I'm sure it probably varies from state to state, but the law in New York State is that the animal owner is responsible for fencing their animals in. Anything other than that is a gentleman's agreement between neighboring landowners.

Some folks informally use the right hand rule but unless written in a statute, that's not legally binding.

Some states also don't require a landowner who doesn't keep livestock on their property to maintain the fence, and all the burden is on the other landowner if they are the only ones keeping livestock in.

You will have to look the laws up for your state... Potentially county if there is anywhere that a county has more specific laws?

Let's say I have a neighbor to the North of me.  We have a fence line that runs west to east dividing us.  So, if I stand on my property and look at his property, from the mid point of the fence to the east (my right) is my responsibility?  Is that what we're saying?

Yep.  Thanks.

When I first read it, I was visualizing looking lengthwise down the fence, and that really didn't make any sense!  Coffee is almost ready.  Thanks.

gee ,thought I was the only one cornfused about the RH Rule.....

very happy some explained it.... !!!

back in my grandad's day,, some folks were more neighborly and would share the upkeep of a fence..  then there were some,,, you moved 10 feet from the property line and built your own separate fence,,, Grandad went through that too,, and that ruling still stands to this day, there is a no-mans land lane between the properties...

Kansas is a open range state,meaning livestock always have the right of way and when it comes to fences basically around here if you have the livestock then the fence is 100% your responsibility, now if there's livestock on both sides it's usually a gentlemen agreement that they will split the cost of the fence.  I have several pastures that border neighbors with cattle and occasionally one will offer to pay for supplies, however my whole life I've just got what I needed and built or fixed the fence, it's just a lot easier than dealing with some cry baby neighbor that thinks this is right or that costs to much, etc, and when I'm done I don't give a crap what they think if they don't like it they could have got off there backside and did it themselves, however I've never heard a peep from any of them.  Free 99 is hard to complain about.

Funny story, if you ever go south of Ceda Bluff Res. about 3 1/2 miles south of the dam you'll see a big Jayhawk setting about 1/4 west of the highway.  Years ago a now deceased friend of mine had a section of grass and the land that surrounded him was donated to K-State by his aunt when she passed.  Anyways his property had 1 mile of shared fence at the south end with K-State and they sent letters out to all the land owners that they adjoined wanting them to pay for half the materials and they would pay all labor.  My friend and I talked about it and both agreed that was a hell of a deal and for him it was the last mile of fence out of 4 that he hadn't already replaced in the last 4 years out of his own pocket.  So he did nothing planning on agreeing to their terms.  Well later that winter my friend after seeing the big steel Indian silhouettes west of Ness City decided he wanted to do something like that in his pasture.  I told him well K-State owns the ground south and east of you and a K-State booster owns the ground north of you, so you better put a Jayhawk to represent the KU fans because your surrounded by K-State.  Well he loved that idea so we made a 10ft tall 4 ft wide Jayhawk out of 3/16 steel sheet, mounted it on 3 case rear wheel weights and set it up in the pasture and ran power for a night spotlight.  Sure looked good, pretty much like it was walking through his pasture.  Well wouldn't you know it but about a month later K-State sent a letter to all their neighbors that they would be paying for 100% of all fence costs as they didn't want to upset any neighbors that weren't interested in a new fence.  Till he died we would laugh about the coincidence of that letter and our winter project.  

Oh and he like me could care less whether your a K-State fan or KU.  Although over the years the Jayhawk as taken some lead and was once painted like a crow, although some local KU fans quickly repainted it and as far as I know it still stands there today, however I haven't been by it in 6-7 years.

We immediately built a new fence (insurance agent's recommendation) everywhere the neighbor had built fence and maintained it until we no longer used the pasture.

There are exceptions to this; I rented a farm 30 yrs ago that the building sites had mine in left 1/2 and the other on other end of section. You cared for fence closest to your bldgs. This was even written in my lease. They were so legal on it from early 1900's that agreement was recorded at county courthouse recorders office. 

Colorado law says you have to fence out, if you want to keep someone else's livestock on their land.

That's the opposite of here, as long as you have a fence of sort (one wire hot wire is good enough)  if a animal reaches the highway and gets hit the auto insurance has to pay for any damage.  Interesting enough just like hitting a deer it's a comp claim and not collision.

There's law, and there's common sense.  The old adage 'good fences make good neighbors'  is often taken as that the presence of a good fence, is what promotes good relationship between adjacent landowners, and in many ways, that is true, however, it assumes that both landowners have need, desire for, and economic capacity to HAVE a fence.  Follow that adage far back, and you'll find that it is usually attributed to Scotsman, or anywhere near, and that the landscape is patchworked with hand-lifted stone fences.

Fences BEGAN in history as a defensive barrier... nothing more.  Man did not develop fence barriers for purpose of unattended livestock, it was a herder's task to attend and protect livestock.  The herders had staffs, and if well-off, some trustworthy domesticated canines, to keep predators and thieves at bay.  Anyone with enthusiastic animals knows that until a fence gets higher than a man's head, it isn't going to keep ANYTHING with four legs penned-in.  It DOES, however, obstruct the sight line of predators, hence, quelling their instinct to attempt infiltration.

Modern Fences serve three purposes... first is to keep livestock in, second is to keep predators out, and third, is to keep livestock OUT. 

If a neighbor is not involved in livestock, and has no concern with ingress of predators or other tresspassers, the investment and maintenance of a fence serves them no benefit.

SO... the basic reality is, that if you have a fence, and it is in YOUR interest to have it, but your neighbor has no need, their maintainance obligation can be met simply by them REMOVING their portion... and that kabashes the whole 'fence law' concept.

When walking fences for my Grandfather, he NEVER mentioned Iowa Fence Law, although it was certainly extant at that time.  Reason why, was not because he had issue with the law, or any dispute with any neighbor, it was because the fence was simply a cost of doing business.  As a cattleman, one either ranges and herds, or fence out.  In the wide ranges of west Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas... the expanse is very light in terms of foraging density, it takes lots of area for grazers' subsistence... and one can see predators from great distances.  Up here, we have lots of rolling hills and valleys, substantially more rain, and fertile dark black soils that produce LOTS of nutrient-rich forage.  As a result, grazing areas need not be very large to support very large herds, thus, a fenced perimeter is drastically smaller, and concordantly, less expensive.

For my grandfather and my uncle, they maintain the fences, regardless of who's 'responsibility' they may be, simply because it is in their best interest to do so.

With respect to fence construction, basically any 'decorative' fence is identified by which side is the 'pretty side'.  IF only one side is 'pretty', it faces the neighbor.

With respect to fence position, placing it ON the property line, or setting it back, is merely a choice of the installer based on the circumstances.  Setting a fence directly ON a property line oftentimes prevents one property owner access to maintain property along the fence line.  When this situation occurs, it is best to offset the fence to one side, or the other, of the property line so that the property AND the fence are both accessible for maintenance.  My grandfather's property saw plenty of this, as his pastures had great groves of ancient oak trees in some places, deep ditches in others.