Quitclaim on Part of My New Property

My question involves real estate located in the State of: wisconsin

I bought a property with some land a few months ago. There is a neighbour that claims access to my property (he goes through it to access the snowmobile trail).
today he gave us a copy of a quitclaim deed between his wife and her ex-husband partaining that passage in the middle of my property. it was notarized in 1988.
it was never filed (we know that because it did not come up when we bought the house, and the previous owner told us he looked into the public records in 1994 and it was not there, he did not deny access then because he did not want to spend money in a lawyer then)
I think the neighbour just filed it this week after we denied him access, and he reportedly was told the path through our property will come out in the county maps next january .
His property is NOT landlocked. He uses my property just as a shortcut to the snowmobile trail, which he could perfectly access taking the regular trails that go in front of his house, it would take him 10 extra minutes.
He has been doing this for over 20 years.
this guy has left a cemetery of beer cans in my property, so I fear he DUI when on his mobile.
will the bank/real state agency involved in the purchase of the property back us up?
what are our rights here? what are the chances of him getting his way in court?
do we need to lawyer up?

Who was the grantor on the quit claim? You need to look through whether that grantor actually had any ownership interest. Quit claims aren't particularly valid things for granting easements anyhow. Consult a real estate attorney.

Thank you for your reply. We will definetely consult a real state lawyer.

the grantor was the neighbour's ex husband who never had ownership of my property, which to my non legal mind makes no sense at all.
so, how does it work? I can do a quitclaim of somebody's property just because I want to?

A quitclaim conveys whatever interest the grantor has to the grantee. If the grantor has no interest in the real property at issue, that's what's conveyed - nothing.

If the deed has been registered, but the conveyance was by somebody with no interest in the property, you may end up having to bring a "quiet title" action to clear the "cloud" from your title. If the person registering the deed knew that the deed conveyed nothing, it may be possible to pursue a "slander of title" action against the person.

but also realize that the time to develop a prescriptive easement in Wisconsin is 20 years. He may have a valid claim for a prescriptive easement and if willing to fight for it, could very well actually have a legal claim to what that grant was intended to allow.

even if he is not landlocked?

yes. A claim for a prescriptive easement accrues simply by use of some specific property. It has nothing to do with necessity.

thank you for your reply.
I was reading about prescriptive easements and one of the things the dominant has to probe is hostility. the previous owner gave them ORAL permission to cross the land. this guy would be willing to testify for us in court. now, would that be good enaugh?

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Quoting LISA12

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thank you for your reply.
I was reading about prescriptive easements and one of the things the dominant has to probe is hostility. the previous owner gave them ORAL permission to cross the land. this guy would be willing to testify for us in court. now, would that be good enaugh?

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yep, permission shoots a claim dead.

I would start with sending a certified letter demanding he stop his trespasses and littering.

Then, I would start with calling the police and reporting trespass and littering. If you can, take video (strong caution about audio though. Unless you are a party to any conversation, I would suggest not recording audio) of the guy littering and trespassing, it would be good support for such a complaint.

then you need to look into what Aaron suggested previously. This can cause problems later on if you ever sell the house. You might contact your title insurance company to see if they will deal with the qc deed.