Opinion ID: 889778
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Whether Neighbors gained title to the disputed property through adverse possession.

Text: ¶ 54 Neighbors must prove through clear and convincing evidence that their possession qualified as open, notorious, exclusive, adverse, continuous, and uninterrupted in order to establish ownership through adverse possession. Meadow Lake Estates Homeowners Assn. v. Shoemaker, 2008 MT 41, ¶¶ 36-37, 341 Mont. 345, 178 P.3d 81. Neighbors presented evidence of their properties' tax assessments. Neighbors had paid taxes on the disputed acreage and claimed that they exclusively had used property to the west of Flint Creek. ¶ 55 Neighbors maintain that they have used the disputed property west of Flint Creek for recreation and had chosen to leave the land undisturbed. Ethens presented similar testimony. The court found that both parties in fact had used the disputed property to access Flint Creek. Neighbors failed to provide the Court with clear and convincing evidence that their use of the disputed property west of the west bank of Flint Creek qualified as exclusive. Shoemaker, ¶ 36.