Is a 85 yr. old unrecorded deed legal?

[Maude]

3 acres of our land has been fenced in for 85 years by a neighbor. We didn't know it was part of our land when we bought the land 30 years ago. 10 years ago we had it surveyed and discovered these 3 acres were part of our land we had purchased. When the neighbor discovered this, he protested that the land had been given to his relatives 85 years ago,but there was no recorded deed of this. Then the deed was found and they discovered it had never been recorded. Is this deed legal today? Can they take this land from us? We bought this land from our relatives along with 37 more acres. Our relatives have paid the taxes on this entire 40 acres for 85 years. So we are out the money we paid for the land and the taxes. HELP!

 

[HomeGuru1]

An unrecorded deed can in fact be legal but a recorded deed takes precedence and first priority. Neighbor does not have a right to the 3 acres based on the facts that you have provided. He could file a claim for adverse possession but I doubt that he would prevail.