Successful adverse possession claim saves Probate Sale

Our client, acting as executor of a family estate, was close to completing the sale of a residential property when a title problem with a major institutional landowner threatened to derail the transaction. Late in the conveyancing, a strip of garden land was found to belong on paper to a major rail infrastructure owner rather than the estate.We combined a strong adverse possession position with a commercial, buyer-led strategy to clean up the title and complete the sale on the original timetable.

Establishing an adverse possession claim

The strip in question had been used, fenced and maintained as garden by successive generations of the family for more than 35 years, after an original garden-extension licence was terminated in 1990. The paper owner had shown no interest in the land during that time,no visits, inspections or objections. The problem only surfaced when the buyer's solicitors raised it late in the transaction, at a point where any delay risked the buyer walking away or renegotiating the price to the detriment of the estate.

Challenge

The pressure was commercial as well as legal. The executor had a duty to preserve the value of the estate, the buyer wanted certainty and the paper owner was a well-resourced institutional landowner with the appetite and resources to litigate. We also had to be realistic about weaknesses on our side: reliance on family recollection, a period when the late owner was housebound and two old washing-line poles sitting on the boundary line,each of which could have been used to attack the strength of the adverse possession claim.

Solution

We built a full adverse possession case around continuous, exclusive use of the strip well beyond the 12 years required by law, supported by photographs, plans and draft witness evidence prepared in advance to close down the weak points before they could be run against us. Alongside this, we ran a coordinated two-track strategy: engaging with the buyer to agree the physical extent of the land being sold, and writing to the adjoining owner on both an open and a without prejudice basis. The open correspondence set out the strength of our position and reserved our client's position on costs; the without prejudice offer proposed a practical, cost-saving resolution built around a site meeting and an agreed boundary fence.

Impact

The neighbouring owner accepted the commercial logic and agreed to transfer the disputed strip directly to the buyer, so both titles could be amalgamated on completion. The estate was released from the ongoing covenants and indemnities originally contemplated, giving only limited factual confirmations in a short settlement agreement. The probate sale completed on the timetable the buyer required, avoiding the cost, delay and uncertainty of a contested application or full-scale litigation with a major institutional opponent,and preserving the full value of the estate for the beneficiaries.

How Taylor Rose can help

This case highlights the value of Taylor Rose's combined expertise in property, probate and dispute resolution. Whether you are dealing with a title defect on a live transaction, an adverse possession question or an inherited property under time pressure, our teams work together to protect value and get deals over the line. Get in touch to talk through how we can help