Carpenter v. Cobb

293 So. 2d 888
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 22, 1974
Docket9799
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 293 So. 2d 888 (Carpenter v. Cobb) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carpenter v. Cobb, 293 So. 2d 888 (La. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

293 So.2d 888 (1974)

Ruby Lee CARPENTER et al.
v.
M. E. COBB et al.

No. 9799.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

April 22, 1974.

*889 Robert E. Tillery and Stanford O. Bardwell, Jr., Baton Rouge, for appellants.

Ronald L. Causey, Baton Rouge, for M. E. Cobb.

Donald C. Theriot, Baton Rouge, for Turnley and Devall.

Before SARTAIN, BAILES and VERON, JJ.

VERON, Judge.

Plaintiffs in this suit have appealed from an adverse judgment decreeing that they failed to establish the requisites for thirty-year prescription of a strip of land belonging to defendants. The trial court found that plaintiffs had failed to proved the necessary adverse possession of the property in question. Specifically, it was held that plaintiffs did not show a clear intent to possess the land as owners, and that, assuming the intent had been shown, their possession was continually interrupted "since the true owner continued to use the property in an uninhibited manner".

The trial judge has written a well-reasoned opinion covering the above issues and we adopt that portion of his opinion here as a portion of our opinion:

"This litigation arises fundamentally from a boundary dispute between landowners of contiguous estates located in the Parish of East Baton Rouge. The issue is the ownership of a disputed strip of land running in a westerly direction from the Sullivan Road between plaintiffs' and defendant's lands. The Carpenter (the children being the heirs of W. R. Davis) property is situated on the north side of the disputed strip, whereas the defendant's land is located on the southside. Both parties to the suit trace their title to a common ancestor, W. H. Vaughn. At his death, the property was divided between two of his heirs at the same boundary now in controversy. It appears that about 1920 a fence was constructed between these parcels by W. C. Bourke, defendant's ancestor in title. Near the midway point of this fence, there was a gap—a passage—through the fence which served as a gate for access to Bourke's property. Later, around 1937, another fence was constructed by W. R. Davis (Mrs. Ruby Lee Carpenter's first husband) for a short distance from Sullivan Road and several feet north of the first fence. Why the second fence was built has not been determined by the evidence, but in any event, it does not seem to have any significance toward the resolution of the dispute. Between these two fences, a lane or path developed, and was commonly used by the Davises, their tenants, and the Bourkes.

"In 1967, Cobb purchased his property and shortly thereafter, during the spring of 1968, he removed a part of the original fence located in the front portion of the property and which extended back to the gap previonsly described. While the removal of the fence itself did not prompt hard feelings between the respective landowners, the meanderings of cattle belonging to Mrs. Carpenter and her son, Bobbie Lee Davis, onto Cobb's lands stimulated antagonism between the parties, finally culminating in this suit brought by Mrs. Carpenter and her children seeking to have the boundary line between the respective properties established.

*890 "Initially, the plaintiffs were under the impression that the Bourke fence marked the correct boundary line according to their title. Cobb, on the other hand, contended that the fence did not divide the properties and rested entirely within the property belonging to his estate. However, concurrent with the filing of their petition, the plaintiffs requested that the Court appoint a surveyor to make a survey of the property, and particularly to establish the boundary line between the property. Accordingly, the Court appointed James Joffrion, a Civil Engineer to prepare the survey. His survey showed that according to the titles of the parties the fence line was not the proper boundary between the parties and that the land in dispute belonged to the defendant Cobb. (See Exhibit D-J) The petitioners, while admitting the correctness of the survey, now contend that they have acquired the subject strip by prescription and the fence is the true boundary between the properties.

"There are three ways in which one may acquire a prescriptive title to property. The first is provided by Civil Code Article 3478:

`He who acquires an immovable in good faith and by just title prescribes for it in ten years.' [..."]

"It is obvious however, that the petitioners cannot meet the requirements necessary to avail themselves of this article or means of prescription because they did not have just title to the strip of land in dispute. In this context, Civil Code Article 3483 provides:

`To be able to acquire by the species of prescription mentioned in this paragraph, a legal and transferable title of ownership in the possessor is necessary; this is what is called in law a just title.'

"It is clear, therefore, that one cannot, by the prescription of ten years, acquire property not embraced within the title upon which the plea of prescription is founded. Carlisle v. Graves, 64 So.2d 456 (La.App. 2nd Cir. 1953). As the Joffrion survey indicates, plaintiffs' title did not describe the disputed property.

"The second possible means of acquisition is provided by Civil Code Article 3499 dealing with thirty year prescription:

`The ownership of immovables is prescribed for by thirty years without any need of title or possession in good faith.'

"Civil Code Article 3493 permits `tacking' of one possessive period of a prior author in title by a subsequent possessor in order to aggregate thirty years. However, the transferees acquisition by prescription is limited to the transferred land in the title, and not all the land actually possessed. Stutson v. McGee, 13 So.2d 403 (1961). [241 La. 646, 130 So.2d 403 (1961)] In the present case, therefore, the plaintiffs may not `tack' the possession of their predecessors in title to their own possession to acquire by thirty years prescription under Article 3499 because as mentioned above, the disputed land was not described in their title. (Exhibit P-B)

"Nevertheless, the petitioners have asserted an additional ground for acquisition by alleging that a long standing physical boundary existed between the properties. This contention is supported by authority found in Civil Code Article 852 under the chapter on the fixing of boundaries. This article does not contemplate acquisition of the land of another per se by thirty years possession. It simply seeks to perserve the integrity of well defined visible boundaries established for more than thirty years. In comprehensively reviewing the law dealing with the establishment of boundary lines, the Supreme Court, in the landmark case of Sessum v. Hemperley, 96 So.2d 832 [233 La. 444, 96 So.2d 832 (1957)] stated:

`It is fundamental that resort to an action in boundary has for its objective the physical separation of one estate from another and to thereby mark the limits of each by visible bounds. LSA-C.C. Art. 826. The *891 object sought to be attained may be accomplished either judicially or extra judicially. LSA-C.C. Art. 832.

`An action in boundary may be resorted to when any one of the following three situations exists: (1) where a boundary line has never been established to separate the contiguous estates; (2) where although once established or the estates separated, the physical bounds have been completely eradicated; and (3) where there has been an incorrect fixing of the boundaries. LSA-C.C. Arts. 823, 853.

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Related

Honeycutt v. Bourg
588 So. 2d 1204 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1991)
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293 So. 2d 888, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carpenter-v-cobb-lactapp-1974.