[WSBARP] Liability of cutting roots of tree on adjacent property

[Kaitlyn Jackson]

There are two recent cases in Washington that are related to tree damage
and removal that are helpful here: *Mustoe v. Ma *and *Herring v. Pelayo. *

 In *Mustoe v. Ma, *193 Wn. App. 161 (2016),a neighbor removed encroaching
tree roots, the owner of the tree on the neighboring property sued for the
damage done to the trees. Ultimately, the court held that a landowner may
remove tree roots that encroach onto his or her property – even if it
severely damages, or possibly even kills, the tree. However, that holding
relied upon the finding that the removal was *lawful* because *there was no
law in place that protected the roots of the tree*.

In Seattle, however, there are laws that will protect the roots of the
offending tree, which would jeopardize the legality of any conduct damaging
a neighbor’s tree roots. However, if a court determines that the roots are
a nuisance, it may be lawful to remove/damage them.

In *Herring v. Pelayo, *neighbors *shared* a tree on the common boundary
line. When one neighbor cut the branches overhanging on their own boundry,
it ended up killing the tree. The court in *Pelayo *held that where a tree
stands on a common property line, the common owners of the tree may
lawfully trim vegetation overhanging their property but not in a manner
that the common owner knows will kill the tree.

I have more details if needed.


Kaitlyn

On Tue, Jan 22, 2019 at 2:39 PM Bryce Dille <Bryce at dillelaw.com> wrote:

> I believe this issue was touched on several years ago in the list serve
> and it has to do with liability, if any, of a party in excavating for a
> house cuts some of the roots on their property of a tree on adjacent
> property. The neighbor is claiming if trees dies as a result of root
> cutting my client is responsible or is tree comes down because of
> inadequate root structure in wind storm my client is liable. Your thoughts
> would be appreciated thank you
>
>
>
> *Please note my new contact information below*
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> Bryce H. Dille | Attorney at Law
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-- 
Thank you,

Kaitlyn R. Jackson | Attorney| DIMENSION LAW GROUP PLLC
130 Andover Park East, Suite 300 | Tukwila, WA 98188
t: *206.973.3500 *| f: *206.577.5090*| e: *kaitlyn at dimensionlaw.com*|
www.dimensionlaw.com

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