Neighbor Fence Rules

Alabama's partition-fence law (Ala. Code § 35-7-1 et seq.) makes a boundary fence between improved lands a shared expense of adjoining owners, with § 35-7-3 apportioning costs. Alabama…

Arizona is an open-range state. Under A.R.S. 3-1427, a landowner cannot recover for damage caused by a neighbor's trespassing livestock unless the property is enclosed within a 'lawful…

Arkansas Code 2-39-105 governs partition fences statewide. When a neighbor encloses adjoining land using an existing fence as a partition, both owners share maintenance and repair…

California Civil Code Section 841, the Good Neighbor Fence Act, presumes adjoining landowners share equal benefit and equal cost responsibility for boundary fences, applying statewide…

Colorado is a fence-out state: when two owners' agricultural or grazing lands adjoin, each must build and maintain half of the boundary line fence at joint cost. Ignore a neighbor's…

Connecticut Statutes Sections 52-480 and 52-570 grant private remedies against malicious spite fences exceeding useful purpose, while Section 47-49 mandates shared maintenance of…

Delaware law makes adjoining occupants split partition-fence upkeep in equal shares as long as both parties farm or improve their land, with fence-viewers setting cost shares and a…

In the District of Columbia, a fence within 10 feet of a party line is capped at 7 feet unless the adjoining owners give written consent. Any party-line fence above 7 feet needs a…

Florida's one statewide fence statute, §588.011, defines a legal fence as at least 3 feet high with three strands of wire on posts no more than 20 feet apart. Residential height…

Hawaii applies common law tort principles statewide under HRS 663-1, allowing neighbors to sue for spite fences and shared boundary fence cost recovery regardless of which county they…

Idaho Code Title 35 governs partition fences statewide, requiring adjoining landowners to share equally in the cost of dividing fences after written notice, with a six-month…

Under the Illinois Fence Act (765 ILCS 130/3), adjoining landowners must each build and maintain a just proportion of the division fence between their properties. A legal fence stands…

Indiana Code 32-26-9 governs partition fences between adjoining rural property owners, requiring shared cost and maintenance. The law applies statewide to fences where at least one…

Iowa Code Chapter 359A imposes a statewide statutory duty on adjoining landowners to share construction and maintenance of partition fences upon written request, with disputes resolved…

Kansas requires owners of adjoining lands to build and maintain the partition fence between them in equal shares, as long as both occupy or improve their land, unless they agree…

Kentucky's division, or partition, fence law, KRS Chapter 256, requires adjoining owners to share the cost of a farm boundary fence between their properties. It applies to agricultural…

Louisiana Civil Code Articles 685 through 688 establish statewide rules for boundary fences, party walls, and shared fence costs between adjacent landowners. These civil code…

Maine has no statutory partition-fence or shared-cost rule. Neighbor disputes proceed under common-law nuisance, trespass, and boundary-line actions in Title 14 and Title 33.

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 49 establishes a statewide spite fence statute treating fences over six feet erected maliciously to annoy a neighbor as a private nuisance subject to…

Minnesota's partition fence law, Minn. Stat. chapter 344, makes adjoining landowners build and maintain a boundary fence in equal shares when both parcels raise livestock and one owner…

Missouri Chapter 272 governs partition fences between adjoining landowners statewide. It defines lawful fences, allocates each owner's portion of the division fence, and provides court…

Montana statute MCA 70-16-205 establishes the partition fence rule: when a neighbor encloses land bordering an existing fence, they must pay a just proportion of the fence value…

Nebraska law requires adjoining landowners to share equitably in the construction and maintenance of division fences between properties. The statute applies statewide and establishes…

New Hampshire RSA 473 governs partition fences between adjoining landowners, establishing shared maintenance obligations and a process for fence viewers to resolve disputes statewide.

New Jersey common law and statute apply uniformly statewide to spite fences, boundary fences, and shared maintenance disputes between adjoining landowners.

New Mexico is a fence-out state. NMSA 1978, Section 77-16-1 puts the burden on the landowner to build a legal fence to keep trespassing livestock off cultivated land; a neighbor who…

New York's Town Law § 300 makes adjoining landowners split the cost of a division fence along their shared boundary, but only when the land is actually used to keep animals…

North Dakota law makes neighbors mutually and equally responsible for maintaining the partition fence between their enclosed lands. Township supervisors act as fence viewers, apportion…

Ohio Revised Code Chapter 971 governs partition fences between adjoining rural property owners, applying universally to establish responsibilities for shared boundary fences.

Oklahoma statute 60 O.S. Section 70 makes adjoining landowners equally bound to maintain the boundary fence between them when both enclose their land. If neighbors disagree over…

Oregon's partition fence statutes (ORS Chapter 96) impose statewide rules requiring adjoining landowners to share costs of livestock fencing in livestock districts. The law applies…

Under Pennsylvania's 1905 Line Fence Act (29 P.S. § 41), adjoining owners of improved and occupied land must build and maintain equal halves of any boundary or division fence, and…

Rhode Island General Laws section 34-10-20 declares any fence over six feet that is maliciously erected to annoy a neighbor a private nuisance. Affected adjoining property owners may…

South Carolina is a closed-range, fence-in state. Under S.C. Code Section 47-7-110 the livestock owner, not the adjoining neighbor, must confine animals; letting them run at large is a…

SDCL Chapter 40-28 (Partition Fences) governs shared boundary fences between adjoining agricultural landowners in South Dakota's open-range/fence-out tradition: each adjoining owner…

Tennessee's partition fence statute requires adjoining landowners using land for crops or livestock to share fence costs equally. The law applies statewide and cannot be overridden by…

Under Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 143, Subchapter F, you cannot tear out a fence you jointly own with a neighbor, or one attached to a neighbor's fence, without mutual consent. To…

Under Utah Code Section 4-26-103, a qualifying grazing or agricultural landowner can require an adjoining qualified landowner to pay half the cost of a partition fence, and recover…

Adjoining Vermont landowners must build and maintain equal portions of the division fence between occupied parcels under 24 V.S.A. § 3802. A "sufficient" fence stands 4.5 feet high (§…

Under Code of Virginia § 55.1-2821, adjoining landowners must build and maintain division fences between their lands at joint and equal expense, unless one leaves his land open or the…

Washington's partition fence law requires adjoining landowners using a boundary fence for livestock to share construction and maintenance costs equitably under RCW 16.60.

Under WV Code 19-17-5, owners of adjoining agricultural, horticultural, grazing, or livestock lands each pay a just proportion of building, repairing, and maintaining the partition…

Wisconsin Chapter 90 governs partition (line) fences between adjoining owners of farming or grazing land. Adjoining owners generally share the cost equally, and town fence viewers…

Wyoming is a statewide fence-out jurisdiction, meaning landowners must fence livestock out of their property to recover damages, and adjoining owners share lawful partition fence costs…