Trees and neighbors

Get an arborist to give them a clean bill of health. Then give her a copy.

Just as an aside, would you be ok with her removing them at her cost?

Yeah arborist as mentioned to give a clean bill of health if you want to protect yourself. But in reality, She would have to prove that you knew the tree was in an unhealthy condition had deferred maintenance etc which wouldn't be easy to prove unless she had an independent arborist look at the tree, or could provide other proof(photos etc) that the tree w as in poor condition.

Also as mentioned, if you don't care if the trees exist either way, she can always pay to have it removed for you if she's that concerned about the trees assuming that they are otherwise healthy.

Few key points…
If healthy .. act of god covers a lot..ie someone visiting your house and limb falls etc ..their insurance on the hook not yours..

Act of god puts it on others people insurance… fwiw I had a hundred year old oak tree fall from neighbors yard … cross the street and cover half my front yard.. did some damage to me…they can help with damage if nice but not required..

If they want yours down .. if healthy take pictures etc.. get certified if you want but not needed… they have to prove it is a diseased tree.. a potential hazardous .. document this and document they made you aware of it… fwiw I had to do this with my neighbor…. had a Hugh dead pine tree leaning guy over my garage.. took pictures and sent certified letters and sent emails to his office contact ( he was a lawyer)… he took it down

They can trim your tree but can not physically stand on any part as that is trespassing

They can not trim/ damage it to a point of causing it to die/ or be unsightly… if do they can be sued for damage and value of damage tree is set by type (oak) and diameter…this can be thousands to significantly more…

Good luck

Maybe I should have her pay to cut them down if she’s concerned.

I have some reservations about that since it opens the door to the potential for other bothersome requests, but in the spirit of cooperation it might be best.

I still might have an arborist opine on them to confirm that they’re healthy

Agreed. Make her foot the bill and make her do a complete job. If she’s willing to pay for it, she’s sincere and less likely to just be nagging.

But I’d make that the last neighborly concession I’d entertain. Women- especially busybodies with nothing to do- will drive you nuts when they think they’ve found someone willing to comply.

When I moved into my house another neighbor asked if I would let him pay to have a gum taken down and stump removed.. said it dropped a lot of garbage that ended up in his pool.. I said sure.. I could see his point and it did not add to my landscaping view… he always bought me a nice Christmas snack gift until I moved.. he was a nice person regardless..

If there’s a hurricane and the tree falls on her property and damages her property, her insurance company has to sue your insurance company to pay for the damages. I THINK. But check into it. Call your insurance company to be sure because if you’re stuck with it and have to pay your deductible. Hurricane deductibles are separate from regular deductibles now. Ours we learned after Ida was 8,000!!! More than the repairs themselves — a 120 foot red oak fell on us. We are in Louisiana, though. However, we personally have not filed any claims and have been with this company for 20 years. I was not happy.

Anyway, call your insurance company to get the details. Every company is different. This was the case with us this year when our neighbor’s 120 foot red oak fell on us. Our neighbors are our good friends, so we all just pitched in and made the repairs ourselves. It didn’t fall in the house just the soffit of the garage. Getting it cut up was the most work. LOTS of firewood. There was some caveat with “if they knew it was rotten”

We have some other neighbors who have what looks to be a rotting red oak that we worry may come down on the house in the next hurricane. We know they know it’s rotting. It’s about 130 feet tall. But we can’t expect everyone to go cutting down all the trees. The trees are the beauty of this neighborhood.

This one really is rotting though. Lots of dead limbs. But we aren’t demanding anything. We haven’t even said anything. We are just going to hope for the best.

Would anyone downvoting this care to explain why it is a good idea to have a tree hanging over your house like the sword of Damocles?

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This one really is rotting though. Lots of dead limbs. But we aren’t demanding anything. We haven’t even said anything. We are just going to hope for the best.

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Notify your neighbors of your concerns. Also, take pictures or a video to document that it was an apparent issue.

I was told that, in Louisiana at least, if someone knows or should have known that a tree is a hazard due to it's health you can be sue if it causes damage.

Told this by an arborist and an insurance agent.

Years ago our back fence neighbor had a tree that fell or was blown down on our fence in a hurricane, and the insurance adjuster/agent said it was my responsibility to fix the fence, so I did.

Couple years later one of our trees fell/blown down in a hurricane and took out the fence of our side neighbor and lo and behold, the insurance said it was my responsibility to fix that fence as well. I mean, WTF?