State guides · Pennsylvania · Trees and property lines
Neighbor tree law in Pennsylvania: overhanging branches, fallen trees and cutting penalties
Pennsylvania has no single “tree law.” The rules come from one statute on cutting someone else’s trees and a handful of court decisions on branches, roots and storm damage. Here’s what they say, with a situation picker and a damages estimator. This is general information, not legal advice.
You can trim a neighbor’s branches and roots back to the property line without proving any damage, and recoup reasonable trimming costs from the owner. The owner of a tree that falls is liable only if they knew or should have known it was hazardous. Cutting someone else’s trees costs up to 3 times the timber’s market value plus costs. Checked Nov. 12, 2026.
What can I do? Pick your situation
Each answer cites the statute, court decision or guide it comes from.
Pick a situation to see what Pennsylvania law says.
Penalties for cutting a neighbor’s tree
Pennsylvania’s timber statute, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8311, applies when someone cuts or removes another person’s trees without consent. The multiplier depends on what the cutter knew.
| How it happened | What the owner can recover |
|---|---|
| Deliberate | 3 × market value + costs |
| Negligent | 2 × market value + costs |
| Reasonably believed the land was theirs (or their client’s) | 1 × market value + costs |
“Costs” means the usual costs of establishing the timber’s value, complying with erosion and sedimentation rules (25 Pa. Code Ch. 102) and any surveys. “Timber” covers standing trees, logs and parts of trees commonly sold as wood products; “market value” is the local price for standing timber of that species and quality when it was cut. Restitution paid in a criminal case under 18 Pa.C.S. § 1107 reduces the award.
A forester or appraiser sets the market value. For landscape trees, courts may use replacement cost instead, and for woodland the drop in property value, according to WeConservePA. Tree-value charts are generally not accepted as evidence.
Branches and roots over the line
Overhanging branches are a trespass, and Pennsylvania requires no showing of physical harm before you cut them back to the line. The neighbors in Jones v. Wagner who trimmed a row of hemlocks weren’t liable for doing so.
The same decision lets you recoup reasonable trimming costs from the owner, or ask a court to order the owner to remove the encroachment and pay incidental and consequential damages.
Encroaching tree parts, roots included, are a trespass you may remove. And no matter how long they’ve been there, they never become a right: no prescriptive easement, per Koresko v. Farley.
When a tree falls
Debris on your land is yours to clean up, even from a neighbor’s tree. Hidden defects like internal or root rot, or an unpredictable storm, generally mean the owner wasn’t negligent.
The owner is liable if they knew or should have known the tree was likely to fall onto your property and did nothing. The fall itself is some evidence of negligence, and an arborist’s letter sent to the owner beforehand can help show they knew.
The duty to inspect rises with how visible the tree is and how likely it is to hurt someone. Trees in town generally carry a higher duty than trees in the woods.
From WeConservePA, Tree Law in Pennsylvania (2022). Older trees near the house? See caring for older trees.
Other states
More than 40 states have their own timber-trespass statutes, according to the National Agricultural Law Center, and the penalties vary widely, from no multiplier at all to a jury-set 3 to 10 times in New Hampshire and Oklahoma. We’re verifying each state’s statute before adding a 50-state table here.
Questions
Can I cut my neighbor’s tree branches that hang over my yard in Pennsylvania?
Yes, back to the property line. In Jones v. Wagner (Pa. Super. 1993) the court held that overhanging branches are a trespass and a landowner can trim them without showing any damage, and that the neighbors who trimmed weren’t liable for doing so. Cut from your side only, and don’t take the tree down.
Who pays to trim a neighbor’s overhanging branches?
You do it, but Jones v. Wagner says that if you incur reasonable expenses trimming the encroachment, you can recoup them from the tree’s owner. A court can also order the owner to remove the encroachment.
Who pays when a neighbor’s tree falls on my house in Pennsylvania?
Usually you handle what lands on your side, unless the tree’s owner was negligent: they knew or should have known the tree was likely to fall and did nothing. Hidden rot or an unpredictable storm generally isn’t negligence, according to WeConservePA’s Tree Law in Pennsylvania.
What is the penalty for cutting down a neighbor’s tree in Pennsylvania?
Under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8311, 3 times the timber’s market value if it was deliberate, 2 times if negligent, and the market value if the cutter reasonably believed the land was theirs, plus valuation, survey and erosion-control costs. Criminal charges are a separate question; any restitution paid in a criminal case reduces the civil damages.
Do tree roots that cross the line count as trespass?
Yes. The Commonwealth Court described encroaching tree parts as a trespass a landowner may remove in Koresko v. Farley (2004), and WeConservePA’s guide says roots get the same self-help and other remedies as branches.
Can my neighbor’s branches over the line become their legal right after 21 years?
No. In Koresko v. Farley the Commonwealth Court held that overhanging branches and encroaching roots don’t create a prescriptive easement, no matter how long they’ve been there.
Sources: 42 Pa.C.S. § 8311, Damages in actions for conversion of timber (PA General Assembly); Jones v. Wagner, 425 Pa. Super. 102, 624 A.2d 166 (1993); Koresko v. Farley, 844 A.2d 607 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2004); WeConservePA, Tree Law in Pennsylvania (Gilbert P. High Jr., 2022); National Agricultural Law Center, State Timber Trespass Statutes (June 17, 2026, PDF). Checked Nov. 12, 2026.
Muthler Landscaping & Construction · Lock Haven, PA
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Cite as: Muthler Landscaping & Construction, “Neighbor Tree Law in Pennsylvania,” https://muthlerlandscaping.com/state-guides/pennsylvania/neighbor-tree-law/ (last checked November 14, 2026).
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