land dispute

caroline00 · #1 09/01/04, 07:51 AM

friends of ours have just been told by the cemetary board that part of thier land is deeded to the cemetary. Its a surprise to them.

How do you find out what has happened and when?

They went to the title company and got a plat map and to the assessors office and got one. They are both different. It appears according to the maps that they had more land pre2000 than they have now.

About 2000 or so, thier nextdoor neighbor (the people on the other side of the disputed land) put thier land in trust to a neighbor and went to a retirement property. I'm thinking since they were *giving* away property, it could have been them doing it and the land in dispute might be a couple of acres to the right of the disputed land. how do you find out?

To muddy the waters, I remember just before we moved here, in 1999, the cemetary board asked our friends if they could use a bit of thier land (now the disputed land) to store gravel. Consent was given but I havent seen any gravel stored there.

Thanks

SteveD(TX) · #2 09/01/04, 08:33 AM

Get the title company to do a title search. You will need the deed to the property and legal description.

Mike in Pa · #3 09/01/04, 08:39 AM

Unfortunately they should probably see an attorney that specializes in this ... unfortunate because of $$$. I would first go to back records of deed holders in the county courthouse, tax maps etc. See exactly where the problem arose. Ask to see the cemetary's deed too maybe.

caroline00 · #4 09/01/04, 08:50 AM

so far the cemetary hasnt been able to produce a deed....

mary,tx · #5 09/01/04, 08:56 AM

If they have title insurance, let the title insurance lawyers fight this fight. I wouldn't pay for it myself.
Maybe when your friends gave permission to have that gravel put there, someone along the line misunderstood and just thought that was cemetary land. They can't just take it without a document.
mary

mary,tx · #6 09/01/04, 08:57 AM

btw, the assessor's office should be able to tell you by what documentation they show the land in the name of the cemetary. (It should actually be on the plat.)
mary

caroline00 · #7 09/01/04, 10:58 AM

it is on the 2000 plat. not on the prevous one. They bought in about 1994-5

boxwoods · #8 09/01/04, 12:19 PM

just go to the county clerks office and have one of the gals help ya bring up the deeds, and go back to where the property discription changes, if it does so.
If the deed descriptions don't change, then they are wrong. make copies of all the descriptions.

mikell · #9 09/01/04, 12:24 PM

Let the title company handle it thats their job.

mikell

fordy · #10 09/01/04, 01:12 PM

..............If, the same surveyor , was used for all the conveyences and prepared ALL the Meets and Bounds descriptions he\they should have Survey Plats of the area in question . He, should have ALSO caught any discrepencies , assuming there were some , when he shot the corners in for the change in ownership . .........fordy.....

agmantoo · #11 09/01/04, 03:58 PM

Take your friends deed description and map out the property. If the resultant plot closes, then there should not be an error. If the resultant plot does not close be prepared to do some research. Go back on the disputed areas earlier deeds and determine if their deed closes. If that deed does not close then that is where the error probably lies. The deed with the oldest date that closes when plotted will typically be the one honored in a dispute.

whodunit · #12 09/01/04, 04:07 PM

I am by no means an expert, but isn't that what a "title search" is for when someone purchases a property. I've also heard of "title insurance" which I thought was there in the possibility that the title company makes a mistake and there is a claim on your property.

I would also consult with your real estate agent who helped you with the purchase.

Windy in Kansas · #13 09/01/04, 05:01 PM

This seems simple to me. "friends of ours have just been told by the cemetary board that part of thier land is deeded to the cemetary. Its a surprise to them."

We have a statement of error to start with. Part of their land is deeded to the cemetery.
It can't be a surprise to them if they didn't deed it to the cemetery. The cemetery can't own "their land" without this having been done.

What I suspect is that they bought an unsurveyed property, and that there is a portion of what they thought was theirs that the cemetery owns. It may even be within the confines of their fence, but probably they never did own this portion even if they did think so.

That is why land should be surveyed at time of purchase, and why an attorney should represent each party and should examine the survey and legal descriptions for starters.

Bottom line in my opinion---what they actually bought is still theirs. What the cemetery has a LEGAL deed to is still theirs.