landlocked in MT.

undefinedWhat is the name of your state? Montana

My brother and sister and I inherited 160 acres of homestead land which is landlocked. One neighbor used it for many years for grazing cattle. Our grandmother asked them to pay the taxes in exchange. Nice deal. That family sold recently and the new owners assumed they had the same sweetheart deal. Since they didn't contact us about it we have decided not to allow it. We now pay the taxes and would like to sell it. We don't have easement, but the other neighbor might give it to us. We're scared to ask. Would this property be governed by any "Easement by necessity" laws?

Domsdad

Offer to pay a fair market value to buy the easement right. Have an attorney draft easement and maintenance agreement.

If I were the new owners I'd tell you to kiss my grits. You had the chance to be a good neighbor and blew it.

Do as Nexie suggested but don't be surprised if they tell you to buzz off. And if you think going to court and asking for an easement of necessity is going to be a quick fix, forget it. It will take a minimum of 1 year.

Ever hear of the saying "Hat in hand"?

The ONLY way a person ends up with landlocked property is if they either acquired it as landlocked with no form of legal access OR they sold off their access without reserving access rights. In either event, one is landlocked because they (or those they inherited from) allowed themselves to become so. IF you make it worthwhile, a neighbor MAY agree to sell you an easement.

ERGO: "Hat in hand"

EGO: something else in hand.

HomeGuru said:

EGO: something else in hand.

Click to expand...

Depends on the SIZE of the something else

Odd advice

I think it's a little radical for Belizebreeze to use such inflammatory language based on so little info. That's the nature of "chats" though. We feel like our grandmother was the good neighbor for some fifty years allowing the "free" use of her land. Since we inherited it from the west coast, we were not aware of issues like easement. We stayed in touch and friendly with this neighbor and we think we deserved the right to know they were selling before simply telling the new owners they also had a sweetheart deal.

I inquired about "easement by necessity" because we have another neighbor we can contact, as well. Not before we contact a lawyer, however.

Domsdad, Montana

nextwife said:

The ONLY way a person ends up with landlocked property is if they either acquired it as landlocked with no form of legal access OR they sold off their access without reserving access rights. In either event, one is landlocked because they (or those they inherited from) allowed themselves to become so. IF you make it worthwhile, a neighbor MAY agree to sell you an easement.

Click to expand...

OR

A new street, road, or highway never there in the "olden days", is present there today.