Opinion ID: 2623510
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: boundary by acquiescence claim

Text: ¶ 2 The first plot in dispute is a small triangle of land located on the north side of the 111.5 rod mark in Section 23 of Box Elder County. [1] The chain of title to this triangle and the surrounding property is as follows: Michael C. Ericksen acquired title to a large parcel of land in Section 23 of Box Elder County in 1901; in 1909, Michael conveyed the property north of the 111.5 rod mark (the Ericksen property) to Joseph Ericksen, who in turn deeded the property to his son and daughter-in-law, Durell and Leola J. Ericksen, on January 19, 1965; Durell Ericksen passed away in 1978, and his wife, Leola, transferred the property to the Partnership in 1987 before she passed away in 1990. ¶ 3 On November 7, 1938, Michael Ericksen conveyed the portion of the property south of the 111.5 rod mark (the Veibell property) to James Weibell, [2] father of Alton Veibell. The 1938 deed contained the following property description: Beginning at a point 111.5 rods South of the northwest corner of the Northeast Quarter of Section 23, Township 12 North, range 2 West of the Salt Lake Meridian, running thence South 208.5 rods; thence East 160 rods; thence North 208.5 rods; thence West 160 rods to the place of beginning, containing 108.5 acres. Alton Veibell obtained legal title to this property in 1958. The four boundaries of the Veibell property are along straight lines with ninety-degree angles. The 111.5 rod mark, running from east to west, is the record boundary separating the Veibell property from the Ericksen property to the north. ¶ 4 Since before 1938, a diagonal fence (the diagonal fence) has run the width of the property along the boundary between the Ericksen and Veibell properties. The west end of the fence begins at a position south of the 111.5 rod mark on the Veibell property. The fence runs northeast, crosses the rod mark about half way down the property line, and continues onto the Ericksen property north of the 111.5 rod mark. For decades, the Ericksens and Veibells treated this fence, not the 111.5 rod mark, as the boundary between their respective properties. ¶ 5 The location of the diagonal fence and the record boundary line create two triangles of land that are in dispute. The Veibells are the record owners of the west triangle, but it is occupied by the Ericksens. The east triangle is owned by the Ericksens, but it is occupied by the Veibells. ¶ 6 The Ericksens have farmed up to the fence since the late 1930s. Durell Ericksen was not alive to testify at trial as to his belief concerning the boundary line. However his brother, Bryce Ericksen, who helped farm the family's land until the early 1960s, testified that he believed that the fence was the true boundary line. ¶ 7 James Weibell, Alton Veibell's father, farmed the Veibell property up to the fence from the 1920s until he passed away in 1951. His son, Alton, continued farming the land up to the fence until the time of trial. Alton Veibell testified that he believed the diagonal fence represented the true boundary line up until 1981, when he had his property surveyed. There is no indication in the record that either family ever objected to the fence as a boundary prior to the 1990s. ¶ 8 While Veibell testified that he did not discover the record boundary was not the fence line until 1981, there is some evidence that as early as 1979, he may have realized that the fence was not the record boundary. In 1979, Veibell sold a lot to his son on the north end of his property that was located precisely on the record boundary, not along the fence line. In 1981, however, Veibell inconsistently deeded a right-of-way across the east triangle, the property he did not own, to Gregory Collings. ¶ 9 In 1999, Alton Veibell filed an action to quiet title in the east triangle.