Themis Essay 878 Flashcards
The doctrine of adverse possession allows ownership to be granted to a person who
exercises exclusive physical possession of a piece of property for a certain amount of time.
For possession to ripen into title under adverse possession, the possession must be:
(i) open and notorious;
(ii) continuous;
(iii) exclusive;
(iv) actual; and
(v) hostile
[use acronym OCHEAN]
In Virginia, possession must be continuous and uninterrupted for a period of
15 years for a valid claim of adverse possession.
Seasonal or infrequent use may be sufficiently continuous under the doctrine of adverse possession if
it is consistent with the type of property that is being possessed.
Adverse possession must be open and notorious, such that a reasonable true owner
would be aware of the claim.
An adverse possessor must possess the land without
the owner’s permission and with the intent to claim the land as his own against the claims of others for it to be considered “hostile.”
In Virginia, if possession is by a family member, then
the presumption is that the family member was on the land with permission, and therefore is not hostile.
In order for possession to be exclusive, it cannot be
shared with the true owner, although two or more people can join together to create a tenancy in common by adverse possession.
An easement is the right held by one person to
make specific, limited use of land owned by another.
The land that is subject to an easement is
the servient estate.
The land benefited from an easement is
the dominant estate.
Where a property is divided, and as a result, a portion becomes landlocked and cannot be accessed without use of an easement, then
an easement of necessity will arise since the property is virtually useless.
In Virginia, easements by prescription can be obtained by
continuous, actual, open, and hostile use for a period of 20 years; the use does not need to be exclusive.
The scope of an easement by prescription is limited to
the nature and extent of the adverse use.
