Adverse Possession in Maine: Twenty Years, and Which Kind of Land It Is
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Maine · Last updated October 5, 2026
Maine answers the possession question by asking first what kind of land you are standing on. Adverse possession is the rule under which a person who openly occupies land belonging to someone else becomes its legal owner after a set number of years of occupation that meets every statutory requirement. The Maine period is twenty years: no person may commence any real or mixed action for the recovery of lands, or make an entry on them, unless within twenty years after the right to do so first accrued, or within twenty years after the claimant or those under whom the claimant claims were seized or possessed, except as provided in the subchapter (14 M.R.S. 801). Those exceptions are where Maine gets specific. Possession need not be fenced or rendered inaccessible by water; it is enough that the possession, occupation and improvement are open, notorious and comporting with the ordinary management of a farm, even where the woodlot used with that farm is not enclosed (14 M.R.S. 810). A mistaken belief about where the true boundary runs does not defeat a claim, which Maine fixed by statute in 1993 (14 M.R.S. 810-A). Taxes matter in exactly one situation. For uncultivated land inside a place incorporated for any purpose, held under recorded deeds, the claimant must also have paid all taxes assessed on the land for the twenty years (14 M.R.S. 816). Nothing else in the chapter mentions taxes. Title is confirmed through the quiet title chapter, which requires four years of uninterrupted possession before the action (14 M.R.S. 6651). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Maine
Which side of the boundary question are you on?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
How long does adverse possession take in Maine?
Twenty years. No person may commence a real or mixed action for the recovery of lands, or make an entry on them, unless within twenty years after the right to do so first accrued, or within twenty years after that person or those under whom they claim were seized or possessed of the premises (14 M.R.S. 801).
Do you have to pay the property taxes to claim adverse possession in Maine?
Only for one category of land. Uncultivated land in a place incorporated for any purpose, claimed under recorded deeds, also requires that all taxes assessed on it were paid during the twenty years (14 M.R.S. 816). No other section of the limitation chapter mentions taxes at all.
Does Maine land have to be fenced for possession to count?
No. Such lands need not be surrounded with fences or rendered inaccessible by water. It is sufficient if the possession, occupation and improvement are open, notorious and comporting with the ordinary management of a farm, even where the woodland used with that farm as a woodlot is not enclosed (14 M.R.S. 810).
What if the Maine occupant was simply wrong about the boundary line?
Being wrong does not sink the claim. If a person takes possession of land by mistake as to the location of the true boundary line, the possessor's mistaken belief does not defeat a claim of adverse possession (14 M.R.S. 810-A). Maine put that answer in statute in 1993 and amended it in 2009.
Maine adverse possession at a glance
Adverse possession means becoming the legal owner of land belonging to someone else by occupying it openly for the full period the statute sets, in the manner the statute requires. Maine sets that period at twenty years (14 M.R.S. 801), then writes separate rules for the land types it actually has. A farm woodlot need not be enclosed to count (14 M.R.S. 810). Wild land can be protected outright by a sheriff-served notice to quit, recorded within sixty days, which bars the occupant from obtaining any rights by adverse possession (14 M.R.S. 814). Privately owned roads in the unorganized territory can never be taken, however exclusive or long continued the use (14 M.R.S. 814). And uncultivated land inside an incorporated place carries a tax payment element that no other Maine land carries (14 M.R.S. 816).
A camp on Piscataquis County wild land, and a notice the sheriff hands over
Imagine a hunting camp put up in 2008 on a timberland tract north of Greenville, used every autumn, with a cleared yard and a dug well. By 2026 the occupant is past eighteen years and watching the twenty year mark in 14 M.R.S. 801. Then the landowner acts. Maine lets any owner of land that was wild land on April 1, 1883 have a notice to quit served in hand by a sheriff or deputy sheriff, and if the officer's certified copy and return are recorded in the registry of deeds within sixty days, those proceedings bar that person from obtaining any rights by adverse possession to the land entered (14 M.R.S. 814). The statute also leaves the occupant entitled to the benefits of the law relating to betterments. Whether these facts meet the statute is a question for the court.
Relevant Laws
14 M.R.S. 801 (rights of entry and action barred in 20 years)
Provides that no person shall commence any real or mixed action for the recovery of lands, or make an entry thereon, unless within 20 years after the right to do so first accrued, or unless within 20 years after that person or those under whom they claim were seized or possessed of the premises, except as provided in the subchapter.
14 M.R.S. 810 (type of possession; need for enclosure)
Provides that to constitute a disseizin, or such exclusive and adverse possession as to bar the true owner's right to recover, the lands need not be surrounded with fences or rendered inaccessible by water, and that it is sufficient if the possession, occupation and improvement are open, notorious and comporting with the ordinary management of a farm, although the woodland used with that farm as a woodlot is not enclosed.
14 M.R.S. 810-A (mistake of boundary line)
Provides that if a person takes possession of land by mistake as to the location of the true boundary line, the possessor's mistaken belief does not defeat a claim of adverse possession. Enacted by PL 1993, c. 244 and amended by PL 2009, c. 255.
14 M.R.S. 816 (uncultivated lands in incorporated places, with the tax element)
Bars a recovery action for uncultivated lands, or an undivided fractional part of them, situated in any place incorporated for any purpose, where the occupant or those under whom they claim have for the 20 years next prior claimed the land under recorded deeds, paid all taxes assessed on it however assessed, and held such exclusive, peaceable, continuous and adverse possession as comports with the ordinary management of such lands in this State.
14 M.R.S. 814 (trespass on wild lands; notice to quit; unorganized territory roads)
Allows an owner of land that was wild land on April 1, 1883 to have a notice to quit served in hand by a sheriff or deputy sheriff, with the certified copy and return recorded within 60 days, and provides that those proceedings bar the occupant from obtaining any rights by adverse possession while leaving them entitled to the benefits of the law relating to betterments. It also provides that in privately owned roads in the unorganized territory no title or interest may be acquired by adverse possession, prescription or acquiescence, however exclusive or long continued.
14 M.R.S. 815 (forty years' possession bars action for recovery of land)
Provides that no real or mixed action for the recovery of lands may be commenced or maintained against a person in possession when that person or those under whom they claim have been in actual possession for more than 40 years, claiming to hold by adverse, open, peaceable, notorious and exclusive possession, in their own right.
14 M.R.S. 807 (minors and other disabled persons)
Provides that where the person entitled to entry or action was a minor, mentally ill, imprisoned or absent from the United States when the right first accrued, that person or anyone claiming under them may make the entry or bring the action within 10 years after the disability is removed, notwithstanding that 20 years have expired.
14 M.R.S. 812 and 813 (easements and rights-of-way)
Section 812 provides that no person, class of persons or the public acquires a right-of-way or other easement by adverse use unless continued uninterruptedly for 20 years, and lets the landowner prevent acquisition by posting a notice on the premises for 6 successive days or recording it for land in the unorganized territory. Section 813 provides that an existing easement is not extinguished by adverse obstruction unless the obstruction continues uninterruptedly for 20 years, and allows interruption by written notice served and recorded as under section 812.
14 M.R.S. 812-A (dedication of land in the unorganized territory)
Allows an owner who apprehends that land in the unorganized territory may be dedicated to public use by custom, use or any act to record a notice of no intent to dedicate, which prevents the dedication, and provides that failing to record creates no implication of dedication.
14 M.R.S. 6651 and 6657 (proceedings to quiet title)
Section 6651 allows a person in possession claiming an estate of freehold, who with those under whom they claim has been in uninterrupted possession for 4 years or more, to bring an action in the Superior Court or District Court where the land lies, stating the source of title and averring an apprehension that clouds it. Section 6657 provides that the action is a proceeding in rem against the land and that a decree establishing or declaring the plaintiff's title operates directly on the land with the force of a release of inconsistent claims.
14 M.R.S. 6658 (action by owners of wild land)
Allows a person claiming an estate of freehold in wild lands, or an undivided interest in them, who has for 4 years next prior to filing held such open, exclusive, peaceable, continuous and adverse possession as comports with the ordinary management of wild lands in this State, to bring an action to quiet or establish title or remove a cloud on it.
23 M.R.S. 6025 (no title to lands of railroads by adverse possession)
Provides that no title to any real estate or any interest in real estate may be acquired against any railroad corporation by adverse possession, however exclusive or long continued.
Regional Variances
Maine adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period
Twenty years. No real or mixed action for the recovery of lands may be commenced, and no entry made, unless within 20 years after the right to do so first accrued (14 M.R.S. 801), subject to the exceptions written into the same subchapter.
Property taxes
Irrelevant to the ordinary claim, and a hard element for exactly one category. Uncultivated land in a place incorporated for any purpose, held under recorded deeds, requires that all taxes assessed on it were paid across the 20 years (14 M.R.S. 816). No other section mentions taxes.
Type of possession
The land need not be fenced or rendered inaccessible by water. Possession, occupation and improvement that are open, notorious and comporting with the ordinary management of a farm suffice, and an unenclosed woodlot used with the farm still counts (14 M.R.S. 810).
Mistaken boundary
Not a defence. A possessor's mistaken belief as to the location of the true boundary line does not defeat a claim of adverse possession (14 M.R.S. 810-A), a rule Maine enacted in 1993 and amended in 2009.
Good faith
No statutory test. The phrase good faith does not appear anywhere in Maine's limitation of actions chapter.
Colour of title
Does not shorten the period. The phrase does not appear in the chapter. Where recorded deeds are required, under 14 M.R.S. 816, the period remains 20 years and the tax element is added rather than traded away.
Acreage cap
None. The chapter's only acreage language describes how a tax may have been assessed under 14 M.R.S. 816, not a maximum claim size.
Absolute bar at forty years
A second bar sits behind the first. Actual possession for more than 40 years, claiming to hold by adverse, open, peaceable, notorious and exclusive possession in their own right, bars a recovery action outright (14 M.R.S. 815).
Owner's strongest remedy
For wild land, a sheriff-served notice to quit with the certified copy and return recorded within 60 days bars the occupant from obtaining any rights by adverse possession (14 M.R.S. 814). Privately owned unorganized-territory roads can never be taken, however long the use.
Railroad land
Excluded. No title to any real estate or interest in real estate may be acquired against any railroad corporation by adverse possession, however exclusive or long continued (23 M.R.S. 6025).
Government owned land
Maine's limitation of actions chapter contains no provision on State, county or municipal land, so this page does not state a rule either way. Attorney review is available on that question.
Perfecting title
An action in the Superior Court or District Court where the land lies, available after 4 years or more of uninterrupted possession (14 M.R.S. 6651), proceeding in rem with a decree that operates directly on the land (14 M.R.S. 6657).
Frequently Asked Questions
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