hopefully I won’t be dragged into this dispute- News story in local paper. Man in his 60’s buys a place with some acreage. He approaches his new neighbors and tells them he plans to put fence along the respective property lines. Plans to have cattle on it. Neighbors prefer not, but all but one go with it. The new owner says he doesn’t intend to ask any neighbor to pay. (Indiana law is, you are responsible for half the fence on your property line. Right of center) The other neighbor also in his 60’s and on social security introduced himself. When the hopefull cattle rancher explained his plan, and that he would need to do some clearing a few feet over the line, he is told “your not stepping one inch onto my property “. The dispute started. New owner decides he will now make that neighbor pony up the money for his half of the fencing. Now the township trustee is legally obliged to settle the dispute, but admits the law is clearly on the side of new resident. The costs are several thousand dollars and unpaid fence costs are placed on a person’s tax bill. Don’t pay it- Sheriff sale. Last paragraph of the article sums up the would be farmer’s attitude. Ouch!
WTF?!?! Am I reading this right? If a neighbor wants a fence, you are legally obliged to pay half the cost?!? How the hell is this legal? How about guy wanting fence build it 20 feet in from property line and have your fence??? Sounds like a good scheme to force people off their property.
If a neighbor wants a fence, you are legally obliged to pay half the cost. WTF , that's total bull sh!t
Looks like that law covers rural areas and is often overridden by local ordnances. Is this property in a rural area? It seems that the adjacent land owner is protected from having his own trees removed without his consent for the fence. Keep us updated. Seems like an interesting topic. Property Line and Fence Laws in Indiana - FindLaw
I havent read i to the Findlaw yet, but Indiana is pretty srong about ensuring local ordinances on many subjects cannot over ride state law. Mostly has to do with shooting ranges and forestry/ agriculture. I agree the simple solution is to build away from the property line, but how long is it before the neighbor make some claim the propertty line is the fence line. Those can be real nasty in thirty years.
The state law specifically excludes incorporated areas within towns and cities from this law... so in essence, the local laws are not over riding the state law... they are in place essentially for zoning in the absence of applicability if the state law... JMHO.. It seems that, given the description above, the state law would indeed apply. Seems the timeline is short in which to comply... the “few feet” could probably be reduced to a foot with the right kind of fence.. not a position I’d want to be in... more reading.. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/ec/ec-657.pdf
That law is in effect here in Indiana. None of my neighbors had fences when I bought our small farm of 40 acres. I flagged the corners of my boundaries and talked with the three landowners beside me (fourth side is along a road). No one disputed where our lines were, so we (my two daughters and wife and I built the fences). We wanted the livestock so saw no need to bother our neighbors finances. But it comes from decades ago when stock was driven down roads and you built fences to keep livestock out of your fields as much as I built my fences to keep my livestock in. Glad I did it then (every hole dug with posthole diggers, I put in the post, my wife and girls plumbed the posts and backfilled and tamped then I went through and retamped). Then 5 strands of hi tensile wire. Been a good fence.
This must be where they commonly ( used to ? ) put fences ON the property line rather than aside it. Where purposes for a fence are shared along with building and maintaining it.
Yep. Both owners Stand at the center of the fence line facing each other. What is to your right is your responsibility to maintain. I think an issue could come when a fence exists, and one owner wants to replace with pristine new expensive material, and the other land owner feels his half is doing the purpose well enough. The OCD landowner may just have to go on medication to cope. I havea 60 acre cattle ranch. The landowner who bought the 600 acres of timber that surrounds most of my property in a “J” shape has no need for a fence. When I met him soon after his purchase, I said I have no intention of asking him to contribute to fence issues. He gave me hunting and woodcutting priveledges. He owns other large tracts and does hunting leases on them. I think Karma worked out by not trying to stick it to a person who wrote a check for a million, when he bought the land at auction.
