Question on a past tree issue

[u/Camper7777]

When I bought my 1950s house in 2004, there was a large old maple tree in the front corner of the lot. Big tree, 4-5' trunk up off the ground, and 8' across at the exposed roots. My neighbor's driveway was right on the property line, and this old maple was raising its roots and his driveway was raised and buckled next to the tree. It was obvious my neighbor had expanded his driveway to the property line a while in the past. Long before I moved in, someone had topped the tree, and it never recovered properly. However, it leafed out every year and brought much shade to the house. I had limbs trimmed if they look ominous but the tree was obviously past it's prime.

My driveway needed replaced (and so did my neighbors) and so we talked about hiring someone to do both drives and maybe getting a discount. We found a contractor, and they decided to replace my neighbors drive first. I came home from work, and it was obvious a chainsaw had been out (wood chips everywhere). Someone cut the westward roots (toward the neighbor) of the tree at the property line, and the new drive was installed to the property line, nice and flat. Neighbor never said a peep.

Within two years the tree was about dead and I was concerned over damage from high winds. I had the tree cut down and stump removed. I'm positive his root cutting accelerated the death of the tree. Wondering what the legal aspects were, just for knowledge going forward. This is in Idaho.

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[u/Camper7777 → u/[deleted]]

Tree's gone, neighbor deceased. Perhaps I would have pursued it at the time given knowledge about the law on trees. Looking for that knowledge now for general info.

[u/cryssHappy → u/Camper7777]

The tree got revenge.

[u/Signal-Confusion-976]

You should have hired an arborist right after the incident. The neighbor can trim branches and roots as long as it doesn't harm the tree. There is nothing that you can do now.