Chris Pine’s Court Settlement With Neighbor Exposed: Trees Cut Down, Insurance Payouts

The details of the settlement that Chris Pine hashed out with his neighbor in their bitter court war were revealed in court, In Touch can exclusively report.

According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Chris, 44, and his neighbor, Helen Yu, informed the court of the status of the settlement they reached in November.

Chris’ lawyers explained that the settlement agreement “has been signed and the settlement checks have been provided by the respective insurance carriers.”

“The subject trees are scheduled to be removed, and the easement still needs to be completed and recorded,” Chris’ lawyer added. The actor’s legal team did not reveal who received the insurance checks.

The trees that are being removed appear to be on Chris’ property, due to the lawsuit being brought by Helen over the actor’s trees allegedly causing damage to her home.

Helen filed her own status update on the settlement. Helen explained that the settlement agreement included certain financial obligations, “all of which have been satisfied.”

She said that the agreement also included the “obligation to remove certain trees and the preparation and recording of an easement, which obligations have yet been met.”

Helen, a well-known entertainment lawyer, asked the court to not officially close the case until the trees are removed and the other conditions met.

The judge has yet to respond to the status updates. As In Touch first reported, back in November, Chris hashed out the deal with Helen days before they were scheduled to face off at a trial on November 18.

The agreement led to the trial being called off. Helen sued Chris and codefendant, Bradley Lyon, for trespass, nuisance and negligence in 2023.

Helen said her home shared a boundary with Chris’ three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 2,205 square-foot home, which he purchased in 2010.

In court, Helen claimed that Chris had planted numerous Ficus Benjamina trees which she claimed were “known to have extremely invasive root systems.”

Helen said the trees had caused substantial damage to her home.

Her lawsuit read, “Through action or inaction, [Chris has] unreasonably, negligently, or intentionally caused or allowed the root systems of [his trees] which were planted on the boundary line between the properties and encroach upon [Helen’s home], causing substantial and ongoing damage to the [Helen’s home], including cracking of walls and substantial damages to the plumbing and pipes, pool, pool deck, and other areas of in or around [Helen’s home], creating an unreasonably unsafe condition, and interfering with [Helen’s] use and enjoyment of [her] property.”

The lawsuit demanded unspecified damages.

Chris denied all allegations of wrongdoing in the case. He filed a cross-complaint claiming Helen had installed a fence that was on his property line.

He demanded she be forced to move the fence back. Helen denied all allegations of wrongdoing in the suit. Her lawyer claimed it would cause his client more “hardship” to remove the fence than if the fence remained.

As In Touch first reported, Chris was ordered to be deposed weeks before the trial. Helen accused him of using excuse after excuse to avoid setting a deposition date.

Helen said that Chris’ lawyers told her in July that the actor would be busy filming a movie and on vacation out of the country until October.

Helen said when she tried to schedule Chris’ depo in October, she still got the run around.

“Either [Chris] does not want to be deposed, or his counsel is attempting to get around the trial court’s ruling denying his most recent application to continue the trial by refusing to cooperate in scheduling [Chris’] deposition and enabling discovery to be completed,” Helen’s lawyer argued.

The judge ended up ordering Chris to be deposed. The terms of the settlement are confidential.