(a) Adverse possession cannot confer or defeat title to land unless:

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Terms Used In Alabama Code 6-5-200

  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
(1) The party setting it up shall show that a deed or other color of title purporting to convey title to him has been duly recorded in the office of the judge of probate of the county in which the land lies for 10 years before the commencement of the action;
(2) He and those through whom he claims shall have annually listed the land for taxation in the proper county for 10 years prior to the commencement of the action if the land is subject to taxation; or
(3) He derives title by descent cast or devise from a predecessor in the title who was in possession of the land.
(b) If the period during which the party’s deed or color of title has been on record, added to the time during which the deeds or color of title of those through whom he claims have been on record, amounts to 10 years, he may defend or prosecute on his adverse possession, and an inadvertent failure to list the land for taxation, any unintentional mistake in the description of the assessment or unintentional omission of any part of it from the assessment during the period of 10 years shall not bar the party of his action or defense on his adverse possession.
(c) This section shall not be construed to affect in any way a title perfect by adverse possession before the adoption of this Code, nor to deprive any person of his rights under Sections defendant‘s suggestion of adverse possession” class=”unlinked-ref” datatype=”S” sessionyear=”2020″ statecd=”AL” title=”6″>6-6-286 through 6-6-289, nor to affect cases involving a question as to boundaries between coterminous owners.
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