What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio
In 1946, my Dad bought a small piece of land and built a house there. In 1956he bought the house next door, to be used as rental property. There was a fence separating these 2 properties, and in the late 1950s, my Dad put in a different fence, widening his yard. My parents raised us kids there, and when my parents died in 1995, I purchased my Dad's home. (At the time of my Dad's death, I was his tenant in the house next door.) My brother purchased the rental house in 1995.
My brother recently told me that I have part of his land. He said that when our Dad changed the fenceline back in the 1950's, he should have had a new deed made. I frankly didn't know what my brother was talking about, since all these years our family always accepted that the fence was the true boundary line.
Sadly, while I was at work, my brother took it upon himself to rip out part of the fence, chop off 2 feet from blacktop driveway (carport), and re-erect a ramshackle "new" fenceline, cutting into my driveway gate. He had chopped into the ground along the blacktop to create a new "slope" and placed stones and rocks there to make it appear that it was a normal-looking fenceline. Then after making these landscape changes, he hired a surveyor. He says the survey proves that the boundary line is wrong, and he has the right to take back "his land"... I've researched the doctrine of acquiescence in Ohio and feel that since the old fence has been standing undisputed for 56 years, my brother can't do this.
It's become ugly now, as my brother says he's doing this to our family because he feels he was mistreated as a child, and it's payback time. Any suggestions?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
In 1946, my Dad bought a small piece of land and built a house there. In 1956he bought the house next door, to be used as rental property. There was a fence separating these 2 properties, and in the late 1950s, my Dad put in a different fence, widening his yard. My parents raised us kids there, and when my parents died in 1995, I purchased my Dad's home. (At the time of my Dad's death, I was his tenant in the house next door.) My brother purchased the rental house in 1995.
My brother recently told me that I have part of his land. He said that when our Dad changed the fenceline back in the 1950's, he should have had a new deed made. I frankly didn't know what my brother was talking about, since all these years our family always accepted that the fence was the true boundary line.
Sadly, while I was at work, my brother took it upon himself to rip out part of the fence, chop off 2 feet from blacktop driveway (carport), and re-erect a ramshackle "new" fenceline, cutting into my driveway gate. He had chopped into the ground along the blacktop to create a new "slope" and placed stones and rocks there to make it appear that it was a normal-looking fenceline. Then after making these landscape changes, he hired a surveyor. He says the survey proves that the boundary line is wrong, and he has the right to take back "his land"... I've researched the doctrine of acquiescence in Ohio and feel that since the old fence has been standing undisputed for 56 years, my brother can't do this.
It's become ugly now, as my brother says he's doing this to our family because he feels he was mistreated as a child, and it's payback time. Any suggestions?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
