By: Derek Hawkins//February 15, 2017//
WI Court of Appeals – District II
Case Name: Northern Trust Company, et al v. Ernest C. Styberg, Jr. et al
Case No.: 2016AP19
Officials: Reilly, P.J., Gundrum and Hagedorn, JJ.
Focus: Adverse Possession
In this quiet-title case, the Northern Trust Company, trustee of the Harold Byron Smith, Jr., Trust (Smith), claimed title by adverse possession to a parcel of Walworth County land. The circuit court rendered a judgment in favor of the Ernest C. Styberg, Jr., Trust (Styberg; Ernest if Ernest personally) and Geneva Lake Conservancy, Inc. (the Conservancy). The court concluded that Smith failed to show that it adversely possessed the disputed area for twenty continuous years, a requirement to obtain title by adverse possession under WIS. STAT. § 893.25 (2015-16). We affirm because Smith’s predecessor in interest lacked the subjective intent to assert ownership to the parcel.