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In the Shade of a Tree Page 3 <br /> <br /> <br />Reprinted by permission of Bench & Bar of Minnesota, Steve Pihlaja and Lorrie Stromme, March 2002 <br />neighbors had failed to take advantage of earlier opportunities to exercise self-help and <br />remove the invading roots. <br />Using Self-Help. Property owners in every state have the right to use self -help to prune <br />branches or roots of a neighbor's tree that encroach onto their property. Some states <br />follow the Massachusetts Rule, where self-help is the exclusive remedy for encroaching <br />branches or roots.4 Self-help is an alternative to going to court. <br /> <br />The rationale is that self-help prevents the wasteful, needless use of the judicial system <br />and vexatious lawsuits.5 It's a tradeoff: your client fixes her problem at her own <br />expense, instead of slogging through the expense and uncertainty of the court system. <br /> <br />Minnesota courts do not follow the Massachusetts Rule. In Minnesota , self-help is <br />encouraged, with discretion, but it is not the exclusive remedy. Equitable remedies to <br />abate the nuisance are available. "The law is clear that one cannot exercise his right to <br />plant a tree in such a manner as to invade the rights of adjoining landowners. When one <br />brings a foreign substance on his land, he must not permit it to injure his neighbor."6 <br />When self -help is not practical or reasonable, your client can go to court for an <br />injunction or other equitable remedies to have the nuisance abated. <br />Your client's guidelines for self-help include: <br />· Prune only up to the boundary line -- at your client's own expense. <br />· Don't trespass. Get permission to enter onto the neighbor's property to do the <br />pruning, unless the encroaching branches or roots threaten to cause imminent <br />harm to your client's property. <br />· Don't cut down a tree whose trunk is located on the neighbor's property, even if <br />the branches stray onto your client's property. <br />· Maintain, don't destroy. Don't jeopardize the health of the tree or cause <br />foreseeable injury. For example, pruning an oak tree from April through