Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
As stated above, adverse possession requires several conditions (based on the local law) but at least some conditions seem to be universal: continuous, open, and notorious (or claim of right). Notorious meaning: without permission so that last condition is not satisfied and claim of right means to claim ownership.
As for reading the easements, if they are not written into your deed, they may be recorded separately and included on the deed by reference. You can easily read your deed and any easements by going to the "recorder of deeds" (land records office) in your town. The clerks are very helpful, just ask how to look up your own deed - you need book and page numbers; then you can either go to the actual book or it will be online for you to look at in the office. Generally it's a good idea to have a copy of the recorded deed, so ask for a copy to be made. If the easements are not spelled out in the deed other than by reference, make a note of those reference numbers (book and page) and look them up. Again, get a copy.
While I don't think it essential that you run to a lawyer tomorrow, it is a consideration and will probably become necessary if things continue the same as they seem to be headed.
As stated above, adverse possession requires several conditions (based on the local law) but at least some conditions seem to be universal: continuous, open, and notorious (or claim of right). Notorious meaning: without permission so that last condition is not satisfied and claim of right means to claim ownership.
As for reading the easements, if they are not written into your deed, they may be recorded separately and included on the deed by reference. You can easily read your deed and any easements by going to the "recorder of deeds" (land records office) in your town. The clerks are very helpful, just ask how to look up your own deed - you need book and page numbers; then you can either go to the actual book or it will be online for you to look at in the office. Generally it's a good idea to have a copy of the recorded deed, so ask for a copy to be made. If the easements are not spelled out in the deed other than by reference, make a note of those reference numbers (book and page) and look them up. Again, get a copy.
While I don't think it essential that you run to a lawyer tomorrow, it is a consideration and will probably become necessary if things continue the same as they seem to be headed.
Good luck.
This is the most accurate and best advice I've seen on your problem. You do not have a case for adverse possession which is sometimes called a prescriptive easement. But you might even be able to purchase easement rights if the seller is willing - who knows what will happen when they have money waved in front of them? And it is sometimes difficult to thoroughly search the records even with help from the clerks on hand. You might want to call a title company and see if they can do it for a reasonable fee.
As stated above, adverse possession requires several conditions (based on the local law) but at least some conditions seem to be universal: continuous, open, and notorious (or claim of right). Notorious meaning: without permission so that last condition is not satisfied and claim of right means to claim ownership.
The placing of the stones (if done without permission) may meet the standards for a prescriptive easement, if they aren't on the existing easement. If they are on the existing easement there should be no issue (though "should be" and "is" aren't the same)
The difference between a "prescriptive easement" and adverse possession is you don't gain title to the property with a prescriptive easement, and you don't have to have excluded the owner.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and am not playing one on the net.
Don't start with the adverse possession talk. It will go to court. You will spend far more on lawyers than just buying the little chunk of property from them. If you can learn to live with stones, no stones, whatever, there is no costs.
I should add, if you don't already know the elderly couple's relatives, very soon you should find out where their closest family lives and a name or two. Just in case it gets too much. Better safe than sorry. In fact, a visit to their home with a mum and a pumpkin could tell you a lot about the condition of their current life.
Do get these lose ends tied up.
On this point it's quite sad. These folks have one son in the area, nobody else. The son is of no help to them after a recent nasty divorce and 4 kids that he got custody of. Little else in the way of support network and apparently no plan for incapacity or life beyond where they are now. The wife is obviously squirrelly about it while the husband is in denial. So I'm not confronting them or starting any kind of action until I have all my ducks in a row.
Lots of good advice in this thread. I'll start with a resurvey and search for easement records and see where it goes. thanks to all. I'll post updates.
If I have an easement for my driveway through their strip can I assert that the stone edging is part of the driveway? Do my rights extend farther?
You'd need to read the easement, but an access easement would normally not confer additional rights. Are there any local regulations relating to the preservation of stone walls which might come into play? (From your write-up it wasn't clear whether this was part of the stone walls you mentioned--or just single-file stones which line the drive.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by kletter1mann
I'm also entertaining the idea of resurveying and offering to buy the even-thinner strip of their strip that is aesthetically associated with my lot. Is that an option?
I'm not sure what lot sizes are involved but, since the zoning has minimum lot sizes, any partition would need to make sure that the subdivided lot does not become a non-conforming lot size. Check with the municipality about the process for subdividing lots.
As for the easement, there's a chance that it could be written into your deed but it's likely that it's just recorded separately. In my area, most deeds simply give the legal description with the caveat "subject to easements and restrictions of record" or some similar language. Hopefully, the width of the easement is spelled out in the recorded document. (If it's a very old plat, there's a remote possibility that there is no recorded easement...but hopefully that's not the case here.) You can either search the records yourself or, for better assurance, pay a title company to do a title search for you. I'm sure your attorney would rather see a report from a title company.
A (From your write-up it wasn't clear whether this was part of the stone walls you mentioned--or just single-file stones which line the drive.)
B I'm not sure what lot sizes are involved but, since the zoning has minimum lot sizes, any partition would need to make sure that the subdivided lot does not become a non-conforming lot size. Check with the municipality about the process for subdividing lots.
A there are lots of stone walls everywhere. In fact, they're considered inviolable, you can't touch them! unfortunately the driveway boarder isn't one of them.
B 2 acres. The 'strip' is already nonconforming, but that's allowed because it's just for access to the primary lot. they stripped it out from the real lot years ago (35 years?) to reduce taxes cause rates are different for respective lots (no reason to pay taxes on whats really just a very, very long driveway - about 750 ft?). this is common in the area.
Typically an easement driveway is just a right for you to drive over someone else's land to access your property. Typically you don't have the right to mow it, plant trees, flowers, stones, etc and claim its yours, because its not. Dont confuse your legal rights, to what you "think" are your rights.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
