Property line disputes with a neighbor

Start with a survey, not a map

A county parcel map cannot be used to prove the size, shape, location, ownership or boundary of land.

A Florida county property appraiser states that its parcel lines are only for tax assessment, are no substitute for a survey, and have no legal standing.

A Texas legislative committee noted that appraisal districts and other agencies publish maps that appear to show property boundaries but are not the result of an on the ground survey.

To find where your property lines are, you must hire a licensed land surveyor for a boundary retracement survey.

Sources: Survey, then attorney, then court; Appraiser parcel lines are for tax purposes only; Texas: appraisal district maps are not on the ground surveys; The county surveyor does not survey private lots

Settling the line by agreement

In Washington, when a boundary cannot be found from public records and monuments, or is disputed, the affected owners can fix the line themselves by agreement.

A Washington boundary agreement is a written instrument with proper legal descriptions and a survey map, signed like a deed.

The agreement binds the owners and their successors and heirs, and runs with the land.

In Iowa, a lost or disputed corner or boundary can be settled by a written agreement of everyone affected, signed and acknowledged like a deed, with a plat attached and recorded; it binds heirs and later owners.

Sources: Washington: neighbors can agree on the line; Iowa: neighbors can settle a line by recorded agreement

Indiana: a legal survey with notice to the neighbors

An Indiana owner who wants to fix the line with a neighbor through a legal survey hires and pays a registered professional surveyor to locate it.

The surveyor must notify the adjoining owners by registered or certified mail at least 20 days before the legal survey starts.

The surveyor files a plat of the legal survey, with proof of notice, with the county surveyor for the legal survey record book, and mails notice of the filing to the neighbors within 10 days.

The lines in an Indiana legal survey bind every affected owner and their heirs unless someone appeals to the county's circuit court within 180 days after the notice of filing.

On appeal, an Indiana court may hear evidence of other surveys and, if it rules against the original, order a new survey by a different surveyor and have the county surveyor mark the line it finds.

Source: Indiana: a legal survey starts with a registered surveyor the owner pays

Asking a court to set the line: Texas, Virginia and Minnesota

In Minnesota, an owner can sue the owners of adjoining land to have the boundary lines established, and the decree is recorded with the county recorder.

If a Minnesota boundary is shared with registered (Torrens) land, the line is decided under the registered land statute instead.

In Texas, when the only title question is where the boundary between adjoining properties lies, an owner can ask a court for a declaratory judgment instead of a trespass to try title suit.

In Virginia, a person with an interest in land and a right to possess it can file a motion for judgment asking the court to set the true boundary line with one or more neighbors.

A Virginia court hearing a boundary case may appoint a surveyor, order the surveys it needs, and decide who pays for them.

The Virginia judgment is recorded in the deed book and settles the boundary between the parties and their heirs and assigns for good.

Sources: Minnesota: an action to determine boundary lines; Texas: a declaratory judgment on the boundary alone; Virginia: a motion for judgment to establish the line; Virginia: the court may appoint a surveyor; Virginia: the judgment is recorded and settles the line for good

Court cases in Iowa and Nebraska

Iowa owners whose corners or boundaries are lost, destroyed or in dispute can bring an action in the district court of the county against the owners of the other affected tracts to have the line permanently established.

In an Iowa boundary case the court appoints a commission of one or more disinterested licensed land surveyors, who locate the disputed corners and lines.

Iowa courts assess the costs of a boundary case as they think just, and those costs are a lien on the land of the party who has to pay them.

In Nebraska, owners whose corners or boundaries are lost, destroyed or in dispute can bring a special action in the district court of the county to have them established, and the county is made a party if a public road may be affected.

Sources: Iowa: a court action to establish the line; Nebraska: a special action in district court

Court cases in Washington and North Carolina

If Washington neighbors cannot agree, one may bring a civil action in superior court, and the court may order mediation first.

In North Carolina, an owner whose boundary is in dispute can establish it through a special proceeding in the superior court of the county.

In a North Carolina boundary proceeding, the clerk can order the county surveyor or another competent surveyor to survey the disputed lines.

After the final judgment, the court orders the surveyor to run and mark the line as decided.

In North Carolina boundary cases, the court may order a survey of the disputed land made by a surveyor the court appoints.

Sources: Washington: court action if owners cannot agree; North Carolina: a special proceeding to set the line; North Carolina: the clerk orders a survey; Courts can appoint their own surveyor

A line both sides accepted for years

If an Iowa court finds that a boundary has been recognized and accepted by the neighbors for ten years, that recognized line is permanently established.

Either side in a Nebraska boundary case can argue that a line was recognized and accepted by the owners or their sellers for ten consecutive years; the judge decides it without a jury.

Sources: Iowa: a line accepted for ten years can become the legal line; Nebraska: ten years of recognition and acquiescence