My mother lives in New Jersey and her neighbor of 43 years has decided to sell her home. After 43 years of a existing fence in which we put up and multiple shade trees, the neighbor now claims for the first time ever that the fence line and 2 trees are 4 feet onto her property. She refuses to provide any documentation, such as a current survey or letter from the township to indicate that this is fact and not just an attempt to make her property more atheistically pleasing. Last Friday, the tree service she hired came into my mothers fenced property and cut down the two healthy 40 ft.+ shade trees to the stump, which have been growing for over 40 years. This was done without permission from or notification to my mother, the homeowner. I do not know if a permit was required or obtained in the cutting down of these wonderful trees, as she refuses to supply me with any information. We had told her in phone conversations over the prior 3 weeks as well as and in a letter sent that she was not to touch the trees or the fence until we received proof from her of this claim. In a phone call received Saturday morning, she stated she had the right to cut the trees down and is going to move the fence because this is on her property, and that she does not have to present us with any proof, nor does she have to give notification to come on my mother's private property to access the trees or fence. She plans on moving the fence this week, in anticipation of prospective homeowners coming to look at the property. My poor 80 year old mother is beside herself with worry. What legal rights do we have in this situation, and what course of action can I take? What steps should I proceed with if she goes ahead and has the fence moved this week before any legal action can be taken to stop her? Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

First get a survey of your property. Make sure that the stumps and fence are located on your mother's property.

If these items are in fact on your mother's property, contact an attorney immediately. Also contact a landscaping company who will give you a written estimate for the cost of replacing the 40-year-old trees.

Then your attorney gets to file a very enjoyable lawsuit. As long as those items were on your mother's property then she should be able to sue for (and win) the cost of replacing those two trees as well as survey fees and legal fees.

If the survey shows that those items were not on your mother's property then there really aren't any options. The neighbor has the right to remove them from her property.

Good luck!

Wow.. sounds like a very angry neighbor!
I don't know about the law in the USA (I'm in the UK) but I would presume that her neighbor would be legally required to provide evidence of the position of the boundary line and also to give reasonable notice of her intent to come onto your mother's property even if the boundary is proven to be where it is claimed to be, otherwise she is trespassing.

Definitely sounds like a case to be taken up at the local courthouse.

The blueprints of your mother's property should give exact measurements of the size of the yard: take a good look and then compare the size.

I would be there when the fence guys get there and tell them that if they want to take it down, show proof that it can be done. They will probably not want to get involved if they know there is a problem like that. Maybe if you say something before thye start, they won't even go through with it in the first place. Do not let anyone take down that fence until the lady gets that proof. Go down to the office yourself and make sure there is written proof that she gets that stupid 2 feet of property. Your poor mom. She should be enjoying herself not worrying over this lady. Get the property line all figured out and then confront her with what you found out. If she is right then there is nothing you can do I suppose. Good luck my friend!