Unclear deed issue

[Jemmamutt1]

NY: 20 years ago we bought an un-surveyed house and acreage. When the property was surveyed a small section that the owners had used repeatedly over the years came up as not within the bounds of the property. The owner provided a quitclaim deed for that piece and it was registered with the county. It seems that deed fell in the cracks because I was never taxed on that piece. The parcel is part of a neighbors larger property so it doesn't appear as a stand-alone tract. We have continued to access that parcel over the many years.
I want to arrange for the transfer of both my deeded properties in my will, but don't know how to handle the small section without leaving my heirs a headache. What would be the best course of action at this point? If we re-register the deed would be liable for 20 years of back taxes? There is also the possibility the current owner may contest the filing.

 

[justalayman]

When you say owner of the small section do you mean the true and legal owner or are you referring to the person you bought the rest of your property from?

And who was paying taxes on the property all these years? Are you certain it wasn't lost to a tax sale long ago?

Additionally if the true owner had granted the property to you I can only presume when their larger parcel was sold or transferred that smaller section was not included in the transfer. Have you reviewed the pertinent deed for their property to verify if that small section was in fact included in the transfer?

 

[Jemmamutt1]

So who owns the property

When you say owner of the small section do you mean the true and legal owner or are you referring to the person you bought the rest of your property from?

And who was paying taxes on the property all these years? Are you certain it wasn't lost to a tax sale long ago?

Additionally if the true owner had granted the property to you I can only presume when their larger parcel was sold or transferred that smaller section was not included in the transfer. Have you reviewed the pertinent deed for their property to verify if that small section was in fact included in the transfer?

To clarify, the property was listed as 40 +/- acres and included a 2 to 3 acre strip of land that included access to the middle of a bordering creek, that the prior owner made use of. Upon being surveyed, it turns out that access from the shoreline to the middle of the stream was excluded from the survey title and the property passed with 38 actual acres. The quitclaim was issued by my owner for the two + acres that had been represented on the earlier tax map that he believed was part of his property.

I assume the neighbor had been paying taxes on that strip since the survey showed it as separate from mine. I don't think the parcel was ever transferred even though the deed was filed in the county - my tax bill has always shown only the 38 acre parcel.
The strip of land into the creek has no access other than from our two parcels so I don't think it was lost in a foreclosure.
I guess the question is who was the true owner - the people who sold it to me believed it was theirs but the survey showed otherwise. And if I am the true owner, what is the next step?

 

[justalayman]

It appears the person that sold you the property never owned the small parcel. While he delivered a quit claim deed transferring his rights in the small parcel to you (and a qc deed simply transfers all interest one holds in a property to another but it does not mean they actually held any interest let alone an ownership interest) it would appear he had no rights in the property.

If it is included in the neighboring lot description then it is theirs pure and simple.

Even recording your deed would not mean you own the property


Your only options I see would be to purchase the land from the actual owner or look into an adverse possession claim. I don't know the requirements offhand but regardless, if the neighbor wants to dispute your claim it could get very expensive quite quickly.