Church Property - Part 1

• Key point 7-18. Churches can lose a portion of their property to a neighboring landowner as a result of "adverse possession," if the neighbor openly and adversely occupies church property for the length of time prescribed by state law.

An Arkansas court ruled that a neighboring landowner had a legal right to use a roadway across church property to access a public road because he and his family had used the roadway for a sufficient length of time without objection by the church. In 1984 a family purchased a home on property adjacent to a church. The only access the property had to a road was a gravel driveway across the church's property. In 1996, the family attempted to make some improvements to their property but were unable to acquire financing for the project without receiving a written easement from the church recognizing their right to use the driveway. When the ...