The Arrechea Family Trust, et al. v. Adams
| Docket Number: | 2005-CA-01118-COA Linked Case(s): 2005-CA-01118-COA ; 2005-CT-01118-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 10-24-2006 Opinion Author: MYERS, P.J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Real property - Prescriptive easement Judge(s) Concurring: KING, C.J., LEE, P.J., SOUTHWICK, IRVING, CHANDLER, GRIFFIS, BARNES, AND ISHEE, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): ROBERTS, J. Procedural History: Bench Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - REAL PROPERTY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 05-16-2005 Appealed from: Lafayette County Chancery Court Judge: Edwin Hayes Roberts, Jr. Disposition: GRANTED APPELLEE A FIFTEEN FOOT PRESCRIPTIVE EASEMENT ACROSS THE PROPERTY OF THE APPELLANT Case Number: 2004-386R |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | THE ARRECHEA FAMILY TRUST, JOHN F.
ARRECHEA AND LOIS M. ARRECHEA, COTRUSTEES,
DAVID M. REED AND KATHERINE A.
REED |
DAVID A. BURNS |
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| Appellee: | JOHN PALMER ADAMS | THOMAS J. SUSZEK STEPHAN L. MCDAVID JONATHAN MASTERS |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Real property - Prescriptive easement |
| Summary of the Facts: | The Chancery Court of Lafayette County awarded John Palmer Adams a prescriptive easement across the property of the Arrechea Family Trust for ingress and egress to the property he purchased from the Estate of Johnnie Jackson. The Trust appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | A prescriptive easement is created when there has been ten years of use that is open, notorious, and visible; hostile; under a claim of ownership; exclusive; peaceful; and continuous and uninterrupted. Consent for use of property from the record title owner will make the use permissive and not adverse, as required for a prescriptive easement. Neither Adams nor his predecessor in title, Jackson, attempted to hide the use of the driveway as a means of ingress and egress to the property. Jackson used the easement from 1959 until his death in 1999, and most importantly between the years of 1959 and 1969 without consent from the record title owner. Several affidavits attested that the owners of the servient property, including the Arrecheas’ predecessors in title, were aware of Jackson’s open and visible use of the drive. No evidence was presented that demonstrated that Jackson or Adams made a request for permission to use the easement for ingress and egress to the property during the applicable periods of time for prescription. The evidence showed that Jackson had used the easement as his own by giving permission to others to use the easement in order to reach his home. The evidence presented through testimony, survey plats, and other observations to the lower court concerning the use of the easement support the conclusion that the easement was used strictly by Adam’s predecessor, Jackson, and presently by Adams as a driveway and not for public use. No evidence is presented establishing a non-peaceful existence between the Trust and Adams and their respective predecessors in title. The evidence clearly demonstrated that the easement had been in use for a ten year period. Thus, Adams presented adequate proof that the use of the easement was open, notorious and visible; hostile; under claim of ownership; exclusive; peaceful; and continuous and uninterrupted for ten years. |
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