Do Fence laws make sense?

[Paddy]

Local story where a guy is getting a bill for $9000 for his half of a line fence. It's already gone through the Township trustee and will be levied on his taxes. He has only 9 ac. His neighbor wants to start raising cattle and is using Indiana fencing laws to force him to pay half. Some of the cost was tree clearing.

I understand back in the day and where two farms meet, both parties benefit from a fence. The law was to prevent one farmer from dragging his feet on keeping their shared fence up. But clearly the guy with 9 ac and a house doesn't want or need a fence.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Industrial Toys]

We had this miserable neighbor (deceased now) that pretty much the first words out of his mouth when meeting a new neighbor, was, "you have to pay for half the fences".

He was a very poor quality farmer and everything he did, he did cheap and shoddy, so the load of fence rails I provided made him happy. In fact, I think I said, OK but if we do it, we do it right and bring in a fencing contractor, knowing he would never go for that.

I would be surprised if fence laws are still enforced, because around here, someone can build a house next to a farm operation and pretty much shut the farmer down for odour and such!

 

[CobyRupert]

Seems like an idiotic law.
Hopefully people can be reasonable and share when mutually beneficial, but ultimately the one who wants the fence the most should pay.

Why can't the 9 acre neighbor just put up some 12" high flower garden wire-type fence and say "Done!", then send 1/2 the bill to the farmer.



Who says it has to be a 5 strand, cattle ready fence?

 

[95XL883]

It has been a while since I checked so I may have this wrong. My memory is Kansas has a similar provision but I believe there is an exemption for somebody not containing livestock. So when I fenced part of my land, I couldn't bill or even expect that neighbor to pay for any of the fence. (And that is the way I wanted it because I don't want him to be able to make any changes to the fence. It's my fence; leave it alone.) Likewise, a neighbor can't force me to pay for part of a new fence unless I'm also keeping livestock on my ground. (Of course, I do wonder how I could keep livestock without a fence to begin with.) Maybe the law makes more sense when dealing with repairs, replacement or improvement to an existing fence?

 

[MossRoad]

Local story where a guy is getting a bill for $9000 for his half of a line fence. It's already gone through the Township trustee and will be levied on his taxes. He has only 9 ac. His neighbor wants to start raising cattle and is using Indiana fencing laws to force him to pay half. Some of the cost was tree clearing.

I understand back in the day and where two farms meet, both parties benefit from a fence. The law was to prevent one farmer from dragging his feet on keeping their shared fence up. But clearly the guy with 9 ac and a house doesn't want or need a fence.

What are your thoughts?

On the flip side, in Indiana, if they cleared ANY trees or roots into the 9acre guy's property, the 9acre guy can sue them for damages. I'd sue for the amount of the fence that I am being assessed for.

 

[TheMan419]

Local story where a guy is getting a bill for $9000 for his half of a line fence. It's already gone through the Township trustee and will be levied on his taxes. He has only 9 ac. His neighbor wants to start raising cattle and is using Indiana fencing laws to force him to pay half. Some of the cost was tree clearing.

I understand back in the day and where two farms meet, both parties benefit from a fence. The law was to prevent one farmer from dragging his feet on keeping their shared fence up. But clearly the guy with 9 ac and a house doesn't want or need a fence.

What are your thoughts?

do you have a link? I am in Indiana and am interested in this case to see what the law is.

 

[dodge man]

I am a land surveyor and get asked this question all the time. Illinois has a similar law, in this case you were held responsible for the half to your right as you stood on your property and looked at the fence. I was told a few years ago by an attorney that there were a few court cases and it no longer holds up in court. Like already mentioned if on person would not need the fence the other person has to pay for the entire thing.

 

[MossRoad]

Read this very thoroughly and carefully...

https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/ec/ec-657.pdf

 

[bcp]

From:
Property Line and Fence Laws in Indiana - FindLaw

Determining Responsibility for a Partition Fence

A partition fence is one that is used to divide neighboring plots of land. Under the Indiana Partition Fence Law, adjacent landowners are required to share the burden of building partition fences, so long as one property is agricultural land located outside town or city limit. This applies even if only one property owners benefit from or use the fence. Land is considered agricultural when it is:

Zoned or otherwise designated as agricultural land
Used for growing crops or raising livestock
Reserved for conservation

 

[MossRoad]

In Indiana, you only have to build to your right. So if the neighbor wants to build the Taj Mahal of fences on his right half, you don't have to. You can build one to the minimum code and not be required anything more.