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

1. Easement Types

Tennessee recognizes express easements (written, recorded under Tenn. Code § 66-5-103), easements by necessity, implied easements from prior use, prescriptive easements, and easements by estoppel.

2. Adverse Possession Elements

Tenn. Code § 28-2-101: 7-year period with assurance of title (color of title required) PLUS recorded deed.

Tenn. Code § 28-2-102: 7-year period bars action by holder of better title against adverse possessor with assurance.

Tenn. Code § 28-2-103: 20-year period without color of title.

Tenn. Code § 28-2-105: 30-year period creates rebuttable presumption of title.

Elements: actual, open, notorious, exclusive, continuous, hostile.

3. Prescriptive Easement

20-year continuous, open, notorious, adverse use under claim of right (Cumulus Broadcasting v. Shim, 226 S.W.3d 366). No tax payment required.

4. Quiet Title Action

Tenn. Code § 29-29-101 et seq. (ejectment) and equitable bills to remove cloud. Filed in chancery or circuit court of county where land sits.

5. Boundary Disputes

Tennessee recognizes acquiescence in a boundary for 20 years and boundary by agreement after dispute. Licensed Tennessee surveyor (RLS) required.

6. Encroachment Remedies

Tennessee courts apply relative hardship balancing for innocent minor encroachments; willful encroachers face mandatory removal injunctions.

7. Express Easement Termination

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

8. Marketable Title

Tennessee has no comprehensive Marketable Title Act in the modern sense, but the 30-year statute of presumption (§ 28-2-105) functions similarly. Title insurance critical.

9. Litigation / Mediation

Chancery court favored for equitable title actions; circuit court for ejectment. General sessions for boundary disputes under $25,000. Court-annexed mediation under Tenn. R. Sup. Ct. 31.

This is legal information, not legal advice.