Quick Question about property lines

[Ummonx]

What is the name of your state? CT

Thank you in advance for any answers. I bought a home on a large piece of property 4 years ago. At the time I did not have a survey done. In any case I decided to put up a small wire fence to keep geese out of my yard.

Not wanting to be an obnoxious neighbor I informed my neighbor of my plans to which he had no issue with of course neither he or I could figure out where the property lines are.

I got the survey map from town hall (done back in 89) and bought a metal detector and a compass to figure out if I could find the pins. (the surveyor wanted like 5k which I will eventually do, but not a priority right now).

I "Think" I found them but just to make sure (and not to mess up my neighbors property) I put the fence well within where the I figured the line to be.

So my question is, Is there anything I need to do to protect myself from adverse possession in the future? As I said its a large piece of land so its not the end of the world if the fence is a few feet short.

What if I put up privacy shrubs along the fence?

Thanks again

 

[mrdonsmith]

Are you concerned that a substantial amount of your property may lie on the other side of the fence and may over time be declared to be not yours? Otherwise, a boundary delineated by a fence becomes generally accepted if not challenged, although in a future survey, done by the owner from either side, a fence might show as an encroachment. Let's say you put the fence over the line onto your neighbor's property and he didn't say anything. Along comes new neighbor who gets survey and finds YOUR fence on his property. Legally, he can ask you to move it/take it down, or remove it himself. Your situation sounds like you're concerned about your own land becoming "possessed" because of where you put the fence. That's unlikely as long as a survey eventually establishes where the true boundary is.

 

[Ummonx]

I'm more concerned about my property. Actually I am waiting for my neighbor to sell to see if the eventual buyers would want to go in on a land survey for both properties (they were owned by the same family)

Initially when I bought we "thought" the boundary was considerably closer to the neighbors house. But when I did my little survey and pin detecting it looks as if its closer to my house. As I said we have alot of land so a few feet isn't going kill me one way or another.

My concern is if I were wrong and I leave a chunk of my property beyond the fence that someone could eventually claim it

If I encroached with the fence I would just move it. Its chicken-wire and really only there to keep out the damn geese from crapping on my lawn

 

[seniorjudge]

...a boundary delineated by a fence becomes generally accepted if not challenged....

Really?

In any event, the answer is indeed: Get a survey.