My question involves real estate located in the State of California.

This one is a doozy, so my apologies for the longer than typical description of the issue. My family acquired a lot and built a residence on it back in 1990 (they may have started construction in 1989, I know the house was granted final approval by the city in 1990). The lot had fences separating the neighbors on either side and in the back (it's a downslope lot).

I am in the process of acquiring the property from my mother. She just advised me that the neighbor to the back of us had mentioned to her some years ago (probably more than 3 years ago) that the neighbor to one side of us had built their fence in such a way that it encroached steadily further into our property as it ran towards the back fence separating their property and our property from the neighbor in back (*** apologies for the massive run-on sentence ***). Further, from a visual inspection it appears that the neighbor to our side planted a row of trees that at least some portion of, if not all, are completely on our property. My mother said she had a conversation with the encroaching neighbor about this, but never pursued this any further.

From what I've read, it appears the Statute of Limitations to sue for costs to rectify this may have expired. That's not my primary concern (though if anyone can confirm or refute, it would be appreciated). What I'd like to know is what I can do to assert my property rights? I'm more than ready to have the fence removed and a new fence erected a few inches from the property line (at my cost, if that's my only recourse). I'd also like to get a permit to remove the trees that are on our property.

I hope I'm not too late in being able to rectify this encroachment. I know that I'll need to have a licensed land surveyor do an inspection and provide a report. Do I need to run to an attorney right away b/c of other Statues of Limitations that may be coming up?

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.