[pp00125]

I’m new to home ownership and was wondering what the laws are (if any) regarding maintaining old trees and the responsibility for damage and cleanup/removal.
I had a tree down in my front yard which I got removed on Sunday paying a hefty price but I see a lot of trees/branches down around in the neighborhood and not everyone seems to be concerned about a fallen tree in their yard or one that went over in their neighbor’s. I guess the answers that I’m looking for are:
Who is responsible for a tree that is likely to topple over in a storm? We have big wooded lots so the tree might be far away from my home but can easily hit my neighbor’s roof if it fell down. Same situation is with my neighbor on the north side. She has huge oaks lined up that are far away from her home but can easily rip through mine if they ever fall over.

[Mike 75]

The answer is, it depends. If your tree falls on your neighbor's property, you can be held liable if you were negligent in maintaining the tree. Since this is a very fact specific determination, each situation will be unique. As a rule of thumb, however, you will be liable if it was apparent that the tree was diseased or compromised and should have been removed.
If a perfectly healthy tree falls due to wind or saturated grounds, you would typically not be liable for the damages caused. Your neighbor (or their insurance company) could still sue you, but they would be unlikely to prevail.

[ebbe]

Usually homeowner's insurance covers damage from trees per property owner but if there is lack of maintenance of tree limbs, etc, the homeowner sustaining the damage will often see their insurance company subrogate the claim to the insurance company of the owner of the tree. For example your tree falls on your neighbors roof and it was a dead tree you should have taken down.

[pp00125]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

The answer is, it depends. If your tree falls on your neighbor's property, you can be held liable if you were negligent in maintaining the tree. Since this is a very fact specific determination, each situation will be unique. As a rule of thumb, however, you will be liable if it was apparent that the tree was diseased or compromised and should have been removed.
If a perfectly healthy tree falls due to wind or saturated grounds, you would typically not be liable for the damages caused. Your neighbor (or their insurance company) could still sue you, but they would be unlikely to prevail.

So if a perfectly healthy tree from my neighbor's yard fell on to my house, Would I be calling up the tree removal company and then dealing with my insurance company while being homeless.
And my neighbor can be sipping hot cocoa on her deck, not that she would do it, but like they say "Hey, You never know"
How about if the downed tree is between the 2 lots, top on my roof, the bottom part on theirs. Do each remove their own?
Man, this hurricane has made me scared of these lovely trees like never before.

[AnonChick]

What I was given to understand by my insurance company (we had a tree down as well, and so I had to call and they gave me all kinds of info):

If a tree from your property, falls on my house, then your insurance company covers the damage to my house.
If a tree from your property, falls on your house, then your insurance covers the damage.
If a tree from your property falls on land, and doesn't damage any structures or vehicles or the neighborhood stray cat, then you have to pay for its removal yourself.
If a tree from your property falls in the road, then the town workers -can- move it off the road and back onto your property, at which point it would be your responsibility to have it removed if that's what you want to do. OR - if they're not too busy and are equipped for it, they can cut up the parts of the tree that landed on the road, move THAT part back onto your property, and leave you with the remainder of the tree to deal with at your own expense.

Remember - if that tree was on your property, it was YOUR tree. Your tree damaged someone else's stuff. And so your insurance company takes a hit. If you want to settle it without calling the insurance company, you could offer to pay for it out of pocket, or offer to do the repairs yourself.