Reconstruction by neighbors along the property boundary

However, I can also find this here on the internet What that means in reverse, you should have explained to you.

The roofer has to wait for the neighbor... not your problem.

Thanks to both.

The problem now is that the neighbor wants to finish building on Friday. Mother's lawyer appointment is not until a week later. Shortly before construction, they had only orally agreed that the gutter may overhang if she trims the hedge regularly and not just once a year.

Now, as mentioned, the construction is practically finished except for the verge and the gutter (currently there is only a replacement gutter hanging there). She feels a) visually overwhelmed by the construction now, even though it is a windowless shed and we only have a view of the roof, and b) cheated because she was not properly informed about the construction beforehand.

That is why she has now withdrawn from the oral contract for the time being, and of course the neighbor is pissed off. My fear now is that she could sue mother (in case of demolition/reconstruction) because she continued the construction based on the oral agreement and mother believes she is right, because orally nothing is binding and she insists on her property rights.

Also because she thinks the construction exceeds the volume of 75m³, but we do not know if she has a permit and so far I could only roughly estimate the dimensions. Height up to us, 2.10m and border length approx. 4.60m. Height on her side I estimate at about 4m high at the house wall and width at the narrowest point 3m.

I also don't know what will happen if she decides on Friday to finish the roof on her own and citing the previous oral agreement. Tricky situation.

A few things I would like to know more about and I ask for a somewhat more detailed explanation: I would be interested in why you think the construction is illegal? As I said, according to my Google research and Wiki: In Bavaria, no register of building encumbrances is kept, there the securing of building regulation-compliant conditions is done in the land register. Why does she have to keep the boundary free? Allegedly, for example, "garden sheds" may be built up to the property line and even 3m high? Earlier my mother did not have the necessary money (I was still little and the house was not yet paid off) to sue or get legal advice first. Now it is a bit easier thanks to compensation and she probably would have acted against the old construction back then, I think about 25 years ago. Regarding fire protection she once asked because of the oil container and she said nothing else flammable is stored, well ventilated and the things themselves are in a drip tray. We assumed privacy does not apply because it is a windowless shed. I do have the floor plans from the building authority of our municipality. Sorry, I don’t quite understand why go there again or do you mean because of the new/addition?

The whole drama is that my mother does not get along well with the neighbor’s parents anyway (earlier disputes and they avoid each other anyway, which is why communication mostly went through me and the neighbor) and I actually get along normally with them (still), the parents, like the neighbor, and there has actually been a kind of fragile peace for some years now, but of course I stand behind my mother in such matters and I am a bit afraid that she will get stuck with lawyers and courts financially, because she no longer wants to put up with everything and be pushed back, definitively, because in my feeling it is mother’s delayed property right and withdrawal from the oral agreement against the neighbor who continued or almost finished building based on the oral agreement and could claim damages if she had to rebuild or demolish.

Thank you very much and good night.

That is why she has now first withdrawn from the oral contract, and of course the neighbor is pissed off.

Help me out: I have in mind that contracts themselves do NOT have to be made in writing – so the "withdrawal" is initially void.

The reasons for it are shaky as well – if there was a prior conversation, dimensions or something similar were definitely discussed. If it now "feels" too large, it will be difficult. You also write that it is now indeed more substantial, but also certainly safer.

Since we are already very deep into personal sensitivities here, I can only say that personally, with such a close boundary construction on my part, I would probably keep quiet and think about it BEFORE the next comparable action...

If I were the neighbor, I would continue building and await whatever may come...

As @hanghaus2023 already said: the burden must be registered with the neighbor. According to the wiki in section II of the land register.

A burden is always registered on the servient property. So not with the one who builds on the border, but with the one who allows it (servient property). Therefore, I have to correct you. With the neighbor, there would - if at all - at most be a marginal note somewhere in the building documents. The easement is therefore necessarily with the mother (easement on the servient property - hence also the wording. The dominant property - i.e. the neighbor - finds nothing in their land register).

The problem now is that the neighbor wants to finish building on Friday.

But that is not your problem, but the neighbor’s.

A burden is always registered on the servient property.

She had a new one built, and it goes right up to the property boundary of our house, which is only about one meter away from our house wall.

The mother's house then only has to be 1m away from the boundary.
That is exactly why the building obligation, if at all, is with the neighbor.