Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Georgia

Re: Boats forbidden on lake

More information is needed. E.g., is the Corps of Engineers involved? Where is this property?

Re: Boats forbidden on lake

Interesting Question. I do not have enough facts to answer the question. However, generally, on a non-navigable waterway including a lake, the shore owners own or have rights to the middle of the water. They actually can use all of it under certain circumstances.

I find it odd that the a non-contiguous landowner could (or does) own the entire lake. You will need to look carefully at the deeds on file in the courthouse for the lines and ownership of the contiguous property. If your property was sold to you with rights in the lake and a pier (which you state) there seem to be no facts that have severed your ownership.

I could describe the other rights you might have if you boarded a navigable waterway, but it seems fairly clear you are on a non-navigable waterway and those rights are applicable.

There are other issues that may impact upon your question: 1) deed covenants you may be unaware of, 2) local county ordinances that may be in his favor (I doubt this one, but try to cover all the bases), 3) perhaps a complete ownership of the lake bottom with you all having only a mere revocable license in the shoreline. You could be in a bad way it 3 turns out to be factual.

Anyway, you really need a local real estate attorney in the county the land is located in. And, you may need a good title search (including all old deed covenants) of your property and his property to completely answer this question.

We are real estate litigation attorneys. So, I am not sure we are the best first stop for your problem.

If you think we can assist you further with this matter, feel free to contact us at: http://www.woodandmeredith.com