Maine state law: neighbor fence and boundary disputes

Unlike California (Civil Code § 841 'Good Neighbor Fence Act') or Colorado (CRS § 35-46-112), Maine has no specific partition-fence statute requiring adjoining residential neighbors to share the cost of a boundary fence. Cost-sharing is a matter of private agreement, easement, or recorded covenant under Title 33 (Property). Boundary disputes are resolved under common-law nuisance and trespass actions through the procedure in Title 14 (Court Procedure — Civil). Under longstanding Maine common law, a property owner has a right of self-help to trim overhanging branches and intruding roots back to the property line, provided the underlying tree itself is not damaged (see Maine Supreme Judicial Court case law applying the 'Massachusetts Rule'). For new fence construction, boundary surveys and any notice-to-neighbor or pre-construction setback procedure are governed by municipal ordinance under 30-A § 3001 — not by state statute. Title 14 § 6021-A (implied warranty of habitability) and § 6028 (security deposits) govern landlord-tenant fence-maintenance disputes in rental settings.

Civil remedies only. A neighbor harmed by an encroaching or nuisance fence may sue under Title 14 for damages, injunctive removal, and (in rare cases) treble damages for intentional trespass. There is no criminal penalty for a boundary-fence dispute as such.