Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Indiana

Re: Adverse possession law

The law on adverse possession is found in Title 32 of the Indiana Code. Your problem depends upon whether the abutting landowners had knowledge of the placement of the fence at the time it was built. Basically, in rural areas, there is a statute that says a fence built on the property line is owned 1/2 by each abutting landowner and determines which half each one pays for and provides a mechanism to enforce payment and upkeep. In urban areas, there is no such statute and unless the owners are in agreement as to putting up a fence on the line and payment for it, you do have to worry about making sure the fence is on or just inside the line, that it does not interfer with a utility easement and so forth. If when that fence was put up just inside the line (4 feet or even less) it was an indication that the owner putting up the fence did not wish to share the cost with the abutting landlowners (or they refused to share the cost). It is likely that the neighbors at the time were aware the placement. If so, then there was no adverse possession by them of the 4 feet and you are entitled to reclaim your 4 feet by taking down the old fence and putting up a new one on the line if you wish. I would advise a staked survey to make sure where the line is supposed to be. The current neighbors' knowledge is not as important as the knowledge that existed at the time the fence was erected. The original neighbors should have passed the information down over the years as the property changed hands. Their failure to do so is unfortunate, but would not affect the ultimate outcome - which is if the original neighbor was aware of the placement, then there was no adverse possession of the 4 feet over the years.