Picking Fruit Off Your Neighbors Tree In Texas? Legal?

Snatching a peach off a limb of your neighbors tree that hangs over your yard sounds like an innocent thing to do, right? In Texas, maybe not.

It's not just Texas either, it seems all across the USA, this question comes up and nobody seems to have a definitive answer.

I guess, at the end of the day, it depends on how cool you are with your neighbor.

If ya'll get along, it's probably not an issue ... if you don't, you could be looking at a petty theft charge. Trespassing maybe since you can't legally be on their property without permission

The first, and simplest, thing to do would be to go ask your neighbors if they care. Maybe bring a six pack or some cookies or something with you to set the tone. If they say yeah, go nuts. (No pun intended) If they say no, that settles that.

Can I Pick Fruit From A Tree Hanging Over My Property?

Not really. This is a petty matter and you and your neighbor ... assuming you're both mature, rational adults ... should be able to settle things quickly and calmly. If they say yes, cool. If you pick it from the plant, after being told you can't, now you're stealing. You could still wind up with something though.

What If Something Falls In My Yard?

This is where things get weird. Just as you can't go on to your neighbors property without permission to pick something, they can't come on your property, (without permission), to retrieve anything that fell. That means, I guess, fallen fruits are yours.

Can I Cut Overhanging Branches?

You can trim or prune branches that overhang your property as long as you don't damage the tree/plant. That, I guess, means you can snag whatever you prune but, obviously, you'll never get any more

If the trunk of the tree straddles the property line, it ... and its fruit ... belongs to both of you. Texas law isn't really a lot of help on this one so, it's probably best that you just be polite and respectful of each other.

C'mon, is a couple of bucks worth of apples worth discord, animosity and/or legal issues? Read more here. PS: I'm not a lawyer.