More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Trees

The storm of Oct. 29-30, 2011 has caused an unprecedented amount of tree damage around the Town of West Hartford. As people finish clearing up the debris from that storm, it is only natural to start looking around for problems which may remain. This page is intended to answer some general questions about property owners’ responsibility for the trees which remain in their yards. There may be specific facts or circumstances which make your particular situation different, so you may wish to consult an attorney before taking any specific action.

Question: My tree fell onto my neighbor’s property. Who is responsible to remove it and fix the damage?

Answer: First and foremost, you should inform your property insurance carrier of this situation immediately. Regardless of who may ultimately be responsible for the damage, your insurance coverage may be affected if you fail to report the claim promptly.

Next, the answer depends largely on the condition of the tree before it fell. If the tree was dead or diseased before it fell and if you were aware of that fact, then your failure to take care of the problem could be considered to be negligence and you could be held liable for the cleanup and repair costs. If, on the other hand, the tree was healthy before it fell in a sudden, severe storm, the damage would be considered to be an “Act of God” and your neighbor, along with their insurance company, would be responsible for the removal of the tree and repair of the damage.

Question: Who owns the wood?

Answer: The law is not entirely clear about this. Certainly you cannot trespass onto your neighbor’s property to recover it. If nothing else, you may also do additional damage during the removal process. The wood itself may have limited value in the overall scheme of things (particularly when there is a lot of fallen wood available in the marketplace) and probably should not be your primary concern. It seems most reasonable that the person bearing the burden of cleanup should get whatever nominal benefit might come from owning the wood.

Question: My neighbor’s tree didn’t come down in the storm, but it’s dead or diseased and  I’m worried about the next storm. What should I do?

Answer:  If your neighbor’s tree is truly unhealthy and you are concerned about the possibility that it could harm you or your property, be a good neighbor and talk about it. Don’t yell and don’t be demanding. Most people want to be responsible property owners, but may not have the money to address what can be a very expensive problem. You may want to offer to participate in the cost of trimming or removing the tree or sharing the cost of a contractor to do work on both of your properties. You may also be able to give your neighbor’s tree service an easier access route to the tree which will lower the cost of the work. Even if you aren’t legally responsible to solve the problem, doing so will give you peace of mind and may help preserve your relationship with your neighbor.

If the cooperative approach fails, then you should consider putting them on notice of the problem in writing. This is a serious step which is likely to make your neighbor upset. For that reason, it should not be undertaken lightly.  Consider asking an arborist to do a visual inspection of the tree (without trespassing, of course). A professional opinion that the tree is in need of care is harder to refute than the observation of someone who may not be familiar with the particular species of tree in question. It may also prevent you from being embarrassed if the tree is actually in reasonably healthy condition.

Question: Can I trim my neighbor’s tree myself if I’m concerned about its condition?

Answer: Generally, you can trim branches or roots of your neighbor’s tree which encroach onto your property BUT this should be done very carefully. If you trim the tree in a manner which leads to the death of the tree, courts in some states have held that you can be liable for the loss of the tree.

Under no circumstances should you ever go onto your neighbor’s property and cut down trees there. This is certainly trespassing. More important, however, General Statutes §52-560 specifically provides for the award of punitive damages against someone who deliberately removes trees from someone else’s property.

Question: Does the Town of West Hartford have any general ordinances about the condition of trees?

Answer: No. While the Town does have some ordinances which regulate landscaping, those ordinances do not apply to trees. With roughly 25,000 parcels of property in Town, it is simply not feasible for the Town to try to regulate the manner in which trees are permitted to grow.

Question: What about trees along the Town’s streets or State highways? Are there any special rules about those?

Answer: Yes. Under General Statutes §23-59, trees which grow within the public street right of way or which overhang that street right of way fall within the jurisdiction of the Town’s Tree Warden. Generally, the Tree Warden is the only person with authority to trim branches within the right of way or remove trees within the right of way altogether. Over the next few weeks, the Town will be conducting a review of the trees along the public streets to remove any branches which still pose a risk to the traveling public. A similar rule applies to State highways pursuant to General Statutes §13a-140.