Fallen wood ownership

[AllTreeNeeds]

Hi

 

The owner can go and get their tree trunk/branch/apple at their convenience and you can't stop them. They don't need the consent of the land owner where it has ended up.

 

 

Is that not trespassing?

 

'Trespass is defined by the act of knowingly entering another person's property without permission. Such action is held to infringe upon a property owner's legal right to enjoy the benefits of ownership.'

[treequip]

 

The owner can go and get their tree trunk/branch/apple at their convenience and you can't stop them. They don't need the consent of the land owner where it has ended up. Of course they should only do what is necessary to retrieve their property and not cause damage.

 

 

Can you back that with any fact

[gobbypunk]

Can you not just say to the said matey you would like to mill some of said tree offer him a plank for a shelf and just get on ask him to come and have a go milling maybe he could bring a tractor to help move stuff , I find if you just talk to people most of the time it ends up ok good luck with it

Cheers Mark

[7610]

If he's a "busy" farmer I don't think he'll have the time to pursue you for a tree, be it logs or planks.

[eggsarascal]

I said

 

Treequip asks

Yes I can.

 

AllTreeNeeds asked

No it's getting your property which the landowner on whose land it has fallen has no right to deprive you of. That would be theft.

 

Ed

 

What is the fact that you can back it up with?

[treequip]

I said

 

Treequip asks

Yes I can.

 

AllTreeNeeds asked

No it's getting your property which the landowner on whose land it has fallen has no right to deprive you of. That would be theft.

 

Ed

 

In order for it to be theft, that would be permanently deprive. This means you should remove your trespass by arrangement with the offended party. If you just go in and take, that's trespass

[Paul in the woods]

No it's getting your property which the landowner on whose land it has fallen has no right to deprive you of. That would be theft.

 

Is there no time limit though? If I had a tree fall across a neighbours drive I can see why it might be regarded as theft if they cut it up and kept it as soon as it fell, but if I left it there for several months would the courts really say it was theft if the neighbours got someone it to cut up and remove the tree?

[AHPP]

Theft is criminal; Theft Act 1968, s 5.

Trespass (civil) + theft (criminal) = burglary (criminal; Theft Act 1968, s 9).

But that's a bit much for a tree in a field.

 

On the civil side, the tree is a nuisance and a defence to trespass could be the implication of a licence to be on the land to cease causing that nuisance (Robson v Hallett [1967] 2 QB 939).

But that's a bit much for a tree in a field.

[treequip]

Is there no time limit though? If I had a tree fall across a neighbours drive I can see why it might be regarded as theft if they cut it up and kept it as soon as it fell, but if I left it there for several months would the courts really say it was theft if the neighbours got someone it to cut up and remove the tree?

 

If it were several months (read a reasonable amount of time) after the event and you had notified the land owner giving them a reasonable time to act, then the law wont have much issue

 

In the eyes of the law its all about reasonable

[AHPP]

Long, and I mean long, established case law.

 

Name it. I have lexis and westlaw logins so can get reports for our general edification.