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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Missouri

If you discover that you and your neighbor's use of your respective properties do not reflect the legal property lines, this can create a problem.

In these examples, neighbors usually have the option to resolve the dispute by themselves. If the neighbors are on amicable terms with each other, and the dispute is minor (for example, it only contains a difference of a couple feet), and enforcing the property lines would be a major inconvenience for one or both of the neighbors, they'll probably decide to just go on as they had before. This is a viable option, to be sure, but it's not a perfect one: if, sometime down the road, one of the neighbors wants to attempt to enforce the legal boundaries, they might find themselves unable to do so.

However, it's more common for the neighbor whose land is being encroached upon by the other neighbor to seek enforcement of the legal property lines. The other neighbor will almost certainly want to use the property as he had been, since enforcing the legal property lines would cause him to lose some of "his" land.

In addition to the boundary disputes mentioned above, land owners and buyers in Chesterfield, Missouri should also be aware of the possibility of a title dispute. Rather than being a disagreement over the exact boundaries between two pieces of land, a title dispute is a dispute over who actually owns an entire plot of land. Uncertainty over ownership of land can come up more often than you might think, and is most often caused by a buyer's failure to correctly record a deed, or the accidental loss or destruction of a deed. Sometimes, however, these disputes can be more dishonest in origin: on occasion, unscrupulous sellers of land will attempt to sell the same parcel to more than one person. Obviously, once you've sold land to one person, you can't sell the same land to someone else, as you no longer own it. These tricksters know this, but are attempting to gain a large amount of money through the multiple sales. Once this is done, they normally attempt to flee the state or country before the buyers discovery they've been duped. This leaves it up to the buyers to figure out amongst themselves who owns the land.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Chesterfield, Missouri

Courts have many tools at their disposal to resolve boundary disputes. One way is to simply re-draw the property lines to reflect how the neighbors had been using the land before the discrepancy was discovered. This doesn't truly change the position of either neighbor, and is sometimes the fairest result. This is most commonly done because the neighbors were both aware of the legal property lines, and that they differed from how they were using the land, and went on using the land anyway.

However, a court might also enforce the legal property boundaries, especially if failing to do so would place a significant burden on the owner of the encroached-upon land. If the owner of the encroaching land knew of the encroachment, and concealed it from his neighbor, this fact would also weigh heavily in favor of enforcing the legal property lines.

When a title dispute comes up in Chesterfield, Missouri, the court has to apply some pretty complex legal and equitable principles. These rules are sometimes fairly obscure, mainly because they can trace their origins back hundreds of years, to the common-law courts of England. However, a close examination of them reveals their basic goal: deciding ownership disputes based on longstanding conceptions of basic fairness.

Suffice to say, you'll want the help of an expert on this subject. In general, however, you should know that courts almost always rule in favor of the buyer who first recorded the deed, AND (not "or") didn't have knowledge of any prior conveyances. This protects the buyer who was most diligent in vindicating his own rights, and acted in good faith (obviously, a buyer who knew about a prior sale of the same land isn't acting honestly).

What Can A Chesterfield, Missouri Attorney Do?

Real property disputes typically involve very old legal principles that can even confound lawyers who aren't experts in real estate law. For that reason, you should almost always hire an expert Chesterfield, Missouri real estate attorney, who will help you navigate these murky legal waters.

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Life in Chesterfield

Chesterfield, Missouri is a city of approximately 47,000 people.

It is located a relatively short distance (about 25 miles) west of St. Louis, Missouri, the second-largest city in the state. This allows easy access to the many attractions St. Louis offers, such as fine dining, theater, art museums, and sporting events.

For those who have jobs in St. Louis, but prefer to live in a smaller, quieter town, Chesterfield is a good option to consider. Its quiet, suburban character makes it a good, safe place to settle down and raise a family. However, if you still have an itch for the city life, its close proximity to St. Louis means you'll be able to enjoy the excitement a large city has to offer, pretty much whenever you want.

Chesterfield, Missouri is also a very affluent community - with a median family income of over ,000, and a per capita income of over ,000. Less than 3% of the population of Chesterfield lives below the poverty line. It should come as no surprise, then, that the people who live in Chesterfield tend to be very successful and well-educated.

Accordingly, Chesterfield, Missouri lawyers have to be ready to take on some fairly sophisticated cases. This means that, when you hire a Chesterfield, Missouri attorney, it's a near certainty that they'll be able to handle whatever legal issues you can throw at them.

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Chesterfield Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Chesterfield Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Missouri

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Chesterfield, Missouri