Adverse Possession in Missouri: Ten Years, and a Tax Rule Aimed at the Owner
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Missouri · Last updated October 5, 2026
In Missouri the property tax question points at the record owner, not at the occupant. Adverse possession is the rule under which occupying land that belongs to somebody else, openly and for long enough, ends with the occupant owning it, and Missouri's ordinary period is ten years: no action for the recovery of any lands, or for the recovery of possession, may be commenced, had or maintained unless it appear that the plaintiff or a predecessor was seized or possessed of the premises within ten years before the action (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.010). Nothing in that section asks the occupant to have paid a cent of tax. The one place Missouri writes taxes into a real action limitation is Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.070, and it runs the other way. Where the equitable title emanated from the government more than ten years earlier, the land is in another person's lawful possession, and the person who claims or might claim it has neither been in possession for thirty consecutive years nor paid any taxes for all that period, that claimant has one year to sue, and in default is forever barred, with title vesting ipso facto in the possessor. A written instrument changes scope rather than time. Possession under color of title of part of a tract, in the name of the whole tract claimed, while exercising the usual acts of ownership over the whole, is deemed possession of the whole (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.040). No statute of limitation reaches land appropriated to a public, pious or charitable use or belonging to the state (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.090). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Missouri
Which side of the boundary question are you on?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
How long does adverse possession take in Missouri?
Ten years. Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.010 bars any action for the recovery of lands or the recovery of possession unless it appears that the plaintiff, or an ancestor, predecessor, grantor or other person under whom the plaintiff claims, was seized or possessed of the premises in question within ten years before the action began.
Do you have to pay the property taxes to claim adverse possession in Missouri?
No. Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.010 contains no tax payment requirement for an occupant, and paying taxes shortens nothing. The only tax language in the chapter's real action group sits in Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.070 and concerns taxes the out of possession claimant failed to pay.
Which Missouri rule turns thirty years of absence into lost title?
Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.070. Where equitable title emanated from the government over ten years earlier, the land is in another's lawful possession, and the claimant has neither held possession for thirty consecutive years nor paid any taxes across that period, the claimant must sue within one year or be forever barred.
Can land owned by the State of Missouri or a utility be taken by adverse possession?
No. Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.090 provides that no statute of limitation extends to lands given, granted, sequestered or appropriated to any public, pious or charitable use, or to lands belonging to the state, and bars adverse possession judgments against a public utility or rural electric cooperative holding a recorded deed interest.
Missouri adverse possession at a glance
Adverse possession is the mechanism by which a person who occupies land owned by somebody else, openly and for the whole statutory stretch, ends up holding the title to it. Missouri sets the ordinary stretch at ten years and writes it as a bar on the record owner's recovery action (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.010). Two Missouri features stand out. First, no section asks the occupant to have paid taxes, and the chapter's only tax condition, in Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.070, keys on taxes the absent claimant did not pay across thirty consecutive years. Second, color of title does not shorten the ten years. It makes possession of part of a tract count as possession of the whole, where the claimant exercised the usual acts of ownership over the whole tract claimed (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.040).
Sixty Ozark acres, twelve of them actually used
Color of title decides how much land is in play in the Missouri version of this problem. Suppose a 1998 deed describes a sixty acre hillside tract south of the Gasconade, but only the twelve acre bottom was ever cleared, fenced and grazed, with the rest left in oak and cedar. The claimant has run cattle on the bottom every season since, posted the perimeter and sold standing timber off two of the upper draws. Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.040 provides that possession under color of title of part of a tract, in the name of the whole tract claimed, while exercising the usual acts of ownership over the whole, is deemed possession of the whole. The ten years come from Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.010. Whether posting and selective timber sales are usual acts of ownership over these sixty acres is for the circuit court.
Relevant Laws
Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.010 (ten year limitation on actions for recovery of lands)
Provides that no action for the recovery of any lands, tenements or hereditaments, or for the recovery of the possession of them, may be commenced, had or maintained by any person, whether citizen, denizen, alien, resident or nonresident of the state, unless it appear that the plaintiff, or an ancestor, predecessor, grantor or other person under whom the plaintiff claims, was seized or possessed of the premises in question within ten years before the commencement of the action. The Revisor's page carries a cross reference to section 527.180 for actions to establish title by adverse possession.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.040 (possession under color of title)
Provides that the possession, under color of title, of a part of a tract or lot of land, in the name of the whole tract claimed, while exercising during the time of such possession the usual acts of ownership over the whole tract so claimed, is deemed a possession of the whole of that tract. The section changes the extent of what is possessed and leaves the ten year period untouched.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.070 (the thirty year provision and the unpaid taxes condition)
Provides that where real estate whose equitable title emanated from the government more than ten years earlier is in the lawful possession of one person and claimed by another, and the claimant and those under whom the claimant claims have neither been in possession for thirty consecutive years nor paid any taxes for all that period of time, the claimant must bring an action to recover within one year and in default is forever barred, with the right and title vesting ipso facto in the possessor.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.090 (lands no statute of limitation reaches)
Provides that nothing contained in any statute of limitation extends to any lands given, granted, sequestered or appropriated to any public, pious or charitable use, or to any lands belonging to the state, and that the section is to be construed to prohibit any judgment granting adverse possession to a claimant where the defendant possesses an interest in land described in a recorded deed and is a public utility as defined in section 386.020, a rural electric cooperative as defined in chapter 394, or an organization operating under section 394.200.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.030 (disabilities and the twenty one year outer limit)
Provides that time during which a person entitled to commence an action or make an entry was under eighteen years of age or mentally incapacitated is not counted in the periods limited by sections 516.010 to 516.090, allows that person to sue or enter within three years after the disability is removed, and provides that no such action may be commenced, had or maintained, or entry made, after twenty one years from when the cause of action or right of entry accrued.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.050 (death during a disability)
Provides that if a person entitled to commence the action or make the entry dies during the continuance of a disability specified in section 516.030, and no determination or judgment on the title or right has been had, the heirs or any person claiming from, by or under that person may commence the action or make the entry within three years after the death, but not after that period.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.080 (land where legal title has not emanated from the United States)
Provides that where legal title has not yet emanated from the federal government but an equitable right or title has existed for more than twenty years under which a claimant had a right of action, and the land has been possessed by a person for twenty years claiming it in fee, anyone claiming against the possessor must sue under the legal title within one year after it issues from the government, and in default is forever barred with title vesting ipso facto in the possessor.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 527.150 (suits to determine interest and quiet title)
Allows any person claiming any title, estate or interest in real property, legal or equitable, certain or contingent, present or in reversion or remainder, whether in possession or not, to sue any person claiming an interest in the property to ascertain and determine the parties' respective estates, titles and interests, and allows the court on request in the pleadings to determine all rights, claims, interests, liens and demands and award full and complete legal or equitable relief.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 527.180 (suit to perfect title by limitation)
Provides that where a claim is barred under section 516.070 and title has vested in the party in possession, that party may sue in the circuit court of the county where the real estate is situated to have the record title perfected, need only state in the petition that title vested by limitation under that section, need join only persons with a record claim adverse to the plaintiff, and may enter a copy of the resulting decree of record in the office of the recorder of deeds for the county, with service as provided in chapter 506 in causes affecting real estate.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 140.590 (three year limitation on suits against a tax purchaser)
Requires any suit or proceeding against the tax purchaser, heirs or assigns for the recovery of lands sold for taxes, or to defeat or avoid a sale or conveyance of lands for taxes, to be commenced within three years from the time of recording the tax deed and not thereafter, except where the taxes have been paid, the land was not subject to taxation, or the land has been redeemed as provided by law, with a two year extension after removal of infancy or incapacity.
Mo. Rev. Stat. chapter 516 (real actions section index)
The Revisor's chapter index listing the REAL ACTIONS group, sections 516.010 through 516.095, which is the complete set of Missouri limitation sections governing actions for the recovery or possession of land. Useful for confirming that no section in the group sets an acreage cap or imposes a tax payment duty on an occupant.
Regional Variances
Missouri adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period
Ten years. No action for the recovery of lands or the recovery of possession may be commenced, had or maintained unless the plaintiff or a predecessor was seized or possessed of the premises within ten years before the action (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.010).
Property taxes
Not an element and not a shortener for the occupant. The chapter's only tax condition is in Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.070 and keys on taxes the out of possession claimant did not pay across thirty consecutive years, after which that claimant has one year to sue.
Color of title
Widens the claim rather than shortening it. Possession under color of title of part of a tract, in the name of the whole tract claimed, while exercising the usual acts of ownership over the whole tract so claimed, is deemed possession of the whole (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.040).
Acreage cap
None. The real action sections 516.010 through 516.095 and the quiet title sections 527.150 and 527.180 contain no acreage figure. Extent is governed by Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.040 instead of by any limit on area.
Government owned land
Outside every statute of limitation. No limitation reaches land given, granted, sequestered or appropriated to a public, pious or charitable use, or land belonging to the state, and no adverse possession judgment may issue against a public utility or rural electric cooperative holding a recorded deed interest (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.090).
Minors and incapacity
Time under eighteen or mentally incapacitated is not counted, suit is allowed within three years after the disability ends, and nothing may be maintained after twenty one years from accrual (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.030). Heirs get three years after a death during disability (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.050).
Unpatented land
A separate twenty year route. Where legal title has not emanated from the federal government but an equitable title has run more than twenty years and the land has been possessed twenty years in fee, a claimant must sue within one year after the legal title issues (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.080).
Tax sale purchasers
Protected after three years. A suit against the tax purchaser to recover the land or to defeat the tax sale must be commenced within three years of recording the tax deed, subject to the payment, non taxability and redemption exceptions (Mo. Rev. Stat. 140.590).
Perfecting title
A suit to determine interest and quiet title under Mo. Rev. Stat. 527.150 for an ordinary ten year claim, or the dedicated petition in Mo. Rev. Stat. 527.180 where title vested by limitation under section 516.070, with a copy of that decree enterable of record in the recorder of deeds' office.
Frequently Asked Questions
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