How do I resolve an easement or boundary dispute in Georgia?

1. Easement Types

Georgia recognizes express easements (written, recorded under O.C.G.A. § 44-2-1), easements by necessity, implied easements from prior use, prescriptive easements, and statutory private ways (O.C.G.A. § 44-9-40).

2. Adverse Possession Elements

O.C.G.A. § 44-5-163: 20-year period without color of title.

O.C.G.A. § 44-5-164: 7-year period with written color of title (must be bona fide).

Elements: public, continuous, exclusive, uninterrupted, peaceable, accompanied by claim of right.

3. Prescriptive Easement

O.C.G.A. § 44-9-1 (private ways): 7 years of uninterrupted use up to 20 feet wide with maintenance and no significant change. General prescriptive easement: 20 years (O.C.G.A. § 44-5-163 by analogy). No tax payment required.

4. Quiet Title Action

Two types: conventional quiet title (O.C.G.A. § 23-3-40) and quiet title against the world (O.C.G.A. § 23-3-60 et seq.). The latter is in rem and binds unknown claimants through a special master.

5. Boundary Disputes

Georgia recognizes acquiescence by acts or declarations for 7 years (O.C.G.A. § 44-4-6) and by 7 years' actual possession to recognized boundary. Surveyor mandatory for accurate establishment.

6. Encroachment Remedies

Injunction or damages. Equity considers relative hardship for innocent encroachments; willful encroachments typically face removal orders.

7. Express Easement Termination

Release, merger, abandonment (nonuse plus intent), expiration, or end of necessity.

8. Marketable Title

Georgia has no comprehensive Marketable Title Act; relies on prescription and recording acts. Title insurance critical.

9. Litigation / Mediation

Superior court for quiet title (special master appointed in in rem actions). Magistrate court for small civil disputes under $15,000. Court-annexed ADR under USCR 1000.

This is legal information, not legal advice.