Adverse Possession in Alaska: Seven Years With a Deed, Ten With an Honest Mistake
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Alaska · Last updated October 5, 2026
When a person occupies land that belongs to somebody else for long enough, and in the way the statute describes, the law can transfer the title to them. That is adverse possession, and Alaska is one of the few states that runs two separate clocks for it. Uninterrupted adverse notorious possession under color and claim of title for seven years or more is conclusively presumed to give title. So is uninterrupted adverse notorious possession for 10 years or more because of a good faith but mistaken belief that the land lies within the boundaries of adjacent real property owned by the claimant (AS 09.45.052(a)). Those are the only two routes the section states, and the longer one carries a good faith requirement the shorter one does not. Notice what is missing. Searching the whole of the quiet title, land boundaries and adverse possession article, AS 09.45.010 through 09.45.052, plus the limitations sections at AS 09.10.010 through 09.10.070, turns up no mention of property tax at all. Alaska attaches no tax element to a claim and gives no credit for having paid. The words hostile, exclusive and continuous are absent too. Alaska's own adjectives are uninterrupted, adverse and notorious. Public land is carved out: the presumption of title does not run against the state or the United States, and Mental Health Trust land counts as state land (AS 09.45.052(a)). A possessor goes to court under AS 09.45.010 to determine the competing claim. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Alaska
Which side of the boundary question are you on?
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How long does adverse possession take in Alaska?
Seven years or ten, depending on the route. Uninterrupted adverse notorious possession under color and claim of title needs seven years or more. Possession without an instrument needs 10 years or more plus a good faith but mistaken belief that the land lies within the boundaries of adjacent property the claimant owns (AS 09.45.052(a)).
Do property taxes matter for an adverse possession claim in Alaska?
No. The word tax does not appear anywhere in Alaska's quiet title, land boundaries and adverse possession article, AS 09.45.010 through 09.45.052, or in the limitations sections at AS 09.10.010 through 09.10.070. Alaska attaches no tax element and gives no shorter period for having paid.
Which words does the Alaska adverse possession statute actually use?
Three adjectives: uninterrupted, adverse and notorious. AS 09.45.052(a) speaks of uninterrupted adverse notorious possession of real property, and says qualifying possession is conclusively presumed to give title except as against the state or the United States. Hostile, exclusive and continuous appear nowhere in the section.
Can state owned land in Alaska be taken by adverse possession?
No. The conclusive presumption of title under AS 09.45.052(a) applies except as against the state or the United States, and for that purpose land in the trust established by the Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act of 1956 counts as land owned by the state. Public ownership is carved out of the presumption.
Alaska adverse possession at a glance
Adverse possession describes how title to land can pass from the record owner to a person who has openly occupied it for the number of years the statute names. Alaska names two numbers in one sentence. Possession under color and claim of title needs seven years or more, while possession without an instrument needs 10 years or more and a good faith but mistaken belief that the ground lies inside the boundaries of adjacent land the claimant owns (AS 09.45.052(a)). Alaska then leaves out the elements other states lean on. No property tax requirement appears anywhere in the article, and the statutory adjectives are uninterrupted, adverse and notorious rather than hostile, exclusive and continuous. The state and the United States are outside the presumption entirely.
A graveled turnaround twelve feet over a Mat-Su lot line
Consider a wood shed and a graveled turnaround built in 2016 roughly twelve feet across a lot line in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, put there because the owner read the plat wrong and believed the corner pin sat further out. Nine seasons of use is not yet the 10 years that AS 09.45.052(a) asks of possession resting on a good faith but mistaken belief about an adjacent boundary, and there is no instrument covering that twelve feet, so the seven year route under color and claim of title is not in play. Then the neighbour's deed turns up recorded under AS 40.17, which lets them sue at any time to quiet title or eject (AS 09.10.030(b)). How those provisions interact is a question for the court.
Relevant Laws
AS 09.45.052 (adverse possession, both periods)
Subsection (a) provides that uninterrupted adverse notorious possession under colour and claim of title for seven years or more, or uninterrupted adverse notorious possession for 10 years or more because of a good faith but mistaken belief that the property lies within the boundaries of adjacent property owned by the claimant, is conclusively presumed to give title, except as against the state or the United States, with Alaska Mental Health Trust land treated as state land. Subsection (b) addresses equitable title under Public Land Order 1613. Subsections (c) and (d) vest utility easements and public access interests after 10 years or more of use.
AS 09.10.030 (actions to recover real property, and the open window for recorded owners)
Subsection (a) bars an action for the recovery of real property or its possession unless commenced within 10 years, and requires the plaintiff, an ancestor, predecessor or grantor to have been seized or possessed within those 10 years. Subsection (b) allows an action at any time by a person whose ownership interest in the property is recorded under AS 40.17, to quiet title to the property or to eject a person from it.
AS 09.45.010 (action to quiet title)
Provides that a person in possession of real property, or a tenant of that person, may bring an action against another who claims an adverse estate or interest in the property for the purpose of determining the claim.
AS 09.45.020 (action to establish boundaries)
Provides that when a dispute exists between two or more owners of adjacent or contiguous lands concerning the boundary lines of their lands, an owner may bring an action to have the dispute determined and the boundary lines ascertained and marked.
AS 09.45.030, 09.45.040 and 09.45.050 (referees who mark the line)
Require the court in a boundary action to appoint three disinterested referees, one of whom is a surveyor, to establish and mark the lines as the court determines them, require the referees to file a written oath and then a report describing the location of the marks, and allow the court to confirm, modify or set aside that report.
AS 09.45.015 (land adjoining a highway reservation)
Provides that a conveyance made after April 7, 1958 of land then adjoining a highway reservation listed in section 1 of Public Land Order 1613 is presumed to have conveyed land up to the centre line of the highway, subject to reservations and easements created by Public Land Orders 601 and 1613, and places the burden of proof on the person denying that effect.
Enrolled SB 93, 23rd Alaska Legislature (2003)
The session law that produced the current wording. Section 1 and section 2 rewrote AS 09.10.030 and added the open window for recorded owners, section 3 added the 10 year good faith mistaken boundary route to AS 09.45.052(a), and section 4 added the utility easement and public access subsections. Section 5 provides that the amended limitation applies to actions not already barred before the Act took effect.
Regional Variances
Alaska adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period
Two periods in one sentence. Seven years or more of uninterrupted adverse notorious possession under colour and claim of title, or 10 years or more of the same possession resting on a good faith but mistaken belief about an adjacent boundary (AS 09.45.052(a)).
Property taxes
Irrelevant. The word tax appears nowhere in AS 09.45.010 through 09.45.052 or in AS 09.10.010 through 09.10.070. Alaska imposes no tax element and offers no shorter period to a claimant who paid the taxes.
Colour of title
Shortens the clock from 10 years to seven (AS 09.45.052(a)). The statute uses the phrase colour and claim of title without defining it, so what qualifies as an instrument is left to a licensed attorney and the court.
Statutory wording of the elements
Uninterrupted, adverse and notorious. Those are the three adjectives AS 09.45.052(a) uses. Hostile, exclusive and continuous do not appear in the section. The effect clause is unusually strong: qualifying possession is conclusively presumed to give title.
Good faith
Required on the 10 year route only. It must be a good faith but mistaken belief that the real property lies within the boundaries of adjacent real property owned by the adverse claimant (AS 09.45.052(a)). The seven year route states no good faith requirement.
Acreage cap
None. No acreage limit appears anywhere in Alaska's quiet title, land boundaries and adverse possession article or in the limitations sections that govern actions to recover real property.
Government owned land
Carved out. The conclusive presumption applies except as against the state or the United States, and Alaska Mental Health Trust land is treated as state land (AS 09.45.052(a)). Public utilities and the public can gain interests the other way under AS 09.45.052(c) and (d).
Perfecting title
An action to quiet title by a person in possession, or their tenant, against another claiming an adverse estate or interest (AS 09.45.010), or an action to establish boundaries in which three disinterested referees, one a surveyor, mark the line (AS 09.45.020 and 09.45.030).
The owner's open window
A record owner whose ownership interest is recorded under AS 40.17 may bring an action at any time to quiet title to the property or to eject a person from it (AS 09.10.030(b)). The ordinary 10 year bar in AS 09.10.030(a) applies only outside that subsection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Alaska guides
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