Adverse Possession: State of Mind
A farmer occupies a strip of neighboring land for 12 years, honestly believing the fence line marks his true property line. In a jurisdiction following this state-of-mind approach, his honest mistake satisfies the hostile possession element
What is the Good Faith Approach
A customer misplaces his wallet on a barber shop counter, and a second customer finds it and attempts to keep it. Under McAvoy v. Medina, the wallet is mislaid, meaning custody goes to this party to hold for the true owner
What is occupancy (or actual physical control of the residence)
A delivery company drives a wide truck across a farmer's dirt road without permission, causing zero physical damage to the land. Under Jacque v. Steenberg Homes, nominal damages support punitive damages because this right is strictly enforceable.
What is the Right to Exclude
Military aircraft regularly fly low over a chicken farm, causing the noise-frightened chickens to fly into walls and die. Under United States v. Causby, an invasion of airspace constitutes a taking/trespass if it causes this effect
What is direct and immediate interference with the use and enjoyment of the land
Possessor A occupies a lot adversely for 4 years and voluntarily deeds her claim to Possessor B, who occupies it for 6 more years. Possessor B can reach the 10-year statutory threshold because this connection exists between them
What is Privity (enabling Tacking)
A squatter moves onto a vacant commercial lot knowing it belongs to a corporation, explicitly intending to strip the title away from the true owner. In a jurisdiction applying this state-of-mind rule, an honest mistake fails, but this intentional claim satisfies hostility
What is the Bad Faith Approach
A father executes a written document granting his son present title to a valuable painting while retaining the right to keep the painting hanging in his living room until he dies. Under Gruen v. Gruen, this satisfies delivery for a valid inter vivos gift
What is symbolic delivery
An employer orders health workers off private farm property when they arrive to provide medical assistance to migrant farmworkers. Under State v. Shack, property rights are limited because they serve this core purpose
What are human values
A chemical plant injects liquid waste thousands of feet beneath neighboring land, where it migrates without impacting surface structures or water wells. Under Chance v. BP Chemicals, subsurface trespass requires proof of this element
What is actual interference with reasonable and foreseeable use
A family occupies a summer beach cottage every year during July and August and transfers their claim via contract to another family. Under Howard v. Kunto, seasonal occupancy satisfies continuity because it matches how owners ordinarily use property of this nature
What is ordinary/seasonal use of like property
A coal company uses a paved driveway for decades without knowing or caring who holds paper title. Under the rule affirmed in Tioga Coal Co., subjective intent is irrelevant because physical acts of possession as an owner supply the adverse claim
What is the Objective Approach
An elderly patient anticipating imminent heart surgery hands a rare watch to his doctor as a gift, but the patient survives the surgery. The gift fails because a gift causa mortis is automatically revoked by this event
What is the donor surviving the anticipated peril/death
A wealthy benefactor's will directs her executor to burn her multimillion-dollar historic mansion to the ground for no stated purpose. Under the Wrecking Clause, a court will void the instruction because it inflicts community harm and restricts this bundle stick
What is the Right to Destroy
A spectator stops a record-setting baseball in his glove, but before he secures full physical possession, an unlawful crowd tackles him, causing the ball to loose. Under Popov v. Hayashi, the spectator established this legal right
What is a Pre-Possessory Interest
Possessor A adversely occupies land for 3 years before an unrelated squatter forcibly ousts A and occupies it for 7 years. The squatter cannot combine periods to satisfy 10 years because unrelated successive trespasses lack this
What is Privity
A church congregation occupies a parcel of land for years, but the minister testifies in court that the church always recognized the record owner's superior title. Under Fulkerson v. VanBuren, hostility fails because possession was held in subservice to the true owner
What is possession in recognition of/subservice to the true owner's superior title
A museum discovers an ancient artifact in its collection was stolen 20 years ago from a collector who searched diligently for it. Under O'Keeffe v. Snyder, the statute of limitations for replevin is tolled until the owner knew or reasonably should have known this
What is the identity of the possessor (or location of the property)
A hospital removes a patient's spleen during surgery and uses the excised cells to develop a patented, highly profitable medical therapy without consent. Under Moore v. Regents, the patient cannot sue for conversion because excised tissues are not subject to this stick
What is the Right to Transfer (or ownership rights over excised cells)
A hunter spends hours tracking a wild fox on unowned land, but right before he catches it, a second hunter shoots and carries it away. Under the Rule of Capture, ownership of wild animals requires actual physical possession or this alternative
What is mortal wounding or securing the animal
An individual clears unowned wilderness, irrigates the soil, and harvests crops with his own labor. Under Locke's theory, mixing labor with unowned resources creates ownership.
What is Lockean Labor Theory
A family posts "No Trespassing" signs, clears brush, and cuts firewood on a wooded, undeveloped lot for over 10 years without living on it full-time. Under Gurwit v. Kannatzer, these physical acts satisfy adverse possession because constant physical presence is not required for land of this nature
What is Actual, Hostile, Open and Notorious, Exclusive, and Continuous possession for undeveloped land
An army officer residing in a requisitioned estate discovers a lost gold brooch embedded in a window sill. Under Hannah v. Peele, the officer is entitled to the brooch against all persons except the true owner because the homeowner never exercised this over the premises
What is occupancy (or actual physical control of the residence)
A homeowner constructs a solar heating system, but a neighbor plants tall trees that block all sunlight from reaching the panels[13]. Under private nuisance law ("Sunshine Standoff"), liability turns on this legal balancing test
What is the balance of harm against utility
A thief steals a valuable violin and sells it to an innocent buyer who displays it openly in his home. Under Reynolds v. Bagwell, the limitations period for the good-faith purchaser begins when possession becomes open and notorious unless there is this misconduct
What is fraud or affirmative concealment
A state legislature passes property regulations with the sole policy goal of promoting maximum societal happiness and welfare. This philosophical theory views property rights as a means toward that end
What is Utilitarian Theory