Boundary Line Dispute

[stockie]

My question involves real estate located in the State of: Texas.....A barbed wire fence designates the property line of adjoining properties. Our family purchased our side of the land more than 50 years ago. The barbed wire fence was there at that time, and is still there. There have been several owners of the adjoining property over these many years, but none ever questioned the property line. A new owner of the adjoining property has started putting up a new barbed wire fence 35 feet inside our property, without notifying us. The man who leases our pasture told us the new owner claims that is what the survey shows. I believe the property line was established by the "tenure" of the old fence, many years ago, especially with all previous owners of the adjoining property never making mention that there was a dispute of the line. Am I right?

[LandSurveyor]

In Texas, sometimes a fence is just a fence.

You can ask to see the survey, and you can ask the surveyor how the line was determined. If the surveyor retraced the original survey and found reasonable evidence to support his conclusions, it will be up to you to essentially prove him wrong and the fence right. If you do not like the answers you get, or if you get no answers, you should probably be looking to find another surveyor and get another opinion. It might be a good idea to contact a real estate attorney first for a referral to a surveyor he or she recommends. If the surveyors agree, then your theory that the fence established a new boundary will have to be proven in court.