Adjoining Owners Equally Responsible for Shared Fences and Boundaries:
As of January 1, 2014, landowners with properties that share fences and other boundaries must adhere to a new law, codified as California Civil Code (CC) § 841. According to CC § 841, adjoining landowners share an equal benefit from any fence dividing their property and therefore “shall share equally in the responsibility for maintaining the boundaries and monuments between them,” unless otherwise stated in writing. As a result of this shared obligation, any landowner who intends to incur any cost for such a fence must provide a 30-day written notice to the other landowners stating:

  • A notice of the presumption of equal responsibility for the reasonable costs of construction, maintenance, or necessary replacement of the fence;
  • A description of the nature of the problem with the shared fence;
  • The proposed solution for the problem;
  • The estimated construction or maintenance costs to address the problem;
  • The proposed cost sharing approach; and,
  • The proposed timeline for addressing the problem.
The presumption that there is a shared responsibility to maintain an adjoining boundary may be overcome by demonstrating that imposing equal responsibility for the reasonable costs of construction, maintenance, or necessary replacement of the fence would be unjust. The Code outlines several considerations that the Court will take into account when making the determination of justness. From there, the Court may order either a contribution of less than an equal share for the costs of construction, maintenance, or necessary replacement of the fence, or order no contribution.