Is it trespassing to be in a ditch?My children love to play in the ditch by my neighbour's house because there is a small, very shallow creek that...

This may take some research on your part. Look at your
deed. It may be the same or similar to your neighbor's deed. Does your roadside boundary
go to the center of the street, to the edge of the street or some other point. Are you
in a subdivision? Is there a subdivision map in your home paperwork? Are the streets and
berm government property, i.e., municipal, state etc. or is it an association? Who or
what entity mows the grass around the ditch?

You could go
to the courthouse and look up your neighbor's deed. Depending where you live it is
increasingly easy to find such information given our digital age. Your county may even
have such information on line.

I would not rely on the
fence as an indicator of ownership. Rights of way just render the property servient to
the holder of the right of way. It doesn't mean that it is public property. Your
neighbor may still bear liability for injury on the property if he is the owner. Zoning,
covenants and restrictions may have limited the extent to which the neighbor could fence
his property. On the other hand maybe a chocolate cake or some other generosity will
soften up the neighbor.