Missing Alley Vacation in My Deed

Hoosier Surveyor · 2024-07-17T15:59:24Z

I am interested in getting some opinions - please lend a hand.My situation is that an alley from an 1884 plat (this was a fun one!) exists between me and the east adjoiner. The east adjoiner's deed calls for a portion of the alley along his property. He occupies it with landscaping, and a fence along the line (reasonably close, 2' +/-).My client's deed does not call for his side of the alley, but he has clearly been occupying it in excess of 60 years (good aerial photography) - probably longer. His garage is in this portion of the "vacated" alley. I use this term loosely because there is no documentation of a formal vacation in the record that could be found.There is no conflict between the owners. I don't think either owner is aware of this situation.I intend to show the alley as part of my client's property. The plat of survey will delineate that portion of his whole tract which was the former alley. I also intend to show enough of the east adjoiner to indicate his portion of the alley. This will show the whole of the alley and how it was apparently divided.For the legal description, I will only show my client's record description, but I intend to have a commentary that indicates the alley is not in the record description, but it is shown on the plat of survey due to long standing occupation. I will also expand on this in the Surveyor's Report (Indiana).Though there is no intent within the four corners of the written deed, long standing occupation clearly indicates a harmonious, ripened, unwritten interest.Lastly, I will meet with the client and discuss this issue and possible remedies: lawyers I like (it's a short list), legal survey, or leave the situation alone. Believe it or not, I am leaning toward the attorney - can we simply get the alley added to his deed?Thoughts?How would you handle this?Anybody going to scream "surveyors don't determine ownership"?Any Jeff Lucas fans going to say that surveyor's ought to act as an equity judge?Any Cooley fans going to say "A long standing fence is better evidence of actual boundaries settled by practical location..."?

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thebionicman

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I looked in and noticed a bunch of replies I hadn't seen before. Odd...

One recurring theme in replies is 'no AP against the crown. While technically correct there are many cases of statutory acqiescence to vacation. It is often the case that roads created by prescription can be vacated by a period of disuse. You would need to understand the history of road creation and abandonment to recognize the relevant fact patterns.

This is where I diverge from the ideas of recent tradition. It is absolutely our function to gather and evaluate evidence and issue an authoritative opinion on what that evidence means. If we stopped describing (and thinking of) ourselves as measurement experts that would be obvious.

Posted : July 21, 2024 4:55 am

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Missing Alley Vacation in My Deed

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