What is the name of your state? Illinois
I have a 20-acre piece of wooded land that I inherited from my mother a few years ago, abutting a farm on one side: our wooded land next to cultivated farmland own by someone else.
Long before my mother passed away, the farmer tore out the remnants of the old fence (no good for keeping cattle in or out, but a good border line), knocked down a few trees, and in essence expanded his field. When I saw this -- well over 20 years ago -- I demanded that he stop farming the land he had taken, and replace at least some posts so that the boundary would be clear. He didn't do that; I lived far away, and my mother was too old and infirm to fool with it.
The time has come when I'm considering selling the land. And even if I don't sell the land, I at least want a clear boundary. I still live far way, and I don't have equipment for building even the simplest fence.
My instinct is to hire a surveyor to establish the boundary exactly, and one way or another get some posts in along the line, to make it clear where it is.
Is that a wise way to proceed, and does it protect me in any way against an eventual adverse possession claim? And a question I fear to ask: what if it turns out that in the meantime the adjacent owner has set a fence inside my property?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
I have a 20-acre piece of wooded land that I inherited from my mother a few years ago, abutting a farm on one side: our wooded land next to cultivated farmland own by someone else.
Long before my mother passed away, the farmer tore out the remnants of the old fence (no good for keeping cattle in or out, but a good border line), knocked down a few trees, and in essence expanded his field. When I saw this -- well over 20 years ago -- I demanded that he stop farming the land he had taken, and replace at least some posts so that the boundary would be clear. He didn't do that; I lived far away, and my mother was too old and infirm to fool with it.
The time has come when I'm considering selling the land. And even if I don't sell the land, I at least want a clear boundary. I still live far way, and I don't have equipment for building even the simplest fence.
My instinct is to hire a surveyor to establish the boundary exactly, and one way or another get some posts in along the line, to make it clear where it is.
Is that a wise way to proceed, and does it protect me in any way against an eventual adverse possession claim? And a question I fear to ask: what if it turns out that in the meantime the adjacent owner has set a fence inside my property?
Thanks in advance for any advice.