Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

Re: trees on lot lines

By Ms. Petrey's logic you can cut the limb back to the fence provided that you don't kill the plant.

True enough. But if you do kill the plant its too late and now you have timber trespass liability.

Just a thought. Elizabeth Powell

Re: trees on lot lines

Generally speaking the duty of the owner of the tree is to be sure that the limbs do not encroach on other property.

This does NOT give the adjacent owner the right to cut off the offending limb. It gives the adjacent property owner standing to request that the owner of the tree attend to its maintenance.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell

Re: trees on lot lines

With all due respect to Ms. Powell, you may trim back the offending branches to your property line. However, be careful not to prune in such a way as to damage the offending tree. You will want to do this properly so that you don't have to view a plant atrocity every time you look at the tree. See the Plant Amnesty website for more information on how not to handle this problem from a plant health care standpoint.

Theresa Petrey ISA Certified Arborist and Washington State Attorney.