In its decision of 16 June 2021 (V ZR 234/19), the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled that the self-help right pursuant to Sec. 910 para. 1 of the German Civil Code (BGB) is not excluded – subject to contrary restrictions under nature conservation law – because the removal of the overhang threatens the death of the tree or the loss of its stability. This follows from the fact that the legislator decided in favor of a simple and generally understandable formulation of Sec. 910 BGB, which enables the rapid settlement of neighborly dispute and e.g. the involvement of expert third parties, which is necessary in many cases to assess the effects of pruning on the tree, would stand in the way of a simple resolution of the conflict situation. It should be noted, however, that provisions of nature conservation law can lead to a restriction of the right to self-help in individual cases. According to the BGH, however, the removal of the tree was not covered by the right to self-help.