Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

Re: Neighbor fence crossing the property line

This is a great question and I commend you for having the foresight to write and ask BEFORE the fence goes up. If you allow your access to those 8-10 inches to be cut off, then yes, you potentially can lose that strip of land. What will happen is that your neighbor may maintain, possess, and use that land in such a way that they will eventually have a claim for something called adverse possession, which you can google and read all about. This is not automatic, meaning your neighbor has to bring court action to have the land declared as theirs via adverse possession, but it's possible.

To avoid trouble and maintain your rights, talk to your neighbor and see if based upon the landscape you have whether you can work out a solution, such as he allowing you access to your strip via a gate on his fence that you pay for, or perhaps a written agreement that you will mow the grass on that strip every week, etc. Whatever you do, get it in writing and record it with the recorder's office in your county to preserve your right to that strip.

Whatever you do, do not ignore the issue as that only makes it more expensive later to deal with.