Two interesting(?) land issues: When we lived in Medway, MA I had a friendly long-term dispute with a great neighbor over the property line between our respective houses. Each of us thought that the property line was about 10' closer to our house then the other guy. Each of us thought that we owned less land then the other. Eventually I had it surveyed and he was right. The bride and I gained about 10 feet of land. Since the line was about 350' long, this was a good sized gain of property. The other issue is a major PITA for the same town. A soda bottler in the adjoining town ran a promotion where a customer could purchase one square inch of property in Medway for an insignificant sum of money. There are literally hundreds - perhaps thousands of these tiny parcels that nobody knows who owns. I suspect that Medway would like to take these parcels for non-payment of taxes, but even that is complicated when there are so many of them. Getting a clean title may very well require legislation at the state level.
I have exactly the same issue. Neighbor to the east not the same as the north asked if he could spray some insidious weeds on both our properties east of my fence; my fence is 10' inside my property line. He assured me it would be non toxic to livestock. Okay I say assuming he meant the weeds as I spray them on my side of the fence so the horses have plenty of shade. Well he sprayed everything up to about 10'-12' high including huge oaks that line my property and separated our parcels. So now his rental is visible from my back porch. Haven't seen him around for a few weeks but I gotta explain to him never do that again. Mikey
The closing is scheduled this Wednesday. We should be moving in over the weekend. Now I have another garage to set up but have downsized quite a bit, so the process isn't as daunting as it once was.
I recently decided to make a will. Since you can bequeath any property, both movable and immovable. You can bequeath all or part of your existing property. If only a part of the property is bequeathed, the rest will be distributed among the heirs according to the law in accordance with the rules of priority. You can bequeath not only the property that already belongs to you, but also the one that you plan to purchase in the future. I paid special attention to how exactly the share will be distributed among my children relative to the house and turned to https://swpdxlaw.com/services/estate-planning
I would think that if the current owner cannot or will not provide a clear title he/she or their title company would have to refund any earnest money. About two years ago we bought the five-acre parcel next to our lot. The lawyer couldn't figure out how to get a clear title (the land was in a trust, and one of the three owners of the trust is deceased). A year later I demanded (and got) our $5,000 deposit back. We found a better lawyer who completed the sale in less then 60 days.
Just be careful when you divide something between several individuals. You can create real animosity between your children that may last years. You can also create a legal nightmare. I remember reading about a man that had willed money in a mutual fund between his children. The decedent specified a dollar amount to go to each child. The fund had declined in value between the time that he wrote the will and when he died. There wasn't enough money to satisfy the distribution in the will. Before the smoke cleared, it involved lawyers and the courts. They finally had to get a court order to sell something of value - it may have been the house - to satisfy the will. It took years.
