Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Easement by Prescription for driveway

First, as Mr. Brainerd points out, a lot will depend upon the position taken by the neighbor. Unless this is a new neighbor, one must assume your driving in and out over the triangle hasn't been a great inconvenience to the neighbor, or the matter would have come to decisive litigation before this. On the other hand, if your relationship with the neighbor was perfect, you wouldn't be asking the question, you'd be jointly employing a surveyor and a lawyer to prepare and record a grant of easement. So, I assume the neighborly relations are at some sort of intermediate point, or maybe the neighbor has decided to build an addition and that alters the comfortable stalemate situation.

Your chances of prevailing are very good to excellent. Things that could hurt your case would include any demand on your part for an easement that tends to deprive the neighbor of his right to co-occupy and co-use the easement area. In other words, you probably could not build a fence or garage on the easement, or claim an easement for maintaining such structures if they already exist. Mere pavement would probably not be a problem, but beyond that the court would consider your suit to quiet title as an improper attempt to condemn the fee.

An attorney's starting point would be to interview you as to the historical facts of continuous use, examine your and your neighbor's recorded deeds for any history relating to easements or the boundary, determine whether a survey is necessary, discuss the history of relations with the neighbor, and like matters.

Based on this, the attorney would assist you to decide whether contact with the enighbor to seek an out-of-court resolution (typically, the neighbor consenting to grant the easement if you obtain the survey and prepare the granting papers at your expense), or whether it will be necessary to prepare, file and serve a suit to quiet title to an easement by prescription (or otherwise).

Even if it is necessary to file a suit, a negotiated settlement prior to trial is still very, very likely. The neighbor will see the handwriting on the wall, take his lawyer's advice, and settle before he spends a lot of money on a dubious defense.

LawGuru isn't the place for lawyers to be quoting or competing on fees, but I'd say there is a good possibility that lawyer intervention at this stage could end up costing under $5K, including preparation and recording documents. It will depend upon the quality of your claim to the easement and the neighbor's level of opposition.

Re: Easement by Prescription for driveway

Pretty good, but I would need to investigate further. The cost would depend on if they fight and how much they would spend. Anywhere from $5K to 25K, probably. I specialize in real estate, Give me a call.