A history of sloppy conveyancing may prompt adjoining owners to get together and agree that such and such a line was the boundary that their predecessors had in mind. As no transfer of land is intended (compare an agreement to alter a boundary), there are no formal requirements, statutory or otherwise.
The decision in Stephenson v Johnson [2000] EGCS 92 will come as good news to a person who, being unable to point to a particular document or meeting, can only invite the court to infer such an agreement from a course of conduct over a period of time. Since such agreements are looked upon as “acts of peace”, an owner who has taken pains to gather appropriate evidence should find that the tide is running in his favour.
For information about the way in which such matters may eventually be dealt with under the Land Regisration Act 2002, see
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A history of sloppy conveyancing may prompt adjoining owners to get together and agree that such and such a line was the boundary that their predecessors had in mind. As no transfer of land is intended (compare an agreement to alter a boundary), there are no formal requirements, statutory or otherwise.
The decision in Stephenson v Johnson [2000] EGCS 92 will come as good news to a person who, being unable to point to a particular document or meeting, can only invite the court to infer such an agreement from a course of conduct over a period of time. Since such agreements are looked upon as “acts of peace”, an owner who has taken pains to gather appropriate evidence should find that the tide is running in his favour.
For information about the way in which such matters may eventually be dealt with under the Land Regisration Act 2002, see New legislation raises great expectations Estates Gazette 21 September 2002, p199.
