Baldwin v. Temple

Citations

• 101 Cal. 396
• 35 P. 1008
• 1894 Cal. LEXIS 1047

Syllabus

<p>Adverse Possession— Payment oe Taxes—Burden oe Proof.—When the plaintiff in an action of ejectment proves a paper title his case is made out, and if the defendant relies upon adverse possession under the statute of limitations he must prove either that no taxes were levied or assessed upon the land, or that he paid all taxes which were levied and assessed thereon.</p> <p>Id.—Finding Against Evidence.—A finding that the property in controversy was not assessed for taxes, for a specified year, is against the evidence, where it appears that the land assessed by boundaries necessarily included the land in controversy, although there is no evidence that the tract claimed by the defendant was assessed by any separate or specified description in that year.</p> <p>Id.—Description of Land—Quantity—Boundaries.—Where the whole of a ranch is assessed, the quantity of 'land expressed in acres is mere description, and does not control the more certain description by boundaries, but must yield to boundaries where they do not agree.</p> <p>Id.—Payment of Taxes by Owner—Presumption.—The payment of taxes by the record owner adds nothing to his title, but it excludes any presumption that it was assessed to, or paid by, the adverse possessor.</p> <p>Id.—Lease to Possessor—Admission—Adverse Possession.—Where the owner of land accepts a lease from another it does not destroy his title to the land; but where the lessee is in possession without title it is an • admission of the fact, and may be used as evidence tending to show that he did not claim to hold the land adversely to the party from whom he accepted the lease.</p> <p>Id.—Parol Gift—Adverse Possession.—A parol gift of land from the mortgagor, though invalid as against the mortgagee, is a sufficient basis for the acquisition of a right by adverse possession.</p>