Property — adverse possession

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Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Civil

Property — adverse possession

This case involves claims of adverse possession and a boundary line dispute involving adjoining parcels of land. Following a bench trial, the circuit court denied the adverse possession claims. The court also issued an order that in effect corrected or reformed the language in warranty deeds created in 1918, so that the property descriptions now conform to the intentions of the parties who created the deeds. The court concluded that the parties intended in 1918 that the boundary line between the parcels would run down the middle of a driveway that the circuit court found has been used, in its present location, since before the 1918 deeds were created. Also included in the 1918 deeds are complementary, express right-of-way easements on either side of the boundary line, one easement for each set of property owners.

The owners of the more northern parcel, James and Jodi McGraw, appeal the order on a variety of grounds. These include an argument that there was “no evidentiary basis” for the court to establish the boundary line and its associated express easements where it has, and therefore that the corrected or reformed deeds improperly shift ownership of land to the owner of the southern parcel, Mary Rosenthal. For the following reasons, we affirm. Not recommended for publication in the official reports.

2013AP1601 Rosethal v. McGraw

Dist IV, Iowa County, Dyke, J., Blanchard, P.J.

Attorneys: For Appellant: Kassner, John A., III, Madison; For Respondent: Jackson, Robert J., Dodgeville; Johnson, Curtis, Dodgeville