Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Nebraska

real estate
My dad has a farm in NE that used to belong to my grandparents. Dad inherited it in �95. My great grandparents owned the adjoining farm. My grandparents & the great grands are deceased. At some point (1950s or 60s) the driveway to my grandparent�s house, which is up the middle of their farm, was extended to the great grandparent�s house, which was more convenient and closer to get to each other�s houses than the road that was being used. Originally, the great grandparent�s farm had a road out to a county road. It has not been used for very many years & is overgrown with trees and vegetation. The great grandparent�s farm was inherited by dad�s cousin. They don�t get along & dad put a locked gate on the driveway. Cousin claims right to use the driveway. They started legal proceedings to get easement. Dad offered 16� along the edge of farm for them to build a road at their expense. They declined. Dad was put into an assisted living for Alzheimer�s in April. I have POA & offered easement of the driveway if they paid for the survey, description, recording&maintenance. They refused unless we paid half of the survey&all of the maintenance. Both of the farmhouses are uninhabitable. We don�t use the road. Noone has lived there since 1993

Asked on 7/02/07, 1:40 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Duke Drouillard Drouillard Law, LLC

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Re: real estate

Your offer to allow an easement if they paid costs is more than generous. Even if they can prove to the court they have a right to an easement (and it isn't clear here that they do), the court would require the party seeking the easement to pay all costs. You should have an attorney to represent your interest in court or to negotiate a settlement with cousin.

Answered on 7/02/07, 7:54 am

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