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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Wyoming

Occasionally, neighbors will discover that the way they've been using their land doesn't conform with the property lines that the local government has on record. When they find out, the situation has to be resolved somehow. In such cases, there is usually a winner and a loser, so conflict is likely to arise.

Ideally, the neighbors could just ignore the situation, and go on as they had before, effectively agreeing to change the property lines to reflect their past use. This doesn't always happen, however. Additionally, such a course of action is not free of issues, and could eventually result in ownership of the land legally changing to reflect the past use, even if one of the neighbors opposes this.

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 Casper, Wyoming 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 conflict 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 typically 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 Casper, Wyoming

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 very change the position of either neighbor, and is sometimes the fairest result. This is most frequently 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.

In the case of disputes over title, courts have to figure out who owns a particular piece of real property. Courts will consider many factors, and there are some complicated and (in some cases) antiquated legal issues that guide Casper, Wyoming courts on these matters.

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 Casper, Wyoming Attorney Do?

The legal issues surrounding title and boundary disputes can get pretty intricate, and there are typically very high stakes involved (most people think their land is pretty important). For that reason, a good Casper, Wyoming real estate attorney will prove invaluable if such a dispute arises.

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Life in Casper

Casper is located in Natrona County, Wyoming. Surrounding areas include the Salt Creek Oil Field, Casper Mountain, Laramie Mountain Range and North Platte River. The city's nickname is "The Oil City" because it has a history of being known as an "oil boomtown."

Per the nickname, the economy greatly depends on oil. Crede oil was discovered in the 1890s in this region. Therefore, the top employer in the area is Sinclair Oil Corporation. Although not included in the top employers list, the legal force is also strong in Casper because there are many attorney-residents who actively practice and run small law offices. These offices provide personalized legal services and the attorneys are capable to handle every legal need of residents.

Popular attractions include the Fort Caspar Museum and Historic Site, the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Tate Geological Museum, and Werner Wildlife Museum.

Overall, Casper is a wonderful place to visit and live!

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Casper Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Casper Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Wyoming

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Casper, Wyoming