I Will Keep This Question Short. Our Neighbor Is Claiming That He Has Been Mowing 15 Feet Of The Property We Are Inheriting For The Past 10 Years. The Individual We Are Inheriting From Was Declared Mentally Incompetent 10 Years Ago And Had A Legal Guardian Assigned. This Lasted For 5 Years Then The Individual We Are Inheriting From Passed Away 5 Years Ago And Since Then The Property We Are Inheriting Has Been In Probate. Can The Statue Of Limitations Be Suspended Because Of Any Of These 2 Situations? 10 Years In New York

Please don't capitalize every word. It makes your post very hard to read.

Your neighbor is saying because he mowed the lawn on property he doesn't own that he should own it now?

Doesn't work that way. If he didn't know it wasn't his property, than that is a shame. If he did know in hopes of "squatting on it" and then owning it, that is pretty rough .... I mean, to do that to a mentally challenged person.

Either way, let him take you to small claims court. I would doubt very much that 5 minutes of mowing once a month 4 months of the year for 10 years constitutes ownership. It's not like he put a swimming pool on it or something concrete.

Cyjeff,

Thanks for the info. I didn't realise that all of my words had started with capital letters. I have never done that before.

I asked my lawyer if mowing part of my property, 1 or 2 times a month (just during the summer), constituted "cultivation of the property" and he told me yes. Is it your opinion that just mowing and doing absolutely nothing else to my property for the past 10 years shouldn't entitle my neighbor to a claim of Adverse Pssession?

By the way, there are actually 2 neighbors that live right next door to each other that are putting in a claim of Adverse Possession. They both claim that they have been (just) mowing 15 feet of my property.

Thanks

Where, exactly, are these neighbors claiming this adverse possession?

If not in a court of law, then there is no claim.

But tell us what is going on.

Here is some additional information.

I am in the process of selling 1 acre of the land that I am inheriting to my next door neighbor. The 2 neighbors that are going to claim Adverse Possession live just around the corner from the neighbor who is purchasing the acre. Their backyards end at the property line of the acre that I am selling. Each of these neighbors have a shed on their property that extends into the acre that I am selling. 1 shed extends 3 feet and the other extends 8 feet. These sheds have been there for between 60 to 90 years, back when they were all part of a large farm. In order for my next door neighbor to get clear title to the acre that he is purchasing, my attorney sent letters to each of the 2 neighbors (with the sheds), for them to sign, agreeing that if they tear down or want to rebuild the sheds, they agree to re-build on their own property. Until that time, the sheds will be allowed to remain with no problem. Well, both neighbors hired their own attorney (same attorney for both of them) and told the attorney that they have been mowing for 10 years around the shed for approx 15 feet. They refuse to sign the papers and said their attorney will file for Adverse Possession. I think that 1 of the reasons that the 1 neighbor is doing this is within the past 2 or 3 years, he has build a new 3-car garage which is only about 6-8 feet from my property line. I believe you have to build at least 10 or 12 feet from a property line.

Anyway, I would appreciate any ideas that could help. My next door neighbor dosn't want to give up 15 feet of the property that he is going to purchase.

If nobody knows where the property line actually is, a survey is called for.

I know one guy who was trying to claim squatters rights on some property, only to find out that government property is somehow exempt to that claim. Government always wrongly puts itself first!

Other squatters rights are often limited to what was done on the property. Those people may find out that the only right they get is to mow the grass for the new owner.

If a person has crossed someone else's land for more than 10 years, he doesn't get the property. He gets the right to keep crossing it.