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What is an Act of God?

What constitutes an Act of God for a falling tree that damages aerial cable lines?

  • I am looking into a homeowner's tree that they claim simply uprooted and fell on aerial power/cable lines. They seem to be aware of trees having issues as this happened in their front yard, but claim the tree was perfectly healthy and just uprooted and fell overnight. This is a large tree. There has been some rain here, but it wasn't storming at the time they say it fell, there are no hurricanes, tornadoes or crazy winds blowing. a) is it plausible that a large healthy tree can just uproot out of the ground and fall, and b) if so can this be a straight up act of God, or if this tree does this shouldn't there be some negligence involved here by the owner and the maintenance of their trees? They had a ladder leaning against a tree right next to it, and she said they had a branch fall from that one and kill the dog house but it was months ago...allegedly...

  • Answer:

    It is possible but it is not likely if there was not a storm. It is very important that you get the tree examined as quickly as possible before they do anything to it. You need a timber person, forester or someone who knows about trees and about the health of trees to examine it and take measurements or samples to determine if it was really healthy. Someone with some experience should quickly see whether or not the tree was healthy and also be able to recognize if there was a problem with the roots. Get someone who really knows rather than just trying to guess if you are not good with trees. If it was a healthy tree and there is no sign that they did anything to make it fall, then it would be considered an act of god and they would have no liability. If they did something to make it fall, they will be liable for the damage it caused usually. If it was sick and they knew or should have known it was sick but did nothing to prevent it from falling and doing damage, it is about the same as if they caused it to fall. If it was sick but they did not know and could not have reasonably known (ie, it was something only someone experienced with trees would know) then we are back to the whole act of god stuff again. Legally, the case will revolve around why the tree fell and whether or not the neighbors knew, or reasonably should have known, of the danger.

Troy Hoffman at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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God has nothing to do with that. The soil was probably wet and the tree was leaning to one side. Both of those together probably caused it to topple over.

Yes, tree's can fall over. This can happen if their roots are rotted. I doubt the leaning ladder had anything to do with it. If there is no damage on the trunk (like a car hit it or something) then most likely some winds blew it over.

Unless you can prove that they caused it to uproot, and pushed it in your direction, then it falls under "Act of God"

I dont see how that could be anything else. It doesn't seem logical that it would just up root like. God does strange things, some things just don't have answers. Thats the mystery of Gods work.

If a neighbor's tree falls on your stuff - Act of God or not - they are responsible for paying any damages you incurred as a result.

If the tree was healthy then it's an act of God. If an obviously dead limb falls on someone's property then there's liability as the owner should have trimmed it. This is why you pay home owner's insurance. Time for a claim.

In my opinion they for saw the possibility of something further happened if it killed a dog house. They were lucky it was not a child or person. I say they should not get a penny. They did not take care of the problem then or report it to the police or anyone or even take pictures. If I saw a ongoing problem around my house and did not take care of it immediately and someone got hurt...I would be liable, but if I saw the problem and took care of it and someone got hurt because lets say they removed the construction signs of warning...then I would not be liable.

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