Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Well, technically, your neighbor is the one who is claiming a trespass, and, I might add, taking it into his own hands to cure the alleged trespass by uprooting your lights. With a few exceptions such as overhanging tree branches, the law frowns upon a neighbor employing self-help to remove alleged trespasses- it is usually up to a court to hear a case and issue an order to cure a trespass. Therefore, since proof of a trespass and obtaining a remedy for it is generally the complaining party's burden, at least initially, in theory your neighbor should be the one to go out and get a survey.

However, surveys area lot cheaper and somewhat more accurate these days than in prior times, thanks to GPS systems and other technical and data-base improvements. You may want to avoid a big hassle over this and just go get your own survey done.

In urban settings, locations of fences will seldom if ever prevail in establishing a boundary. Courts will ignore "the old fence" evidence of a boundary and rely 100% on the legal description of the property that is "of record" at the courthouse, as established on the ground by a competent survey by a licensed surveyor.

I also advise using a surveyor with ample local experience; they will be able to find the benchmarks and other base-line info faster and more reliably than strangers in the neighborhood.