Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

You should be just fine. Two issues are central:

1. The owner of the premises is responsible for making it safe. You are not the owner. End of story, as to the injured party.

2. If you are sued, submit a claim to your homeowners insurance companies...both...your current carrier (for your current home) and the carrier for your previous home. You will likely find coverage at one or both.

Another issue that could arise, but you did not mention is whether you failed to disclose a defect (the tree) that you knew about, when you sold the house. The current owner may have an action against you, based on a failure to disclose, in the Transfer Disclosure Statement that you signed, at the time of sale.

Any real estate attorney could look through the records and help you out.

Good luck.

Not yet! However if there is a problem give it to your insurance company. Of course you might want to suggest to the current homeowners insurance that you warned about this tree being "non conforming" or that they should have clearly seen that it was. Or perhaps you could suggest that it was their fault because they could plainly see the hazard and yet choose to do nothing about it. I'd wait until you get served with a lawsuit before you panic.

I would go to a plaintiff�s personal injury attorney and pay them a fee to consult with them ( which is a novelty because we mostly work on a contingent or percentage fee basis) after all they are in the business of suing people and probably know the law in this area better than a real estate lawyer.