Adverse possession

Adverse possession is a legal doctrine under which qualifying possession of land for a statutory period can establish ownership, subject to jurisdiction-specific requirements.

Actual possession: Physical use or occupation of property in a manner appropriate to its character. The claimant must use the land as an owner would, rather than merely assert a claim to it.
Possession (law): Legal control over property, usually involving both physical control and an intention to possess. Adverse possession builds ownership claims from possession rather than from an original conveyance.
Boundary dispute: A disagreement about the location or legal effect of a boundary between properties. Longstanding use of a strip beyond a deed line often brings adverse possession into question.
Acquisitive prescription: A civil-law doctrine that can grant ownership or another property right through possession over time. It is a close comparative counterpart, though its terminology and requirements differ across legal systems.
Open and notorious possession: Possession sufficiently visible that an owner exercising reasonable diligence could discover it. Visibility gives the record owner an opportunity to detect and challenge the occupation.
Land title: The legal basis for owning or holding rights in a parcel of land. The doctrine can shift rights away from the titleholder recorded or recognized before the claim.
Encroachment: An intrusion onto another property, such as a structure or improvement crossing a boundary. An encroachment can supply visible occupation, though it does not automatically satisfy every element.
Eminent domain: The government's power to take private property for public use, subject to legal procedures and compensation requirements. Unlike adverse possession, it transfers property through governmental authority rather than a private possessor's long-term use.
Exclusive possession: Possession that is not shared with the owner or the public in the legally relevant sense. Sharing control with the owner can undermine the claim that the possessor occupied as an owner.
Trespass: An unauthorized interference with another person's possession of land. An occupation may begin as trespass, but only possession meeting additional legal conditions can mature into ownership.

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