Legal assistance with easements and pipelines

Questioner

House connections from a property behind it run through my back garden. It is my own land and there is no easement for these cables and pipes. These cables and pipes have been in the ground for decades without my knowledge. Now the owner of the property behind the house is asking me to remove a tree in my garden because he fears that the roots will damage the pipes. Can I refuse this and demand that the pipes be relocated? The pipes could also easily run over his own property without much detour.

Lawyer

You indicate that the cables and pipes have been in the ground for decades. In that case, there is very likely to be an easement that has arisen through prescription. If you cannot reach an agreement with your neighbour, you can file a claim through the court to cancel or change the easement. In the opinion of the court, there must be a situation in which maintaining the current situation can no longer reasonably be expected of you. In order to assess whether such a claim can be filed, it is also important to know at what time the easement arose through prescription; this must have been more than 20 years ago. It is possible that the prescription has not yet been completed and you can interrupt it (there may be a prescription period of 10 or 20 years). If the prescription has been completed but not more than 20 years ago, it may be possible to terminate the use by filing a claim based on tort. In short, some research will first have to be done to get a clear picture of the legal status of the cables, only then can you say what your rights/options are.