Due diligence is a daily responsibility of any citizen. I observed this rule when cutting firewood last weekend. The lesson I crawled away with is even due diligence is no guarantee there won’t be unpleasant consequences. Without warning “Whoosh!” brought a blow to head and body by a would-be “widow-maker,” rendering me unable to move. A trip to Urgent Care reassured all that a temporarily throbbing, swollen head and aching body will eventually give way to a full recovery.

We purchased our farm, where I was cutting the wood, in 1993. It consists of several field and pasture parcels over several acres. One of the fields abutted a house and its lot, which had been surveyed off from the field and sold in 1980. This house and lot were sold to its current owners (an attorney and a professional) in 1991. They did not have the lot resurveyed.
In 1999, without consideration of the legal property lines, these owners extended a portion of their septic system onto our property. We became aware of this situation in 2000 and immediately offered to sell them the land they needed to remedy the situation, at the fair market value, plus survey costs. They declined the offer. In 2005 the homeowners sued us for “adverse possession” of the land we had previously offered to sell them to correct their encroachment.

Two questions: What is due diligence for an attorney/ landowner regarding awareness of his or her lot lines? Can I sue the tree?

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