question for John T

I will be consulting a lawyer down the road, but I need some idea now if you can help... In Missouri, have chance to get a deal on land. We are trying to predict price and expenses. There
is a long time verbal easement across neighbor"s land to it, but it is not legally recorded. Easement is almost a mile long, but 2/3 of it is gravel and used daily as a driveway for the neighbor. The rest is dirt that he uses to get to cattle and crops. The neighbor does not wish to grant a legal easement. Lawyer says if we can"t come to agreement we can got to court and a judge will force it, and decide terms of easement. How is this sort of thing usually valued? If the land goes for $2,000 an acre, can you give me any idea of what the easement and attorney costs would be?

I can not give you the whole answer on this but I do know in Missouri you can not land lock a person and you have to let them cross your land and if it has been done for 10 plus years weather it is on paper or not it is still an easement and can not be closed or even moved with out both party's agreeing on it. Neighbor tried to move my parent driveway years ago and lost in court because the old drive had been there for 10 plus years plus my parent did not agree with how and where he built the new drive. Shoot the guy even got stuck with a 30 foot wide right of way that he could not block in any way other then a gate if he had animals

(quoted from post at 20:24:26 12/27/09) I can not give you the whole answer on this but I do know in Missouri you can not land lock a person and you have to let them cross your land and if it has been done for 10 plus years weather it is on paper or not it is still an easement and can not be closed or even moved with out both party's agreeing on it. Neighbor tried to move my parent driveway years ago and lost in court because the old drive had been there for 10 plus years plus my parent did not agree with how and where he built the new drive. Shoot the guy even got stuck with a 30 foot wide right of way that he could not block in any way other then a gate if he had animals

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ight be the case in Missouri. Might be many details left out, too. In Texas, for example, if it can be shown that that piece of land was severed from a larger piece of land, then the owner of that larger piece owes access to the owner of the severed piece, even if the "easement" has been via another man's land for a 100 years. I won to stop access over my land, but it went all the way to the last court before Texas Supreme court & cost more than you can imagine over a 4 year period. It is all in the details & how much you are willing to spend. And for sure the exact laws of the state! A good answer for you will only come from a good lawyer well versed/specializing in land/real estate law, not here on this forum.

I'd like to see the full details of that law. Here in NY, we have something similar but it's not quite that simple. If I was to split up some land and by doing so, created landlocked parcels - then yes, I could be held liable later to provide easements to landowners if they were the same ones that actually bought from me. If the property had been resold since, no I'm not liable. And, if the other parcels were not landlocked at the time I made the split, I'm still not liable, even if now they are landlocked.

I realize things differ in different states, but I've yet to see any that are written simply and/or apply in all cases. Especially adverse use or easement by prescription laws. That especially applies to people who try to claim "implied easement" rights just because they've been crossing someone else's land for years. Usually, there is much more needed to gain such an easement.

I cant comment on Missouri, but in Kentucky at least one case took 100 years of court battles with final judgement in 1954, two dozen homicdes the last of which happened in 1972, and two years ago it still took the sheriff to allow the current owners access.

I'd not worry about court battles until you have to. Thats when hard feelings start that dont ever go away. Legal wise, good lawyers here will run you $150-$185 an hour, bad ones will cost $200 plus. I'd say it would take a day at least of legal time if its not contested, and maybe decades if it is. Kind of like divorce, they cost around $2000 minimum for each party, but you can spend as much as you want to on one.

(quoted from post at 21:02:13 12/27/09) I'd like to see the full details of that law. Here in NY, we have something similar but it's not quite that simple. If I was to split up some land and by doing so, created landlocked parcels - then yes, I could be held liable later to provide easements to landowners if they were the same ones that actually bought from me. If the property had been resold since, no I'm not liable. And, if the other parcels were not landlocked at the time I made the split, I'm still not liable, even if now they are landlocked.

I realize things differ in different states, but I've yet to see any that are written simply and/or apply in all cases. Especially adverse use or easement by prescription laws. That especially applies to people who try to claim "implied easement" rights just because they've been crossing someone else's land for years. Usually, there is much more needed to gain such an easement.

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t is very complicated/complex and the "where", is everything. Here, if a piece is severed from another parcel, then the responsibility for access lies with the parcel it was severed from.
How many times it has changed hands, how many other ways it may have been accessed in the past is not material. This prevents the existence of 'land locked' parcels. When someone here speaks of a 'land locked' piece of land, it is just that they have not paid enough lawyers to gain access. Some sit this way for many years, because it may not be reasonable to effectively pay, counting legal fees, $250,000 dollars an acre for rural land that can be bought next door for $2,000 an acre.
How far are you willing to go?

Chuck, I can tell you right now its impossible for anyone, even an attorney, to provide you with a competent professional "legal opinion" until the common and statutory laws of your state were researched,, the specific facts were determined including past use and the history of such,, and a thorough search of all past deeds of record concerning the properties was conducted, and even then, an opinion is ONLY an opinion (even a professional one) with no guarantee a Judge might rule one way or another.

THAT BEING SAID I can give inform you of some of the facts that a Judge will consider relevant and some of the legal issues.

I DO NOT NECESSARILY AGREE A JUDGE WILL FORCE IT although he may well, here are some things that need to be considered:

1) Is there access to the land OTHER THEN the way you mention?????? IF NOT its easier to get an easement of necessity. IF SO a Judge may NOT FORCE IT.

2) How long has this access been in use???

3) Has the land owner allowed the use and has he been aware of the same ???

4) Who all have used this access??

5) Is there any sort of language at all in the prior recorded deeds and/or sales contracts of the dominant or servient landowners???

Its certainly possible that a Judge may well grant an easement of necessity to the non owner in cases where the land is landlocked otherwise. Similar to the laws of Adverse Posession, its possible to aquire an easement by prescription over anothers land to gain access to your own SUBJECT TO SEVERAL LEGAL REQUIREMENTS.

SOOOOOOOOOOO as an attorney I can advise you YES theres a good chance a legally enforceable judicial order might be obtained that grants an easement (SUBJECT TO A TON OF LAW AND FACTS AND PAST DEEDS which I do not have before me).

NOW PRACTICALLY SPEAKING if this is contested it can be very expensive and time consuming to bring an action to quiet title, fees could well run in the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars DEPENDING ON HOW HOTLY ITS CONTESTED AND THE LAW AND THE FACTS AND THE PAST DEEDS OR AGREEMENTS

THEREORE my professional legal advice WOULD BE TO TRY AND SETTLE IT without litigation even if it means making a considerable cash offer to the dominant land owner to purchase EITHER an easement or a strip of actual land...AND HAVE IT (easement or fee ownership) RECORDED WELL DUHHHHHHHHHHHH

WHATS IT WORTH its worth MUCH MORE (per acre) than just the value of say 1 acre of land, so I doubt if land was say $5000 per acre you could pay $5000 to purchase an acre strip (BUT thats still negotiable and it depends on the owners and you)

Im gladddddddd you are going to consult local counsel, THATS THE BEST ADVICE I COULD OFFER and Id give more credit to what he says then opinions (including my own) found on a tractor forum where the facts and law and use and history and past deeds WHICH ARE IMPORTANT are simply NOT avaialable.

Best wishes and God Bless

John T BSEE, JD Attorney at Law