Our team offers expertise in arboriculture, amenity forestry, and the environment, from surveys and reports to management plans. In addition to significant experience working with a wide range of clients, including private households, small or large companies, and landowners.

Existing law on this issue is largely a matter of common law (case law) rather than statute. As a general rule under the common law, a property owner has a duty to maintain the trees on their property in a way that prevents them from harming a neighbor’s property.

The owner of the property has the legal responsibility to eliminate the unreasonable danger to others, safety issues or damage to property posed by defects in the trees (e.g., rot). If the owner does not, he or she may be liable for the damage the tree causes.

The owner of the trees, however, might be able to escape liability by demonstrating that the harm was a result of a natural disaster (such as a hurricane). A property owner does not have a responsibility to remove healthy trees just because the wind might blow them down onto a neighbor’s property under extreme conditions.

Under Connecticut case law, a neighbor can cut off a tree on his or her property when its branches or roots intrude on another neighbor’s land.

Tree Removal Permit Landmark trees are protected and require a permit to be removed from private property.

There are many reasons trees are felled. Some are aesthetic, some are to reduce the impacts of leaves and seeds or wildlife living in the trees, while some may be to prevent subsidence in nearby buildings as a result of root growth.

Some times, despite our reservations about felling a tree, we may have to. For example, a damaged or diseased tree may be at risk of falling on a house, in a garden, on a road, or on a path.