AD'VERSE POSSESSION. The possession of lands under a claim of title inconsistent with that of the true owner. Tt originates in the disseisin (q.v.) or ouster of the freehold tenant, and, if continued for the statutory period of limitation, results in the acquisition of a com plete title by the adverse possessor or disseisor. In order to constitute a good adverse possession there must be an actual occupancy (pcdis pos. sessio) of the premises claimed, and an exclu sion of the rightful owner from the whole there of. The possession must be open and notorious, and continued without interruption for the requi site period. It need not be continued by one and the same person, however; a subsequent occu pant who claims by descent, devise, or grant from a former occupant being entitled to tack his pos session to that of his predecessor in order to make up the requisite period of adverse holding. In sonic of the United States it is not even necessary that the subsequent occupant shall show a legal transfer of the property to him so as to con nect his possession with that of the original disseisor in order to tack the two periods. The claim of title required of the adverse possessor is not an assertion of a legal right. hut only an obvious intention to hold as owner. This may be innocent, as under a will or deed which proves to be void, or unintentional, as by the accidental inclusion of another's land with that of the occupant. or it may be with the delibcrato
intention of gaining for .nie's self land belonging to another. The exist( lice of the requisite inten tion. or claim of title, is a question of fact to be determined from the circumstances of the occupancy. In some of the United States cer tain acts (as feneing, improvement of the prem ises, or actual residence) have been prescribed by statute as requisite to prove the intention. In general the claim of the adverse possessor is limited to the land actually oceopied; but where the claim is under color of title (i.e., under a deed, will, or other instrument describ ing a definite parcel of land) the actual oeenpa Hon of a part may be extended by construction to the whole parcel so described. This doctrine of "constructive adverse. possession" is a niodern addition to the law of disseisin, and is peculiar to the United States. The period of time re quired to ripen an adverse possession into a valid and indefeasible title varies greatly, but it is usually fixed by statute at twenty years. (See LIMITATION or AcrioNs.) The subject is fully considered in all the leading treatises on real property. Stephen M. Leake and Joshua Williains are the modern English authorities; Emory Washburn is the leading Atherivan writer, but his treatise should lie read with caution.