Black-letter propositions
- 01
Adverse possession requires actual, open, notorious, hostile, exclusive, continuous possession for the statutory period; tacking needs privity.
- 02
A disability generally matters only if present when adverse possession begins.
- 03
Private nuisance is substantial and unreasonable interference with use and enjoyment; public nuisance concerns a public right and private standing needs special injury.
- 04
Lateral support protects land in natural condition; building damage may require negligence unless the land alone would have collapsed.
- 05
Water uses riparian reasonable-use or prior-appropriation systems.
- 06
Fixture status considers attachment, adaptation, and objective intent, with special tenant trade-fixture rules.
Use this attack sequence under time
Frame the issue
Choose doctrine matching the dispute.
Resolve the next checkpoint
For adverse possession, mark start, continuity, privity, and disability.
Resolve the next checkpoint
For nuisance, assess severity, locality, utility, sensitivity, and remedy.
Resolve the next checkpoint
For support or water, identify regime.
Finish the conclusion
For fixtures, identify relationship and removal timing.
Common wrong turns
- Hostility usually means without permission, not hostility of feeling.
- Trespass protects possession; nuisance protects use and enjoyment.
- A life tenant's adverse possession against remainderman generally cannot run before possessory rights arise.
Worked example
A neighbor openly fences and exclusively gardens a boundary strip for the full period under a mistaken belief of ownership.
Most jurisdictions use objective hostility, so mistake does not defeat the claim if all other elements are satisfied.
Practice this topic
Adverse possession and fixtures
Cornell describes adverse possession as a doctrine under which a trespasser in physical possession of land owned by another may acquire valid title if state-specific requirements are met for a sufficient period set by a statute of limitations. Its policy is to let those who actually use or cultivate land have the benefits of ownership. Typically the possession must be continuous, among other requirements that vary by jurisdiction.
A fixture is a previously movable chattel that becomes part of real property because of attachment, and it transfers with the land. A tenant cannot remove fixtures when the lease ends, but trade fixtures installed by a tenant for business are the tenant's property and can be removed.
Support and water
Cornell says the right of lateral support is the common-law principle that a landowner has a right to have soil remain in its natural position without falling away because of excavation on adjoining land. An adjoining owner whose excavation removes natural support is strictly liable for the loss.
Riparian rights are a landowner's rights to certain uses of a river or stream adjoining the property, including reasonable use for domestic, agricultural and recreational purposes, shoreline access, land formed by accretion or reliction, and flow of water to the land.
Frequently asked questions
What is the controlling rule for adverse possession, nuisance, support, water, and fixtures?+
Property-use disputes require precise classification: adverse possession for title, nuisance for interference, support and water for resource rights, and fixtures for annexed property.
How should I analyze adverse possession, nuisance, support, water, and fixtures on the bar exam?+
Choose doctrine matching the dispute. For support or water, identify regime. For fixtures, identify relationship and removal timing.
What is adverse possession?+
A doctrine allowing a trespasser in physical possession to acquire title if state requirements are met for the statutory period, according to Cornell.
What must adverse possession typically be?+
Continuous, among other requirements that vary by jurisdiction, and it lasts for a sufficient period defined by a statute of limitations.
What is a fixture?+
A previously movable chattel that becomes part of real property because of an attachment, which transfers with the property.
Can a tenant remove trade fixtures?+
Yes. Trade fixtures installed by a tenant for business are the tenant's property and can be removed, per Cornell.
What is the right of lateral support?+
A landowner's right to have their soil remain in its natural position when neighbors excavate, and a neighbor who removes support is strictly liable.