Adverse Possession

893 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Nannie McDaniel v. McElvy
  108 So. 820· Fla.· 1926-05-03 ·cited 313×
  The Florida Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of Chapter 11383 (House Bill No. 296), a 1925 statute allowing suits to quiet title against unknown and non-resident defendants through publication notice. The Court reversed the trial court's dismissal and remanded for
• Lottie Sykes Downing v. Bird
  100 So. 2d 57· Fla.· 1958-01-31 ·cited 173×
  Property owner Downing sought injunctive relief to remove a street and encroachments from her land. The Florida Supreme Court reversed the trial court's dismissal, holding that the City of Homestead failed to prove it acquired title by the statutory dedication provision or that t
• Hoodless v. Jernigan
  46 Fla. 213· Fla.· 1903-06-01 ·cited 156×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court reversed a jury verdict and judgment for the plaintiff landowner because the verdict and subsequent judgment failed to comply with statutory requirements for stating the quantity of the estate and properly describing the land. T
• Reid v. Barry
  93 Fla. 849· Fla.· 1927-04-14 ·cited 149×
  The Florida Supreme Court upheld a bishop's title to church property conveyed by deed in 1881 without using the word 'heirs,' holding that the absence of this technical word of inheritance does not defeat the conveyance when the deed clearly expresses intent to transfer a fee sim
• McKinnon v. Johnson
  57 Fla. 120· Fla.· 1909-01-01 ·cited 120×
  This Florida Supreme Court case addresses whether an attorney who purchased land at a judicial sale in proceedings where he served as counsel can retain title after the decree authorizing the sale is reversed. The court holds that an attorney's title to land purchased at a judici
• VAN Meter v. Edward L. Kelsey and his wife
  91 So. 2d 327· Fla.· 1956-12-12 ·cited 108×
  P.W. Van Meter sued to quiet title to a strip of land between a fence he built in 1915 and the boundary established by a 1917 US survey of Section 17. The trial court found the fence had become the accepted boundary by acquiescence and barred Van Meter by laches, but the Florida
• Johnson C. Tibbetts v. Atwell Olson
  91 Fla. 824· Fla.· 1926-05-03 ·cited 106×
  In this appeal from a trial court's refusal to issue an order of publication in a quiet title action, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's denial, holding that while the statutes authorize constructive service by publication in title cases, the bill of complaint m
• Thiesen v. Gulf
  75 Fla. 28· Fla.· 1917-11-03 ·cited 106×
  Thiesen sued the Gulf, Florida & Alabama Railway Company for damages resulting from filling in submerged lands in Pensacola Bay opposite his property. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a directed verdict for the defendants, holding that Thiesen failed to prove his property was a
• Coogler v. Rogers
  25 Fla. 853· Fla.· 1889-06-01 ·cited 91×
  In this 1889 Florida Supreme Court case, the Court reversed a jury verdict awarding disputed land to the nominal plaintiff Rogers on behalf of the real plaintiff Smith. The Court held that Rogers was estopped from claiming the land due to his prior conduct denying any interest in
• Price v. McLeod
  67 Fla. 171· Fla.· 1914-03-04 ·cited 89×
  George W. Price purchased an undivided one-fifth interest in land at a sheriff's sale and claimed he acquired prescriptive title to the entire property through adverse possession. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's partition decree, holding that Price's occasion
• Norton v. Morning Johnson Jones
  83 Fla. 81· Fla.· 1922-01-27 ·cited 88×
  A trustee sought to cancel a recorded deed and partition land based on a claim that he and certain heirs held title through descent from Polly Lewis, who received a confirmed land donation from the United States in 1825. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal, holding t
• Wyatt J. Geter v. Simmons
  57 Fla. 423· Fla.· 1909-01-01 ·cited 85×
  Geter appeals a chancery decree establishing a resulting trust in real property. The Florida Supreme Court reversed, holding that the plaintiff's 22+ year delay in asserting her equitable interest, combined with insufficiently clear evidence of the alleged trust, warranted dismis
• Anderson v. Northrop
  30 Fla. 612· Fla.· 1892-06-01 ·cited 85×
  This case involves a dispute over an estate administered by Clarissa C. Anderson, who served as both executrix and life tenant under her deceased husband Andrew Anderson Sr.'s will. The remaindermen (heirs of Anderson Sr.'s daughters) sought an accounting and recovery of estate p
• Bass v. Ramos
  58 Fla. 161· Fla.· 1909-06-01 ·cited 81×
  In this ejectment action for submerged land in Pensacola Bay, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed a directed verdict for the defendant, holding that the plaintiff failed to establish either legal title or lawful prior actual possession necessary to recover possession of lands unde
• Felt v. Morse
  80 Fla. 154· Fla.· 1920-06-30 ·cited 78×
  In a specific performance action for land sale, the Florida Supreme Court held that a purchaser who took possession of an orange grove property cannot rescind the contract based on delay in title correction or freeze damage occurring after possession was taken. The court applied
• Wilson v. Jernigan
  57 Fla. 277· Fla.· 1909-01-01 ·cited 77×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a jury verdict in an ejectment action, finding insufficient evidence of adverse possession by the defendant for the statutory period required to establish title to the 700-acre Christian Limbaugh Grant. The court emphasized the standard for revi
• Seddon v. Harpster
  403 So. 2d 409· Fla.· 1981-07-30 ·cited 72×
  The Florida Supreme Court answered a certified question regarding the retroactive application of Chapter 74-382, which amended adverse possession statutes. The Court held that the seven-year possession period for adverse possession under color of title must begin on January 1, 19
• Clark v. Cochran
  79 Fla. 788· Fla.· 1920-05-12 ·cited 72×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court reversed a judgment against landowners who claimed title through an 1842 U.S. patent derived from Spanish grants. The defendants claimed title through invalid tax deeds and adverse possession, but the Court held that the tax dee
• Gracy v. Fielding
  71 Fla. 1· Fla.· 1916-01-13 ·cited 71×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision to sustain exceptions to portions of a defendant's answer in a partition suit. The case involved competing claims to timberland where a co-tenant claimed he had adversely possessed the property, but the court held his
• Terra Ceia Ests. v. Nannie E. Taylor
  68 Fla. 261· Fla.· 1914-11-17 ·cited 67×
  A Florida equity court partition suit involving three parties claiming interests in 96.24 acres in Manatee County. Terra Ceia Estates asserted adverse possession and claimed exclusive title, while the Taylor heirs sought partition as tenants in common, and Millie A. Prime claimed
• Watrous v. Morrison
  33 Fla. 261· Fla.· 1894-01-01 ·cited 67×
  In this ejectment action, Morrison sought to recover a disputed 4.97-acre parcel claimed to be part of Lot 1, while Watrous claimed it as part of Lot 2 based on adverse possession. The Supreme Court of Florida reversed the judgment and awarded a new trial, finding multiple instru
• J. C. Vereen & Sons, Inc. v. Houser
  123 Fla. 641· Fla.· 1936-03-31 ·cited 66×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a lower court's dismissal of a bill of complaint seeking a mandatory injunction to remove eaves overhanging the plaintiff's property. The court held that an easement to maintain overhanging eaves cannot be acquired by prescription unless the use
• DeHuy v. Osborne
  96 Fla. 435· Fla.· 1928-09-25 ·cited 65×
  DeHuy sought specific performance of a contract to purchase a hotel in Daytona Beach from the Osbornes, but the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's dismissal on grounds of laches. Although the vendors breached their obligation to provide marketable title of record, D
• Spitzer v. Briggs Branning
  135 Fla. 49· Fla.· 1938-11-16 ·cited 64×
  Arthur W. Spitzer appealed an order denying his motion for a decree in a partition suit, challenging whether homestead property could be lawfully allotted to his mother as a child's part in probate proceedings. The Florida Supreme Court held that the County Judge lacked jurisdict
• Horton v. Smith-Richardson Inv. Co.
  81 Fla. 255· Fla.· 1921-03-01 ·cited 64×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court reversed a judgment for the defendant corporation, holding that the defendant failed to establish title by adverse possession. The plaintiff held a federal patent from 1844 to the disputed land, and the court found that the defe
• Doyle v. Matilda Wade
  23 Fla. 90· Fla.· 1887-01-01 ·cited 64×
  This ejectment action concerns whether the heirs of James Weeks can recover land from a defendant claiming title through a judicial sale, when an administrator of the estate had also brought suit for the same property. The Florida Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding that
• The R. E. L. McCaskill Co. v. Dekle
  88 Fla. 285· Fla.· 1924-10-22 ·cited 63×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a final decree and order confirming sale in a specific performance action where the vendor Dekle sought to enforce a land purchase contract against assignee R.E.L. McCaskill Company. The court held that a vendor who can prove title through adver
• Wilson v. Johnson
  51 Fla. 370· Fla.· 1906-01-01 ·cited 63×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed judgment for the plaintiffs (heirs of Richard Johnson, Sr.) against the defendant who claimed to possess the disputed land. The court held that the plaintiffs established sufficient title through descent from their ance
• Jordan v. Sayre
  24 Fla. 1· Fla.· 1888-01-01 ·cited 63×
  In this mortgage foreclosure case, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the right of mortgagees to foreclose on mortgaged property even though the statutory period for a mortgage lien (20 years) had not fully expired, rejecting the mortgagor's argument that the foreclosure was barred
• Matilda Wade v. Doyle
  17 Fla. 522· Fla.· 1880-01-01 ·cited 63×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court reversed the lower court's judgment for the defendant, holding that the defendant's special pleas were invalid under the statute of limitations and that the trial proceedings were conducted improperly after the plaintiffs refuse
• Fla. Power Corp. v. McNEELY
  125 So. 2d 311· Fla. 2d DCA· 1960-12-02 ·cited 62×
  Florida Power Corporation appealed a lower court decree requiring it to compensate property owners for an easement used for transmission lines since 1939. The court held that the corporation's use constituted adverse user (not adverse possession) of an incorporeal easement requir
• Richbourg v. Rose
  53 Fla. 173· Fla.· 1907-01-01 ·cited 62×
  Richbourg & Company sought to recover crude turpentine via replevin against Rose, who claimed rights to harvest turpentine on land through a lease from the original owner. The Florida Supreme Court reversed judgment for Rose, holding that although Rose held a valid timber lease c
• Farish Carter v. Archibald T. Bennett
  6 Fla. 214· Fla.· 1855-01-01 ·cited 62×
  In this equity case, the Supreme Court of Florida reversed the lower court's dissolution of an injunction in a complex dispute involving the sale of enslaved persons, mortgages, and multiple lawsuits. The court determined that sufficient equity existed to maintain the suit in cha
• Cross v. Nannie L. Aby and R. H. Aby
  55 Fla. 311· Fla.· 1908-01-01 ·cited 60×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed a trial court verdict for plaintiffs who established title to real property through a patent from the United States and subsequent conveyances from the original grantee's heirs. The defendant sought to prove the existen
• Kelsey v. Lake Childs Co.
  93 Fla. 743· Fla.· 1927-04-05 ·cited 59×
  In this ejectment suit, the Florida Supreme Court held that an original government survey and patent based on that survey control over a subsequent corrected survey, and that a homestead entryman with a receipt showing entry in 1913 acquired vested rights that cannot be impaired
• Walker v. Landress
  111 Fla. 356· Fla.· 1933-07-12 ·cited 58×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's order overruling a demurrer in a suit seeking to enforce a resulting trust over real property. W.O. Walker held legal title to land purchased by his sisters T.E. Walker and Harriett Walker with their own funds, allegedly in tru
• Vincent v. Walker D. Hines
  79 Fla. 564· Fla.· 1920-04-21 ·cited 57×
  M. L. Vincent sued the Seaboard Air Line Railway for trespass and unlawful occupation of his land without compensation. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of the bill of complaint, holding that Vincent acquired title to the property after the railroad's alleged trespass
• Barrow v. Barrow
  527 So. 2d 1373· Fla.· 1988-06-30 ·cited 56×
  The Florida Supreme Court clarified that partition law rules governing cotenants apply equally to former spouses holding former marital property, rejecting a special rule that presumed ouster without communication of adverse claims. The court held that a cotenant's claim for rent
• Crigger v. Fla. Power Corp.
  436 So. 2d 937· Fla. 5th DCA· 1983-06-30 ·cited 55×
  Florida Power Corporation sought to use electrical transmission lines across the Criggers' property without permission, claiming either an express easement from a prior owner or a prescriptive easement. The court held that the express easement was defective because it was granted
• The City OF Daytona Beach v. Tona-Rama, Inc.
  294 So. 2d 73· Fla.· 1974-03-25 ·cited 54×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a judgment requiring a landowner to remove an observation tower from private beach property, holding that while the public acquired customary use rights to the sandy beach area for recreation, those rights did not give the public an exclusive ea
• DeCottes v. Clarkson
  43 Fla. 1· Fla.· 1901-01-01 ·cited 54×
  This case concerns whether a mother, who was the head of a family, could devise her homestead property. The court held that she could not devise the property because she had children, and the homestead law dictates that such property descends to heirs at law.
• Hagan v. Ellis
  39 Fla. 463· Fla.· 1897-06-01 ·cited 54×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court held that a property owner who sold land and stood by for 30 years while subsequent possessors improved it under the belief he claimed no title was equitably estopped from asserting his legal title when a patent finally issued i
• Alphonso Haworth v. Norris
  28 Fla. 763· Fla.· 1891-06-01 ·cited 54×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of a bill in equity seeking to remove a cloud on title to land, holding that parol evidence cannot be used to make an absolute deed conditional, and that the complainant lacked equitable jurisdiction because he had a legal remedy a
• Indian Rocks Beach South Shore v. Ewell
  59 So.2d 647· Fla.· 1952-06-13 ·cited 53×
  The Supreme Court of Florida held that a county's acceptance of some streets in a platted subdivision constituted an acceptance of all streets shown on the plat, unless an intention to limit the acceptance was shown. This case clarifies that private conveyances of platted streets
• Dallam v. Sanchez
  56 Fla. 779· Fla.· 1908-06-01 ·cited 53×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a partition decree, holding that the complainants failed to establish legal title to the disputed land. The court found that the foundational deed was void because it was executed by an agent after the principal's death, and that the complainant
• Price v. Harrison D. Stratton
  45 Fla. 535· Fla.· 1903-01-01 ·cited 52×
  Price and others appeal a decree enjoining them from moving their fence to the true boundary line of their property. The Florida Supreme Court reversed, holding that the appellee was not entitled to equitable relief because he himself was obstructing a public street that had been
• Boykin v. State
  40 Fla. 484· Fla.· 1898-06-01 ·cited 52×
  Three men were convicted of criminal trespass for cutting cedar timber on land they claimed to own under a tax deed. The Florida Supreme Court reversed and ordered a new trial, finding that the trial court erred in its jury instructions by failing to properly allow the defendants
• Stokely v. Conner
  69 Fla. 412· Fla.· 1915-04-20 ·cited 50×
  A dispute over title to 1,000 acres of land in St. Johns County, Florida involving competing claims traced to an original Spanish grant to Pedro Miranda. The court affirmed a decree of partition favoring the appellees (Conners and Chapman) who claimed an undivided one-half intere
• Coram v. Palmer
  63 Fla. 116· Fla.· 1912-01-01 ·cited 49×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed judgment for the defendant landowner against the heirs of James Niblack, who claimed title under a patent issued in 1906 for land Niblack had paid for around 1846. The court held that equitable estoppel barred the plain
• Hart v. W. M. Bostwick and wife
  14 Fla. 162· Fla.· 1872-04-01 ·cited 49×
  This ejectment case concerns whether the defendants established adverse possession sufficient to bar recovery of land under Florida's statute of limitations. The court reversed and remanded due to multiple instructional errors regarding adverse possession, the application of the