Farm Law and Ag Law Blog

Last month we covered the Doctrine of Title by Acquiescence.   T he law of  acquiescence  pertains to adjoining property owners who are either mistaken where the line between properties are, or agree that a fence or barrier that is not on the legal boundary line is to be considered the legal boundary line.   So, under the law of acquiescence, land can be gained or lost by mistake or by agreement.             Another doctrine where land can be gained or lost is the Doctrine of Adverse Possession, sometimes referred to as “squatter’s rights”.   Adverse Possession occurs where a person in  possession  of land owned by someone else may acquire valid title to it, so long as certain requirements are met.   It arises from English common law, where land in England was continuously changing hands not via purchases, but conquest, pillage, theft, etc.   The theory was that if you could show you possessed land long enough, your title to the land would not be questioned.             W

            Rarely does a person agree or consent to lose part of their land.   However, such can happen in cases where a fence between neighbors turns out to not be on the legal boundary line.      The norm is that a fence between neighbors is erected on the legal boundary line between the two adjacent properties.   However, sometimes landowners have a mistaken belief that the fence marks the legal boundary line between two properties when it actually does not.    Other times the adjacent landowners agree to treat an existing fence not on the legally boundary line as the legal boundary line.   No matter the various circumstances, a fence that is believed to mark the legal boundary line, and turns out to not be the case, usually leads to a dispute at some point.             How does the law generally treat these instances where an individual is acquiescent to a boundary fence not being on the legal boundary line?    Enter the Doctrine of Title by Acquiescence.    Essent