Attorney Thomas B. Burton explains what the concept of adverse possession is in real property law and explains how it works in Wisconsin.
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Transcript of Video: What is the Law of Adverse Possession in Wisconsin?
Today's topic is adverse possession in
the state of Wisconsin now what is
adverse possession adverse possession is
when you obtain real estate property of
someone else by using it for a certain
amount of time so a common example will
be someone built a fence and it's two feet
over the property line but they maintain
the fence for over 20 years they may
have adversely possessed their
neighbor's property now the statutory
requirement is 20 years of open and
notorious use meaning the neighbor knew
about the fence and they didn't tell you
to move it if you were the one who built
it and you maintain it for 20 years
you may have an adverse possession claim
on that extra 2 feet there's a shorter
period of 10 years under color of title
meaning adverse possession with a
document stating that you had that title
the more commonly thought of one is
adverse possession where you're mowing
someone's part of their lot or building
the fence or using it in some way open
and notoriously
and then you adverse possess their
property after a period of time the
color of title has to do with a
situation where you may have a deed
granting you title but it was incorrect
the law uses adverse possession because
it want owners to maintain the
boundaries of their property meaning
it's sort of like if you don't use it
you lose it over time which is kind of
scary but the idea is that you defend
your property and if it is your property
you say the neighbor hey that's my
property move your fence over time the
law wants to recognize who is really
using and owning the property now there
is a way under Wisconsin statute to get
a declaratory judgment action so let's
say you have a dispute with the neighbor
and you think they are using your
property and they don't you can go to
court and ask the court to declare the
rights of the
parties based on the survey map and
other evidence so if you think someone
is adversely possessing your property I
recommend looking into this with the
help of a qualified lawyer to establish
those rights before that twenty year or
ten-year period if applicable runs and
you're out of options so that is a brief
overview of adverse possession in
Wisconsin.
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Transcript and captions provided for ease of access for the hearing impaired.
For questions about this topic, or to suggest a topic for a future blog post, please contact my office.
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