Jackman v. Germain

Citations

• 96 Wash. 415
• 165 P. 78
• 1917 Wash. LEXIS 586

Syllabus

<p>Adverse Possession — Claim of Right — Lost Corner. Where a boundary line was fixed by adverse possession under a claim of right, it is immaterial whether the government corner was a lost corner or not.</p> <p>Boundaries — Establishment — Survey. The survey of a disputed boundary line by a deputy county surveyor does not establish the line as an official survey, under Rem. Code, § 3984, which provides for the relocation of lost corners upon ten days’ notice to interested parties, where the provisions of the statute were not followed and the parties in interest did not participate; since that section does not purport to be for the establishment of lost corners or lines which are in dispute, the method of procedure in such case being prescribed by § 947 et seq.</p> <p>Same — Establishment — Agreement — Evidence — Sufficiency. The burden of proving that a disputed boundary line was fixed by agreement is not sustained where, by the agreement, the plaintiff was to secure the consent of a tenant and there was no evidence that such consent was obtained.</p> <p>Estoppel — Prejudice to Party. Defendant’s acquiescence for two or three years in plaintiff’s removal of a disputed boundary line, until termination of a pending case to determine the true line, does not estop the defendant from asserting title by adverse possession, where the plaintiffs were not permitted to do anything to their disadvantage after their removal of the fence.</p> <p>Adverse Possession — Disputed Boundary — Evidence—Sufficiency. Title by adverse possession to a disputed boundary is established by evidence that defendant claimed to have set a stone at the true corner in 1885, and in 1900 cleared the land up to that line, and for more than ten years maintained a fence upon the line, openly and notoriously in opposition to the wishes of the adjoining owner.</p>