Adverse Possession

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

• Wolfe v. Phillips
  172 F.2d 481· 10th Cir.· 1949-01-27 ·cited 14×
  The court held that Oklahoma's statutes of limitations, including amendments, apply to restricted Indians and their heirs, barring their claims if not brought within the statutory period.
• MacDONNELL v. Cap. Co.
  130 F.2d 311· 9th Cir.· 1942-07-27 ·cited 14×
  The court held that the plaintiff's claims were barred by the statute of limitations and res judicata from a prior state court judgment, and affirmed the trial court's decision regarding ownership of mineral rights and awarded damages for trespass.
• Klimkiewicz v. Westminster Deposit & Tr. Co.
  122 F.2d 957· D.C. Cir.· 1941-09-22 ·cited 14×
  The court held that the trial court's findings of fact regarding adverse possession were supported by the evidence and that the findings were sufficient to support the judgment.
• City of Pensacola v. Kersey
  115 Fla. 496· Fla.· 1934-06-19 ·cited 14×
  The City of Pensacola sought to eject a defendant from property, claiming title through dedication and acceptance as a public street. The defendant prevailed based on adverse possession and open occupation for over seven years. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the jury verdict
• Jernigan v. Holden
  34 Fla. 530· Fla.· 1894-06-01 ·cited 14×
  Aaron Jernigan sued to eject William H. Holden and others from land in Florida that Jernigan had owned and inhabited before leaving the state in 1860. The court held that Jernigan was barred by the statute of limitations because the defendant had been in exclusive adverse possess
• Wm. D. Bloxham v. Crane
  19 Fla. 163· Fla.· 1882-06-01 ·cited 14×
  This case concerns whether a guardian's executors can use statutes of limitation and non-claim to avoid paying ward funds held in trust. The Florida Supreme Court held that such funds are held in a fiduciary capacity and are exempt from these statutes, allowing the ward's suit to
• Stephens v. Rhoda E. Gibbes
  14 Fla. 331· Fla.· 1873-10-01 ·cited 14×
  This case addresses whether a widow's failure to file a timely dissent to her husband's will within one year, as required by Florida statute, bars her claim to dower rights. The court held that the statutory one-year deadline is mandatory and that the widow's failure to dissent w
• Sweeten v. United States Dep't OF Agric. Forest Serv.
  684 F.2d 679· 10th Cir.· 1982-07-27 ·cited 13×
• Von King v. Carden
  237 So. 2d 26· Fla. 1st DCA· 1970-06-18 ·cited 13×
  The Kings appealed an ejectment suit judgment denying them recovery of a western strip of land from Pittman. The trial court found that the Kings and Pittman had established the western boundary by acquiescence and agreement along an existing fence line rather than the true surve
• Cliett v. Scott
  233 F.2d 269· 5th Cir.· 1956-05-15 ·cited 13×
  The court held that defendants' right to remove the case to federal court revived when plaintiffs filed an amended petition asserting a new and different claim, and that plaintiffs' admission of co-tenancy precluded a claim of adverse possession.
• Hodgson v. Fed. OIL & Dev. Co.
  5 F.2d 442· 8th Cir.· 1925-03-28 ·cited 13×
  The court reversed the dismissal of the bill, finding that the United States was not an indispensable party, the award of the lease was not an adjudication in rem, the claim was not barred by section 18 of the Oil Leasing Act, and the allegations did not conclusively establish la
• Watkins v. Emmerson
  88 Fla. 86· Fla.· 1924-06-18 ·cited 13×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court reversed a judgment for plaintiffs who sought to recover land through attorneys (Fielding and Haile) to whom the original owner (Lucius M. Emmerson) had conveyed an undivided one-half interest as a fee for legal services. The co
• Porter v. Eliza Carroll
  84 Fla. 62· Fla.· 1922-06-30 ·cited 13×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed judgment for Eliza Carroll against D. E. Porter, holding that a tax deed issued to W. C. Foster was void because the property had not been properly assessed for taxation in 1913, and therefore Porter acquired no valid t
• Ellis v. Everett
  79 Fla. 493· Fla.· 1920-04-13 ·cited 13×
  Ellis brought a bill for partition of lands claiming an undivided two-fifths interest acquired by deed from the widow and one son of Jesse R. Everett. Everett defended based on a prior unrecorded deed from all the heirs and his open, notorious, and continuous adverse possession.
• Manie D. Futch v. Parslow
  64 Fla. 279· Fla.· 1912-06-01 ·cited 13×
  This appeal concerns adverse possession of real property in Tampa. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a decree quieting title in Josephine A. Parslow against heirs of Columbus Stafford, holding that Parslow and her predecessor established adverse possession against the heirs with
• A. v. Caro vs. The Pensacola City Co. et. al.
  19 Fla. 766· Fla.· 1883-01-01 ·cited 13×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed an equitable decree establishing the Pensacola City Company's title to land near Pensacola and granting a perpetual injunction against defendant Caro's interference, while modifying the decree to the extent it purported to bind non-party heirs o
• Pasco v. City OF Oldsmar
  953 So. 2d 766· Fla. 2d DCA· 2007-04-20 ·cited 12×
  The Pascos sued the City of Oldsmar after the city paved a road that cut diagonally across their property. The city sought summary judgment based on statutory dedication under Florida law, claiming the road was presumptively dedicated after four years of continuous maintenance. T
• United States v. Pappas
  814 F.2d 1342· 9th Cir.· 1987-04-13 ·cited 12×
  The court held that the patentee of Lot 2 is entitled to riverfront, and omitted lands should be equitably apportioned based on the original plat's proportions, not including lands owned by non-parties.
• Barry Bonifay & the City of Pensacola v. Garner
  503 So. 2d 389· Fla. 1st DCA· 1987-02-19 ·cited 12×
  Barry Bonifay and the City of Pensacola appeal a quiet title judgment favoring Robert Garner to waterfront property in Pensacola. The court reverses, finding the trial court improperly relied on documents outside the record and misapplied the adverse possession under color of tit
• Ronald W. Kitzinger and Delores v. Kitzinger
  432 So. 2d 188· Fla. 1st DCA· 1983-05-25 ·cited 12×
  Gulf Power Company sought a mandatory injunction to remove a corner of the Kitzingers' house that encroached 18.06 feet into Gulf Power's electrical transmission line easement acquired in 1926. The circuit court denied the injunction but imposed an unliquidated lien on the homest
• Reubin O'D. Askew v. Sonson
  409 So. 2d 7· Fla.· 1981-07-23 ·cited 12×
  The Florida Supreme Court upheld the application of the Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA) to section sixteen school lands granted to Florida by Congress in 1845. The court held that the MRTA constitutionally extinguishes the state's claim to school lands when a private party hol
• Platt v. Pietras
  382 So. 2d 414· Fla. 5th DCA· 1980-04-09 ·cited 12×
  Platt, a leaseholder of cattle grazing land, appealed a judgment enjoining him from trespassing on neighboring property owners' lots and blocking platted roads with fencing. The court affirmed, holding that Platt could not acquire a prescriptive right to graze cattle over the ent
• Seddon v. Harpster
  369 So. 2d 662· Fla. 2d DCA· 1979-04-11 ·cited 12×
  Sara Jane Seddon appeals a judgment of ejectment holding that she wrongfully occupied land belonging to the Harpsters. The court rejects all of Seddon's defenses, including adverse possession, and certifies to the Florida Supreme Court a question regarding whether the seven-year
• Vinson Ates and Minnie Ates v. Yellow Pine Land Co.
  310 So. 2d 772· Fla. 1st DCA· 1975-02-25 ·cited 12×
  Vinson Ates obtained a tax deed to 20 acres in 1941 and claimed ownership through adverse possession against St. Regis Paper Company and Humble Oil & Refining Company. The court held that Ates' adverse possession ripened into fee simple title to the entire estate, including sever
• Mogee v. Haller
  222 So. 2d 468· Fla. 1st DCA· 1969-05-20 ·cited 12×
  The court held that a deed description containing ambiguous or incomprehensible words may be sustained if a sufficient part remains for identification, and acreage is less reliable than metes and bounds.
• Garrett v. United States
  407 F.2d 146· 8th Cir.· 1969-02-12 ·cited 12×
  The court affirmed the district court's judgments, finding that the taking of a fee simple included lesser interests like gravel leases and that earlier rulings on waste and boundary disputes were factually supported and properly decided.
• Guar. Abstract & Title Ins. Co. v. ST. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co.
  216 So. 2d 255· Fla. 2d DCA· 1968-12-04 ·cited 12×
  Guarantee Abstract & Title Insurance Company sued St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company for declaratory relief regarding coverage under an errors and omissions policy. The court held that a buried water transmission pipe line does not constitute "actual possession" under a t
• Mariam v. Katiba Cook and Audrey M. Katiba
  190 So. 2d 309· Fla.· 1966-09-21 ·cited 12×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed the District Court of Appeal, holding that J. J. Katiba is equitably estopped from denying petitioners' title to real property based on his 1942 deed conveying the property to their predecessor, even though he later acquired an after-acquired in
• Kasey v. Molybdenum Corp. OF Am.
  336 F.2d 560· 9th Cir.· 1964-08-28 ·cited 12×
  The court held that the action for recovery of mining properties was barred by California's five-year statute of limitations because the appellants were neither seised nor possessed of the property within the statutory period, and the deeds conveyed absolute title.
• P. M. Parish v. Walter Spence and wife
  149 So. 2d 58· Fla. 1st DCA· 1963-02-14 ·cited 12×
  In this ejectment case, the court reversed a summary judgment that excluded a 1932 government dependent resurvey as evidence, holding that such a resurvey is admissible when it merely reestablishes the original boundaries rather than correcting them. The court also determined tha
• ST. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co. v. Walter
  305 F.2d 90· 10th Cir.· 1962-05-25 ·cited 12×
  The court held that the railroad held only an easement for stockyards, which terminated when the stockyards were removed, and that the railroad did not establish title by adverse possession.
• Morrison v. Byrd
  72 So. 2d 657· Fla.· 1954-05-11 ·cited 12×
  In this intestate succession dispute, the Florida Supreme Court held that Esther Morrison acquired title to 160 acres in Okaloosa County through adverse possession under color of title, despite the deed being from only one of seven heirs of the original owner. The court reversed
• Palmquist v. Johnson
  41 So. 2d 313· Fla.· 1949-06-24 ·cited 12×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a lower court's decree that quieted title to land in favor of tax deed holders. The court found that the tax deed holders failed to bring suit for possession within the statutory four-year period, despite the original owners remaining in continu
• W. Va. Pulp & Paper Co. v. Cone
  153 F.2d 576· 4th Cir.· 1946-02-07 ·cited 12×
  The court held that the plaintiff failed to establish sufficient title or possession to maintain a trespass action, and that the trial court erred in denying the defendant's motion for a directed verdict.
• Flores v. Bruesselbach
  149 F.2d 616· 10th Cir.· 1945-05-04 ·cited 12×
  The court held that the congressional confirmation of the land grant as a private grant to Francisco Martinez was final and not subject to judicial review, foreclosing subsequent claims.
• City OF Miami Beach v. Undercliff Realty & Inv. Co.
  155 Fla. 805· Fla.· 1945-04-13 ·cited 12×
  Miami Beach sued to establish a dedication to public use of a 30-foot-wide drive and oceanfront beach property in the Alton Beach subdivision, seeking an injunction against private owners from excluding the public. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial referee's dismissal
• Moore v. Harjo
  144 F.2d 318· 10th Cir.· 1944-07-26 ·cited 12×
  The court held that title by prescription could not be asserted when the underlying facts were necessarily negated by a prior judgment, and that interest was properly awarded from the date the amount due became certain.
• Addis v. Ogden Martin Hoagland
  150 Fla. 694· Fla.· 1942-06-09 ·cited 12×
  Cassandra Addis appealed from a decree quieting title in defendant Hoagland to a disputed five-acre peninsula tract. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed, holding that despite Addis's superior legal title deraigned from an 1888 patent, Hoagland acquired the land through adverse pos
• Jahn v. Purvis
  145 Fla. 354· Fla.· 1940-12-20 ·cited 12×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that awarded title to defendant Purvis based on adverse possession. The court held that a void deed from a husband attempting to convey homestead property to his wife could not support Purvis's adverse possession claim, an
• Twenty-Third St. Realty Corp. v. City of Miami Beach
  140 Fla. 257· Fla.· 1939-10-13 ·cited 12×
  The Florida Supreme Court addressed whether the City of Miami Beach validly accepted a dedication of streets shown on a 1916 plat and whether the city could later enforce restrictions against the property owners. The court held that the dedication was never formally accepted and
• Bd. of Pub. Instruction of Broward Cnty. v. Boehm
  138 Fla. 548· Fla.· 1939-06-09 ·cited 12×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed an order denying the Board of Public Instruction's motion to strike the defendants' answer in an action seeking mandatory injunction to remove alleged encroachments on school property. The court held that the defendants' answer raised justiciabl
• Gillespie v. The Fla. Mortg. & Inv. Co.
  96 Fla. 35· Fla.· 1928-06-21 ·cited 12×
  Florence Gillespie appealed the dismissal of her suit to quiet title to real property, arguing that the statute of limitations should be suspended due to her infancy at the time her father's cause of action accrued. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed dismissal, holding that disab
• Downing v. Carlton
  76 Fla. 490· Fla.· 1918-11-19 ·cited 12×
  Downing brought an action to quiet title to forty acres of land based on a tax deed. Carlton filed a cross-bill asserting superior title through a warranty deed chain from the Internal Improvement Fund and contending that Downing's tax deed was void because the clerk failed to pr
• Moseley v. Taylor
  68 Fla. 294· Fla.· 1914-11-17 ·cited 12×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a lower court's decision to overrule a demurrer, finding that the complainant's claim was barred by laches. The case clarifies that parties asserting homestead claims must act with reasonable diligence to protect innocent purchasers.
• Johnson v. Rhodes
  62 Fla. 220· Fla.· 1911-06-01 ·cited 12×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed a judgment for the defendant in a land dispute over approximately 200 acres. The defendant successfully proved title by both adverse possession for seven years under color of title and possession for over four years und
• Smith v. Klay
  47 Fla. 216· Fla.· 1904-01-01 ·cited 12×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a jury verdict for plaintiffs claiming title to land, holding that the trial court erred by directing the jury to find for plaintiffs when there was a disputed factual question about whether defendant Smith had fully paid for the property and th
• Reddick v. Meffert
  32 Fla. 409· Fla.· 1893-06-01 ·cited 12×
  The court considered whether a landowner could seek an injunction against timber cutting on their property, even without actual physical possession. The court found that a state statute allowed for such injunctions to protect timbered lands from trespassers, regardless of the own
• Eliza Simmons v. Spratt
  26 Fla. 449· Fla.· 1890-06-01 ·cited 12×
  This case concerns whether a deed of distribution executed by Isaiah D. Hart's executors conveyed legal title to land that was devised to Daniel W. Hart and subsequently inherited by his niece, Lula Dearing. The court held that the deed effectively conveyed Dearing's share throug
• Wm. H. Christy v. Burch
  25 Fla. 942· Fla.· 1889-06-01 ·cited 12×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a decree requiring the Christys to recognize the Burches' title to Florida land conveyed through a lost but proven deed from the Christys to Edward Houstoun, and then from Houstoun to the Burches. The court held that a married woman's deed need
• Kunstsammlungen ZU Weimar v. Elicofon
  678 F.2d 1150· 2d Cir.· 1982-05-05 ·cited 11×
  The court held that the Grand Ducal Art Collection, including the Duerer paintings, constituted public property of the State of Weimar and later the GDR, and that Elicofon did not acquire valid title due to New York law governing stolen art.