Neighbors Appeal $11,000 Payout for Cutting Down a Memorial Spruce Tree; Court Upholds Agreement

A neighborly dispute has left two Ohio couples in a legal standoff. Robert and Kathryn Long sued Kelly and Michael Meier over a property line dispute. The two couples argued over a small strip of land, a fence, and a white spruce tree, each believing the land belonged to them.

For years, the Longs believed a portion of the strip belonged to them, so they mowed the lawn, maintained the growth, and sometimes even used it to park their cars. However, after the Meiers moved in during 2020, the question of the rightful owner of the strip came up. In 2022, court documents shared on Justia Law U.S. showed that the Meiers hired someone to come out to do a survey before they had a fence installed. 

During the process, the white spruce tree was removed, even after the Longs said they informed their neighbors that they planted the tree along the boundary line as a memorial to their deceased pets. The two couples couldn’t agree on who was in the right, and the Longs eventually sued using a legal doctrine called adverse possession, asking for damages for the tree and other issues. 

Ultimately, the judge ruled in favor of the Longs, awarding them $15,365.16. However, the Meiers appealed the judge’s ruling and went to the appeals court. Here’s what happened. 

The Longs Ultimately Lost Part of Their Argument

Once the case went to the Ohio Court of Appeals, the Longs lost their adverse possession claim. According to the paperwork, their ongoing maintenance and use of the strip wasn’t enough to grant them possession. 

However, they were allowed to keep the tree-damage part of their victory. The court found that the way the Meiers handled the removal of the tree, which the trial court found stood on the boundary line, made it jointly owned under Ohio law. 

The appeals court also threw out $3,841.29 of the award, ruling it was a second payment for the same tree. That left them with $11,523.87.

Disputes Over Property Lines Aren’t Uncommon

There have been a lot of cases like this making headlines recently. If you’re worried about whether your property lines are correct, you might want to consider hiring someone to complete a professional land survey. According to Angi, these can range from $800 to $5,500 per acre.

Then, once you have that information, you can look into your local and state laws to see if there are any extenuating circumstances that you need to be aware of before doing things like building a fence or removing trees so that you don’t end up in a situation similar to the Longs’ and Meiers’.