Maintenance of a right of way
Maintenance of a right of way
"I have a right of way over my neighbour's property. However, he is not at all interested in maintaining it and the path is becoming unusable because of the branches and grass that are invading it. Who is legally responsible for maintaining this path?
Philippe, Vaud
Neighbourly relations in the context of property ownership are governed by articles 684 et seq. of the French Civil Code. An owner who has insufficient access to the public highway may require his neighbours to give him the necessary right of way, in exchange for compensation. This right is exercised firstly against the neighbour from whom the right of way can most naturally be claimed because of the previous state of the properties and access roads and, if necessary, against the neighbour on whose land the right of way causes the least damage. A right of way may therefore be created with due regard to the interests of both parties.
Under Article 741 of the Civil Code, the owner of the land benefiting from the easement, known as the "dominant" land, must maintain the works required to exercise the easement. It often happens that a right of way is linked to works such as a path or footbridge on the land of the person granting the right of way, known as the "servient" land. It is therefore logical that the person who benefits from it, i.e. the neighbour who owns the dominant land, should be the one to maintain it. You are therefore legally obliged to remove any branches that invade the path. Note that this rule also applies to the cost of building these structures.
However, if the work is also useful to the encumbered owner, for example if he uses the path or footbridge himself, the burden of maintenance falls on both parties, in proportion to their interest. For the sake of completeness, it should also be pointed out that these provisions are not mandatory law, which means that the parties may decide to allocate costs and tasks differently; in the absence of such an agreement, however, the statutory rule applies.
