As we continue to discuss new developments in the law of adverse possession in Massachusetts, it’s important to remember that all lawsuits turn on their unique facts. Your attorney needs to be versed in the latest precedents, but they also need to have mastery of the entire factual situation at hand.
Let’s say, as we have been discussing, that you have been gardening and clearing brush on a small portion of a larger parcel of land. The large parcel is undeveloped, and is owned by an absentee owner. She eventually intends to develop the land, but nothing has happened yet. With the aid of your lawyer, you want to claim that you have adversely possessed the portion of the land that you have been working on over the years.
Again with the assistance of your attorney, you will want to develop a clear factual record of what you and your family have been doing over the years to maintain and use the portion of the land in question. The period required to establish adverse possession in Massachusetts is 20 years — so, you must have been making active use of the portion of the land continuously for that period of time.
Ideally, you will have been taking pictures over time to demonstrate your activities. If you haven’t, start taking those pictures now. Have your attorney help create a detailed written chronology of the activities you and your family have undertaken on the land over the decades. Basically, we want the who, what, when, where, and why of all of your activities.
These facts that you are gathering and organizing can help serve as the basis for, if necessary, an action in the Massachusetts Land Court to establish your formal ownership of the land you believe you have adversely possessed.
Bottom line: it’s important to be methodical and clear in creating the factual record that will support your claim of adverse possession.
