Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Indiana

Re: Legal Survey vs. Old Fence Line

The more recent survey is a more accurate locator of the property line. However, if everyone had in the past for at least 10 years treated the fence line as the property line, she might be able to argue that she owns all the land on her side up to the fence. I suspect that unless you put a new fence up where the old one is, there will be a problem, unless, of course, you convince her to get her own survey by a different surveyor who comes to the same conclusion the surveyor you used did.

Re: Legal Survey vs. Old Fence Line

The survey controls as a general rule since it is the true property line. The old fence line may come into play under a doctrine called adverse possession. That is, if the fence line has been there for more than 10 years and your neighbor has asserted ownership of the disputed area for that 10 year period continuously without interruption, then a court could find that ownership of the disputed area lies with your neighbor. The burden would be on your neighbor to prove to the Court that all the elements of adverse possession exists and has existed for 10 years continously, which is not easy and certainly is expensive.

Otherwise, you may put your new fence on the correct property line.

One other thought-I recommend having an attorney write a letter asap disputing the old fence line as the property line if you cannot resolve this amicably first by talking to your neighbor. The attorney should include a copy of the survey.