Also known as: longum tempus · longus usus · prescription · time immemorial · immemorial use
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A principle of property law under which long-continued and uninterrupted use of another's land that exceeds living memory establishes an easement by prescription. The maxim supplies the temporal foundation for acquiring servitudes when the use meets the requirements of adversity and continuity over the prescriptive period.
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Lily Lopez's delivery trucks crossed a gravel path on Lance Lee's adjacent parcel every weekday for the statutory period. Lee installed no barriers and issued no protests during that entire span. Lopez now asserts an easement and the court examines whether the use satisfied the continuity element required for prescription.
Lana Lutz crossed a foot trail on Mark Muir's parcel each summer for decades exceeding living memory. Muir never objected or fenced the path during that span. Lutz claims a prescriptive easement and the court tests whether the duration satisfied the maxim's memory-exceeding requirement.
Owen Ortiz used a shortcut across Nora Nash's meadow for more than a generation without permission. Nash took no action to stop the use throughout the long period. Ortiz seeks to establish an easement and the court applies the maxim to decide if memory-exceeding duration plus adversity suffices.
Lars Lindstrom used a footpath across Lexicon Media's land for the full prescriptive period. After Lars conveyed his parcel to Lotus Pharmaceuticals, the company continued the identical use. The court decides whether the prescriptive easement benefit passes to the successor in interest.
Peter Pratt grazed cattle on a meadow owned by Quinn Quick for a period longer than any living person recalled. Quick never posted signs or brought suit during those decades. Pratt asserts a prescriptive right and the court checks whether the maxim's long-use element is met.
Rita Ruiz drove daily over an old lane on Sam Soto's acreage for a span exceeding human memory. Soto erected no gate and voiced no objection across that entire time. Ruiz sues to confirm an easement and the court weighs whether the maxim supplies the required prescriptive foundation.
The use must be adverse to the servient owner, open and notorious, and continuous and uninterrupted for the full prescriptive period fixed by local law. The maxim supplies the requirement that the period be long enough to exceed human memory, satisfying the durational element when the other conditions are met.
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…people of the same sex. Does it remove that issue from the political process? Of course not. It would be surprising to find a prescription regarding marriage in the Federal Constitution since, as the author of today’s opinion reminded us only two years ago (in an opinion joined by the same Justices who join him today):…
…"[T]he law of defamation has been an integral part of the laws of England, the colonies and the states since time immemorial. So many actions have been maintained and judgments recovered under the various laws of libel that the Constitutional validity of libel actions could be denied only by a Court willing to…
…the three patients died. Although the Court of Appeals considered the constitutionality of the statute "as applied to the prescription of life-ending medication for use by terminally ill, competent adult patients who wish to hasten their deaths," the court did not have before it any individual plaintiff seeking to hasten…
…with respect to voting' "); see also James Everard's Breweries v. Day , 265 U. S. 545 (1924) (upholding ban on medical prescription of intoxicating malt liquors as appropriate to enforce Eighteenth Amendment ban on manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes). It is also true,…
…the constitutionality of California's assertion of jurisdiction. Post, at 632. But our analysis today comports with that prescription
Seasonal use satisfies continuity when it matches the ordinary pattern of use that a true owner would make of the property. For a lakefront cabin, summer swimming and picnicking on the disputed strip counts as continuous because that is how an owner would normally use such land.
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Yes. The benefit may accrue to the adverse user alone or to the adverse user and others who share interests in the dominant land. Successors in privity may also tack periods of use to complete the prescriptive period.
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The maxim operates as an independent basis for creation by prescription when the statutory formalities of a writing are absent. Prescription supplies an exception that allows an easement to arise from long adverse use even though no deed or recorded declaration exists.
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