Also known as:tack holding period · tacking holding periods · tacking holding period · tacking · adverse possession tacking
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A doctrine permitting successive adverse possessors in privity to combine their periods of possession to satisfy the statutory period for acquiring title by adverse possession. Privity exists when a later possessor succeeds to the claim of right of an earlier possessor through a transfer of the land or an interest in it. Seasonal or intermittent use consistent with the character of the property satisfies the continuity element when tacking applies.
See Our Sources· 1 primary source
Cases
How its tested
Common Examples
3
Mistaken Boundary Tacking
Thomas Thompson's predecessor believed a fence marked the true line and farmed a strip of neighboring land for eight years. Thomas purchased the farm under a deed that did not describe the strip. He continued the same farming and maintenance for seven more years until the true owner objected. Because the parties acted under the same good-faith mistaken belief and maintained privity through the conveyance, the combined fifteen-year period satisfies the statutory requirement.
Inherited Parcel Tacking
Tori Taylor inherited a parcel of land from her aunt who had possessed it openly for six years after purchasing it from an unknown seller. Tori continued the same agricultural use of the parcel for nine additional years before the original owner located it. The continuous possession by Tori and her predecessor under a claim of ownership allows the periods to combine toward the limitations period.
Boundary Survey Error Tacking
Trevor Tate's family occupied a cottage and yard that a later survey showed belonged to the adjacent lot. The prior owners had used the land for twelve years under the same mistaken belief. Trevor acquired the cottage by deed and continued the identical use for four more years. The successive periods tack because each possessor maintained privity and the same claim of right.
Howard v. Kunto2 Wash. App. 348, 469 P.2d 990
Land surveying errors led to a mismatch between deed descriptions and actual occupations on the shore of Hood Canal in Mason County. As long ago as 1932, McCall resided in the house now occupied by the Kuntos under a deed describing a 50-foot-wide parcel that was adjacent to the lot where the house stood. Several property owners to the west of defendants were similarly situated.
Since 1946, several conveyances occurred using the same legal description accompanied by transfer of possession to succeeding occupants. The Kuntos' immediate predecessors, the Millers, had a survey performed to build a dock which indicated conformity between deed and occupation, leading to placement of boundary stakes and construction of improvements.
The Kuntos took possession of the disputed property under a deed from the Millers in 1959. In 1960, the Howards, who held land east of the Kuntos, undertook a survey to convey an undivided one-half interest to the Yearlys. The survey revealed that the Howards were record owners of land occupied by the Moyers and the Moyers held record title to land occupied by the Kuntos.
In April 1960, Howard obtained a conveyance from Moyer of the land upon which the Kunto house stood in exchange for conveying the land upon which the Moyer house stood. Until that conveyance, neither Moyer nor predecessors asserted any right to the property possessed by Kunto and predecessors. Plaintiffs instituted this action to quiet title on August 19, 1960, when defendants had been in occupancy of the disputed property less than a year.
The trial court denied the Kuntos' claim of adverse possession, finding a lack of continuity of possession or estate to permit tacking and that defendants' possession was not continuous because it involved only summer occupancy. Defendants appealed from the decree quieting title in the plaintiffs.
5 common questions
Students Frequently Ask...
What relationship between successive possessors permits tacking of holding periods?
Privity is required. Privity exists when the later possessor succeeds to the earlier possessor's claim of right through a deed, inheritance, or other transfer that carries the interest in the disputed land.
Supporting sources
Does a stock purchase of a business allow tacking of an adverse use begun by the acquired company?
Yes when the acquisition transfers all assets and rights used in the business and the successor continues the identical use without interruption. The broad transfer language and continuity of operations establish the necessary privity.
Supporting sources
Can seasonal agricultural use satisfy the continuity requirement for tacking?
Yes. Seasonal cropping, grazing, and maintenance consistent with the nature of the property count as continuous possession when the use occurs every year without gaps indicating abandonment.
Supporting sources
Does an unadjudicated trespass suit interrupt the period so that tacking is barred?
No. A suit that is filed but never pursued to judgment does not qualify as an interruption under the rule requiring legal proceedings pursued to a determination that the use lacks justification.
Supporting sources
What happens to tacking when a prior judgment declares the use a trespass?
The judgment interrupts the period because it determines the use lacks legal justification. Later use cannot be tacked onto the pre-judgment period even if the judgment is not enforced.
Supporting sources
tacking
. David L. Gobble and Sue Ann Gobble, appellants/defendants below, appeal from a final order of the Circuit Court of Mercer County. At the conclusion of a bench trial the circuit court…
Real PropertyTitles · Adverse possessionUBEIntermediate