Overview A person may acquire ownership of property by remaining in possession of it for the period prescribed by law, for the owner to take legal action to recover possession. This is sometimes referred to as squatting or adverse possession. The possession is adverse in the sense that it is in defiance of the title of the owner. It is […]
Postponement of the Standard Period The standard (usually 12 years) time limit may be postponed by reason of certain circumstances (which are not necessarily readily apparent). The general rule is that the time runs from when the squatter enters possession, adverse to the title of the true owner. This period may commence, or indeed run in its entirety, without the […]
Limitation Periods Rent A six-year time limit applies to actions to recover arrears of rent. Therefore, in the absence of an acknowledgement and other circumstances that stop the limitations period, legal action must be taken for rent within six years of when it fell due. A claim may be made in respect of rent accruing due within the last six […]
Adverse Possession in the Land Registry Adverse possession applies both in relation to Land Registry title and Registry of Deeds title. The Registration of Title Act provides for both acquisitions of title to existing registered title land and applications for the first registration of unregistered title based on adverse possession. This latter provision has the advantage of facilitating the creation […]
Informal Succession on Death It often happens that properties pass from generation to generation, without a grant of probate, letters of administration or updating of title documents/the Land Registry. A parent or grandparent may have died with or without a will. One or more children may have remained on in the property, while others left, perhaps to move abroad. This […]