Can I cut my neighbour's overhanging branches in Czechia?
Yes, but in order: first the request, then the shears. The Civil Code (§ 1016) gives you the right to remove roots and branches crossing onto your land — on two conditions: the overhang causes you harm or nuisance exceeding the interest in keeping the tree intact, and you first asked the neighbour to remove it and they did nothing in reasonable time. Cut carefully and at a suitable time of year (dormant season, outside bird nesting); what you cut off stays yours. The statute adds a famous bonus: fruit fallen onto your land belongs to you, while fruit still hanging is the neighbour's — you may not pick it. Radical pruning without a request and without restraint risks damages, and fines where the greenery is protected.
📋 The rules
- First a written request to the neighbour with a reasonable deadline
- Then: remove carefully, at a suitable time of year (dormant season)
- Condition: the overhang causes harm or nuisance beyond the tree's preservation interest
- Cut branches and roots are yours to keep
- Fallen fruit on your land is yours; hanging fruit stays the neighbour's
🔓 Exceptions
- You may not seriously damage or kill the tree — or you pay damages
- Memorial trees and protected greenery: only with the conservation authority's consent
- Don't enter the neighbour's land without permission — cut from your side
⚠️ Penalties & fines
A disproportionate cut turns against you: kill the tree, prune out of season or skip the request, and you pay the neighbour damages — with memorial trees and protected greenery, the conservation authority adds a fine. Disputes end in court, decided on evidence: the written request with a reasonable deadline, and photographs of the state before and after. Stepping onto the neighbour's land without permission is a separate problem. And shade alone creates no right to prune or fell — that is what a neighbour lawsuit over excessive nuisance (§ 1013) is for.
📎 Official sources
- České stavby · Neighbour's branches over the fence (CS) →
- Právo pro všechny · Neighbours and mature trees (CS) →
- Ombudsman · Neighbour disputes leaflet (CS, PDF) →
❓ Frequently asked
Must I really ask the neighbour first?
Yes — the request, ideally written and with a reasonable deadline, is a statutory condition of self-help. Without it your pruning is contestable and you enter any dispute at an evidential disadvantage, however obvious the overhang.
What is a suitable time of year?
The dormant season, roughly November to March, and always outside bird nesting. Trimming dry branches tolerates summer, but a serious cut in full vegetation is careless and can trigger liability for damage.
Whose apples hang over my fence?
While they hang on the branches they are the neighbour's — you may not pick them, even where the branch reaches over your land. Once they fall onto your plot, the statute makes them yours.
Roots are wrecking my path. May I cut them?
Yes, on the same conditions as branches: the request first, then a careful cut at a suitable time. A massive severing that kills the tree is destruction of property and you risk paying damages.
The neighbour ignores me and the tree shades my whole garden?
Shade alone justifies neither pruning nor felling — the right targets overhangs, not height. The route is a neighbour lawsuit over excessive nuisance under § 1013 of the Civil Code, or mediation.
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