We were advised of the encroachment when we bought the property. The fences on our property and the neighbors were placed incorrectly by the developer. So, part of the yard that the neighbors think is theirs is really mine. They have planted arborvitae trees that are actually located on our legal property. They have now grown over the fence into our backyard. An ice storm has caused two of them to uproot and destroy our fence. We are now afraid that others will fall and damage our pool. Since the trees are really on our property can we legally have them removed or force the neighbors to remove?

How far onto your propert are the base trunk of the trees? If they are fully on your side of the property line not actually straddling it, you can. I hope you had a recent survey with the markers to indicate exactly where the line is before doing anything.

I would take this oportunity to put the fence where it needs to be.. Make inquiries if a permit is needed...and as to what the local required setback if any might be.

If you were advised about the encroachment when you purchased the property and did nothing about it, you may not be able to do anything now. How long ago did you purchase the property?

Depending on which state or country you are in, the statute of limitations for bringing a claim against your neighbors to adudicate the property line may have expired That's why it is important to know where you are and how long ago the encroachment was began (The neighbors can probably "tack" the period(s) during which their predecessor(s) held title, as well as the period when they themselves owned it).

Why don't you talk to the neighbors about what you would like to do and see if you can arrive at a cooperative agreement? Let them know, "we understand the property is technically ours, so don't want to impose responsibility on you and would like to fix the issue. However, we understand you have been attending to it so didn't want to proceed without first talking to you about our plans." You can't have it both ways though - if you are changing/fixing it on the claim it is yours, the bill is yours too. If you expect them to pay, you are treating it as their property and need to let them decide.

Trying to work it out is a good option, but, if you want to claim that the property belongs to you, you need to make sure your claim is still valid. As noted, it may not be. Under the laws of adverse possession, that sliver of land may have been ceded to the neighbors and is no longer yours.