Scituate Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Scituate Title Attorneys

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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Massachusetts

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.

Sometimes, neighbors will decide amongst themselves that the issue isn't worth fighting over, and will go on as they did before. This is particularly likely if the neighbors are on good terms, and the difference between their use of the land, and the actual property lines, is small (say, a few feet or less). This is an ideal situation, at least in the short term. It can, however, cause problems in the future - preventing a neighbor from enforcing the actual property lines, if they suddenly have a reason to do so.

Therefore, neighbors more often end up in some type of legal dispute over whether and to what extent the property lines should be enforced. Obviously, when the property lines are changed, one neighbor wins, and the other loses. It should come as no surprise, then, that legal fights are often the result.

In addition to the boundary disputes mentioned above, land owners and buyers in Scituate, Massachusetts 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 disagreement 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 usually 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 Scituate, Massachusetts

One common resolution for boundary disputes is a court re-drawing the boundaries to fit with what the assumptions that the neighbors were operating under before the error was discovered. This usually happens when both parties were, for many years, aware of the actual property boundaries, and did nothing about it. Furthermore, if the neighbor who has been encroaching onto the other neighbor's land has made costly improvements thereto, this weighs in favor of that neighbor, since changing the property lines would impose significant hardship on that neighbor.

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 Scituate, Massachusetts, 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.

In general, the person who first recorded the deed at the appropriate government office will be the one who the court deems to own the land, if they didn't have any reason to know about the existence of the other deed, or other sale, or whatever else gave rise to the title dispute.

What Can A Scituate, Massachusetts Attorney Do?

Because of the high stakes, going it alone in a boundary or title dispute is rarely advisable. Therefore, it's almost always a good idea to get a good Scituate, Massachusetts real estate attorney to help you with such legal problems.

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Life in Scituate

Scituate, Massachusetts is a city in Plymouth County, on Cape Cod. It has a population of about 18,000 people.

Scituate was originally settled by a group of people from Plymouth in 1627. Since its founding, Scituate's economy and culture revolved around fishing. The rich waters off of New England provided a seemingly-limitless food source. While commercial fishing still takes place, depleted stocks, and the resulting limits, have reduced its economic importance.

Like much of the Cape Cod area, Scituate has become a destination for wealthy visitors, many of whom maintain homes in the area. Visitors from the world over are drawn to its natural beauty, and unique New England Charm.

Scituate is a fairly affluent community, with the median household income of permanent residents being about ,000, and only about 2% (much lower than the national average) of the population living below the poverty line.

If you live in Scituate, Massachusetts, and are looking for an attorney, you're in luck. There are many Scituate, Massachusetts lawyers who can handle whatever legal issue a person is likely to face. If you have any legal problems, a Scituate, Massachusetts attorney is the person to call.

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