
Over the course of the decade following the 2008 changes, a number of questions continued to be asked by landowners across the state, so we compiled a Frequently Asked Questions law bulletin. Instead of only explaining what the law says, this law bulletin takes a question and answer approach that goes through questions associated with scenarios such as:
- My neighbor wants to install a new fence on a never fenced boundary
- My neighbor wants to permanently remove an existing fence
- My neighbor wants to replace an old fence on our property boundary
The FAQ law bulletin also looks at the role of township trustees, and what the law says about fence construction and upkeep.
While these publications cover a lot of information, sometimes we get a new question that has yet to make it into one of our publications. The following represent a few of those questions.
Right to access neighbor’s property applies to fence construction, not removal
Ohio Revised Code § 971.08 provides a landowner with a ten foot right to access his or her neighbor’s property in order to construct a new line fence or to maintain an existing fence. If the landowner or the landowner’s contractor causes damage to his or her neighbor’s property, the landowner will be liable for that damage, including damage to crops. However, as there is a separate statute for removing a line fence located at Ohio Revised Code § 971.17, the right of access to construct or maintain a fence does not clearly include a right to enter onto a neighbor’s property in order to remove a line fence. Under this statute, a landowner who enters his or her neighbor’s land could be liable for trespass.
Written notice is required prior to removing a fence
Ohio Revised Code § 971.17 requires a property owner to give written notice to his or her neighbor at least 28 days in advance of removing a shared line fence. If a landowner or the landowner’s contractor enters the neighbor’s property to remove a fence without sufficient notice, that could constitute a trespass under Ohio Revised Code § 971.17. This notice requirement is intended to ensure that the landowner has a chance to protest the removal or at least discuss the terms of the removal.
Trees on the property line are the shared property of the neighboring landowners
One thing not specifically addressed in Ohio’s line fence laws is the issue of trees on the property line. Ohio Revised Code § 971.33 requires landowners to keep all fence corners and a four foot strip along the entirety of a fence clear of brush, briers, thistles, and other noxious weeds. However, this statute specifically says that it does not apply to the planting of vines or trees for use. Because these are specifically excluded from this noxious weeds statute, the common law as made by courts will apply.
The common law provides that trees on the property line are owned by both landowners and do not have to be cleared from the fence row. This means that if one landowner wants to remove a tree on the property line, that landowner must seek permission from his or her neighbor. Even though the landowner owns half of the tree, the landowner cannot interfere with his or her neighbor’s property interest in the tree. Without his or her neighbor’s permission, the landowner could be liable for removing the tree or even cutting it in a manner that causes the tree to die. Because of Ohio’s reckless destruction of trees and crops statute in Ohio Revised Code § 901.51, a person who cuts, destroys, or injures a tree located on the land of another could be liable for up to three times the value of the tree.
If you have a question about Ohio’s line fence law, let us know, and we will try to find an answer. Much like we tell students and those who attend our presentations, it is likely that someone else has the same question as you. Stay tuned to the Ag Law Blog for more updates about questions we receive about Ohio’s line fence law.
Tags: line fence law, partition fence law, boundary fence law, tree law, neighbor law
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