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By Stephen Schahrer
Attorney

“Get your tree off my property!” screamed one clearly stressed out neighbor to another. “Really?” Replied the other neighbor. “It fell on YOUR property, so it’s YOUR problem!”

While it’s fantastic to see neighbors helping neighbors with cleanup and repair after Irma, such civility is not always the case. And sometimes, even when neighbors are being civil to one another, the costs of handling the removal of a large tree and responsibility therefor need to be addressed.

You might find it interesting to know that the health of a tree determines which landowner is responsible for damages to property caused when the tree falls.

Under Florida law, when a dead tree falls from where it was rooted on to an adjoining property and damages that adjoining property, the landowner who owns the property where the tree was rooted is responsible for damages. However, in the situation where a live tree falls on an adjoining property and damages that property, the adjoining property landowner is responsible for the damages and not the owner of the property where the tree was rooted. See 1 Fla. Jr 2d Adjoining Landowners section 8 [2014].

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THIS BLOG IS INTENDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE. THE READER SHOULD CONSULT WITH KNOWLEDGEABLE LEGAL COUNSEL TO DETERMINE HOW APPLICABLE LAWS APPLY TO SPECIFIC FACTS AND SITUATIONS. BLOG POSTS ARE BASED ON THE MOST CURRENT INFORMATION AT THE TIME THEY ARE WRITTEN. SINCE IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE LAWS OR OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES MAY HAVE CHANGED SINCE PUBLICATION, PLEASE CALL US TO DISCUSS ANY ACTION YOU MAY BE CONSIDERING AS A RESULT OF READING THIS BLOG.

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About the Author
Mr. Schahrer has a diverse professional background including experience working for the Florida State Legislature, the United States Marshals Service headquarters in Washington D.C., and the local non-profit, St. Matthew’s House. He joined Boatman Ricci as a Law Clerk in 2016 and worked with the Firm throughout his time in Law School and then joined the Firm as an Associate Attorney. In his spare time, Mr. Schahrer enjoys training and teaching Martial Arts and spending time with his family in beautiful Naples, FL.