revex.inf81_201809017hy_!67!
The parties are adjacent landowners in McCurtain County. A dispute developed between the parties in 2010 about the use and ownership of about eight acres (the Disputed Property) located, depending on which party is asked, on either side of two different boundary lines adjoining the parties' properties. East Landowner sought to quiet title to the Disputed Property, claiming that the property was encompassed within the west boundary line established by survey. West Landowners sought to quiet title to the Disputed Property under the doctrines of adverse possession and/or boundary by acquiescence, claiming that an older fence to the east of the survey line had historically served as the boundary between the two properties. After a non-jury trial, the trial court found that West Landowners owned all right, title and interest to the property under both the doctrines of adverse possession and boundary by acquiescence.2 East Landowner appeals.
Bonnie retained ownership of the eastern property until she died in approximately 1994; Joe French, Sr. inherited the property after her death. When he died in 1999, his son, Joe French, Jr., acquired the property. Joe French, Jr. sold the property to East Landowner and his father, Alan Sheets, in 2004. East Landowner became the sole owner of the property when Alan died in 2010. In 2010, East Landowner built a fence running north/south on the survey boundary line on the western side of the Disputed Property. He also erected a gate blocking West Landowners' access to a road which passed through the Disputed Property and which served as West Landowners' only access to their property. The present lawsuit ensued. 6 None of the parties disputed that the older north/south fence existed on the eastern side of the Disputed Property, and none of the parties disputed the location of the survey boundary line to the west. However, the parties disputed whether a second fence had existed at the survey boundary line. The parties also disputed who had historically used the Disputed Property and for what purpose.
After reviewing the record and applicable law, we find the clear weight of the evidence established that West Landowners owned the Disputed Property pursuant to the doctrine of boundary by acquiescence. In Lewis v. Smith, 1940 OK 276, 103 P.2d 512, the Oklahoma Supreme Court explained the doctrine as follows: [Where] adjoining landowners occupy their respective premises up to a certain fence line which they mutually recognize and acquiesce in for a long period of time, usually the time prescribed by the statute of limitations, they are precluded from claiming that the boundary line thus recognized and acquiesced in is not the true one.
*The parties stipulated that Neill was mentally incompetent due to dementia and unable to testify at the time of trial on July 18, 2014. The court admitted his deposition, taken on April 20, 2012, into evidence in place of his in-court testimony. At trial, West Landowners challenged Neill's competency at time of the deposition.
What is your opinion on this?
The parties are adjacent landowners in McCurtain County. A dispute developed between the parties in 2010 about the use and ownership of about eight acres (the Disputed Property) located, depending on which party is asked, on either side of two different boundary lines adjoining the parties' properties. East Landowner sought to quiet title to the Disputed Property, claiming that the property was encompassed within the west boundary line established by survey. West Landowners sought to quiet title to the Disputed Property under the doctrines of adverse possession and/or boundary by acquiescence, claiming that an older fence to the east of the survey line had historically served as the boundary between the two properties. After a non-jury trial, the trial court found that West Landowners owned all right, title and interest to the property under both the doctrines of adverse possession and boundary by acquiescence.2 East Landowner appeals.
Bonnie retained ownership of the eastern property until she died in approximately 1994; Joe French, Sr. inherited the property after her death. When he died in 1999, his son, Joe French, Jr., acquired the property. Joe French, Jr. sold the property to East Landowner and his father, Alan Sheets, in 2004. East Landowner became the sole owner of the property when Alan died in 2010. In 2010, East Landowner built a fence running north/south on the survey boundary line on the western side of the Disputed Property. He also erected a gate blocking West Landowners' access to a road which passed through the Disputed Property and which served as West Landowners' only access to their property. The present lawsuit ensued. 6 None of the parties disputed that the older north/south fence existed on the eastern side of the Disputed Property, and none of the parties disputed the location of the survey boundary line to the west. However, the parties disputed whether a second fence had existed at the survey boundary line. The parties also disputed who had historically used the Disputed Property and for what purpose.
After reviewing the record and applicable law, we find the clear weight of the evidence established that West Landowners owned the Disputed Property pursuant to the doctrine of boundary by acquiescence. In Lewis v. Smith, 1940 OK 276, 103 P.2d 512, the Oklahoma Supreme Court explained the doctrine as follows: [Where] adjoining landowners occupy their respective premises up to a certain fence line which they mutually recognize and acquiesce in for a long period of time, usually the time prescribed by the statute of limitations, they are precluded from claiming that the boundary line thus recognized and acquiesced in is not the true one.
*The parties stipulated that Neill was mentally incompetent due to dementia and unable to testify at the time of trial on July 18, 2014. The court admitted his deposition, taken on April 20, 2012, into evidence in place of his in-court testimony. At trial, West Landowners challenged Neill's competency at time of the deposition.
What is your opinion on this?
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