If your neighbor or someone else cuts down, removes, or hurts a tree on your property without your permission, that person is legally liable. In other words, the person is required to compensate you (the tree owner) for your loss. If necessary, you can sue to enforce your rights.

Here's the lowdown on:

  • what you must prove to recover for a damaged or destroyed tree, and
  • how much money you can recover from the perpetrator.

(To learn more about particular situations involving trees and neighbors, see Tree Disputes With Neighbors FAQ.)

In This Article

What counts as "damage" to a boundary tree?

To run afoul of the law, the owners of a neighboring property doesn't have to actually chop down your tree. It is enough to just damage the health of the tree, as can occur through improper pruning or other mistreatment. !Man with axe chops down tree!Man with axe chops down tree

For instance, your neighbor has the legal right to trim branches of your tree if they hang over the property line. The same goes for roots that pop up on your side of the line. But if the trimming seriously injures your tree (perhaps leaving too many open "wounds," or imbalancing it to the point where it topples over), or if your neighbor uses a chemical to destroy unwanted roots and the chemical seeps onto your property and kills one of your trees, your neighbor will be liable to you for the resulting damage.

What must you prove to recover damages from a neighbor for destroying or damaging your tree?

Ordinarily, you must meet two requirements in order to have a legal right to compensation for a damaged tree.

  • Your own property must be damaged. For instance, if a neighbor trims the part of your tree that hangs over the property line, making their part of the tree look terrible but not harming it in any way, you have no right to recovery. That's because your property (the portion of the tree that's on your side of the property line) is not damaged.
  • The tree in question must not create an immediate danger to others. Unsound trees that threaten a neighboring property don't receive the same legal protection as healthy trees. In some circumstances, for example if a dead tree is about to fall over, a neighbor can even enter an owner's property to take action to prevent any harm.

What types of compensation can a tree owner claim?

If someone damages or destroys your tree, the primary form of recovery is payment for the amount of actual loss due to injury to or destruction of the tree. This recovery is available even if the damage was caused by an honest mistake. A final dollar figure for actual loss might include:

  • The cost of replacing the tree. This would also include the cost of removing debris and cleanup.
  • Diminished property value. If replacing the tree is impossible, then you can potentially recover for the decrease in your property value due to the lost tree.
  • Out-of-pocket expenses. In most states, you can recover for money reasonably spent trying to save an injured tree or to remove a dead one. Such expenses might include appraisal costs, cleaning up debris, repairing the yard, or missed work time to deal with the tree damage.
  • Aesthetic loss and mental anguish. A few courts have awarded damages to tree owners for aesthetic loss and mental anguish in tree damage cases.

In addition, some states' statutes provide for damages if someone intentionally, on purpose, damages a tree. Even in other states, however, tree owners might be able to sue for punitive damages (an extra amount over and above actual damages) if the conduct of the person who damaged the tree was especially outrageous or malicious.

What happens if the tree owner receives partial compensation from insurance?

If your tree was damaged or destroyed and an insurance company compensated you for part of the loss, you must subtract this amount from any other damage claim (in a lawsuit for example), unless you are required to repay the insurance company.

Is intentionally harming someone's tree a criminal act?

In most states, deliberately injuring a tree is not a crime. A minority of states do have statutes that make intentionally damaging a tree a crime, punishable by a fine or jail sentence. But even if your state doesn't have a specific statute addressing intentional tree damage, a prosecutor could rely on general criminal statutes already on the books, such as those related to theft, vandalism, or property damage, to bring a criminal prosecution for intentionally harming a tree.

As a practical matter, however, prosecutors rarely go after people who damage individual trees in residential situations. Criminal prosecution is more likely in scenarios involving the timber industry or the Christmas tree business.

Where can I go for more help on tree laws and neighbor disputes?

To learn more about laws governing trees on your property, and for guidance on what to do if your tree is damaged, see Select States' Laws on Property Disputes Between Neighbors. You might also get Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise, by the editors of Nolo, or consult with a lawyer about tree damage or another type of neighbor dispute.