Adverse Possession in New Hampshire: Twenty Years and No Tax Element
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · New Hampshire · Last updated October 5, 2026
Twenty years is a long stretch to hold ground that is not yours on paper, and New Hampshire asks for every one of them. Adverse possession is the rule that lets a person who openly occupies land belonging to someone else become its legal owner once the statutory period and every statutory condition are met. No action to recover real estate may be brought after twenty years from when the right to recover first accrued (RSA 508:2, I). What has to happen inside those twenty years comes from New Hampshire's reported decisions. To acquire title by adverse possession, the possessor must show twenty years of adverse, continuous, exclusive and uninterrupted use of the land claimed so as to give notice to the owner that an adverse claim is being made, proved by a balance of probabilities (O'Malley v. Little, 170 N.H. 272, 276). Taxes are nowhere in that list. New Hampshire has no tax payment element and no tax based shortcut. There is no acreage cap and no color of title period, so a deed does not shorten the clock. Two old statutes close public ground entirely. No right is acquired by adverse possession of state land as against the state or its grantees (RSA 539:6), and no person may acquire by prescription a right to a town house, schoolhouse or church lot, or any public ground, by fencing or otherwise occupying it adversely for any length of time (RSA 477:34). Twenty years becomes a settled title through a disputed titles action in the superior court (RSA 498:5-a). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in New Hampshire
Which side of the boundary question are you on?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
How long is the adverse possession period in New Hampshire?
Twenty years. No action for the recovery of real estate may be brought after twenty years from the time the right to recover first accrued to the party claiming it or to some persons under whom the party claims (RSA 508:2, I). The possession must run that entire span.
Do property taxes matter to a New Hampshire adverse possession claim?
No. New Hampshire attaches no tax payment condition. RSA 508:2 is a bare twenty year limitation with no tax language, and the element set the state's courts apply is adverse, continuous, exclusive and uninterrupted use giving notice to the owner. Who paid the bills is not part of it.
What standard of proof does New Hampshire apply to the claim?
A balance of probabilities. The adverse possessor must prove twenty years of adverse, continuous, exclusive and uninterrupted use of the land claimed, so as to give notice to the owner that an adverse claim is being made, by a balance of probabilities (O'Malley v. Little, 170 N.H. 272, 276).
Can a New Hampshire schoolhouse lot or public ground be taken this way?
No. No person may acquire by prescription a right to any part of a town house, schoolhouse or church lot, or of any public ground, by fencing or otherwise inclosing it or in any way occupying it adversely for any length of time (RSA 477:34). State land is barred separately by RSA 539:6.
How New Hampshire frames the question
Adverse possession is the rule that converts a long, open occupation of someone else's land into legal ownership of it once every requirement has been met for the full statutory period. New Hampshire sets that period at twenty years and says so by limiting the owner instead of the occupier, barring any action for the recovery of real estate after twenty years from the time the right to recover first accrued (RSA 508:2, I). The requirements themselves come from the courts: adverse, continuous, exclusive and uninterrupted use of the land claimed, so as to give notice to the owner that an adverse claim is being made, proved by a balance of probabilities. Nothing in the statute or in that list concerns taxes, acreage, or a written instrument. Public ground is excluded outright and for any length of time (RSA 477:34).
A Hillsborough County stone wall that may not settle the line
A stone wall can look like a boundary for a century and still not settle one. Say a shed, a vegetable garden and a mowed lawn have run out to such a wall since 2004, about twelve feet past where the recorded line actually falls, and a 2026 survey for a refinance turns that up. Twenty years closed in 2024 (RSA 508:2, I), and no tax question arises here at all because New Hampshire has no tax element. What does come into play is exclusivity, because the record owner's family cut firewood on that same strip in 2012 and again in 2016. Whether the use was adverse, continuous, exclusive and uninterrupted on a balance of probabilities is for the superior court.
Relevant Laws
RSA 508:2 (twenty year period for real actions)
Paragraph I provides that no action for the recovery of real estate shall be brought after 20 years from the time the right to recover first accrued to the party claiming it or to some persons under whom the party claims. Paragraph II provides that no action for the recovery of real estate pursuant to rights based on a possibility of reverter, right of re-entry, or executory interest shall be brought after 5 years from the time the right to recover possession or the right of re-entry first accrued.
RSA 508:1 and 508:3 (scope of the chapter and disabilities)
RSA 508:1 provides that the provisions of the limitation of actions chapter do not apply to cases in which a different time is limited by statute. RSA 508:3 provides that if the person first entitled to bring an action for recovery of real estate is an infant or mentally incompetent at the time the right accrues, the action may be brought within 5 years after the disability is removed.
RSA 539:6 (no right acquired by adverse possession of state lands)
Provides, under the heading No Right Acquired by Adverse Possession of State Lands, that no right shall be acquired by such entry or possession, nor by any adverse possession of such land, as against the state or its grantees. The entry it refers back to is the RSA 539:5 entry upon or possession of land belonging to the state continued without right for the space of three months.
RSA 477:34 (no prescription against public property)
Provides, under the chapter heading No Prescription Against the Public, that no person shall acquire by prescription a right to any part of a town house, schoolhouse or church lot, or of any public ground by fencing or otherwise inclosing the same or in any way occupying it adversely for any length of time. The section dates from 1862.
RSA 477:33 (no prescription against public waters)
Provides that no owner or occupier of a milldam or other water power shall acquire by prescription any right against the state or the public to impede or in any way injure navigation, the passage of fish or any other public easement in any of the waters of the state.
RSA 498:5-a (disputed titles action in the superior court)
Provides that an action may be brought in the superior court by any person claiming title to, or any interest in, real or personal property against any person who may claim to own the same or to have any interest, lien or encumbrance adverse to the plaintiff, or in whom the land records disclose a conflicting interest, whether or not the plaintiff is entitled to immediate or exclusive possession, to determine that adverse estate, interest or claim and to quiet and settle the title, except that the court of probate has exclusive jurisdiction over disputes in title arising under RSA 547 and RSA 547-C. The petition must describe the property, state the plaintiff's claim, interest or title and how it was acquired, and name the persons who may claim an adverse estate or interest.
RSA 498:5-b and 498:5-c (unknown claimants and defendants' answers)
RSA 498:5-b allows a plaintiff who believes there may be persons with an interest who cannot be located to name as defendants the unknown persons who claim any interest or estate in the subject matter of the action, with an affidavit setting out the efforts made to identify them, after which the court may order the notice it deems reasonable. RSA 498:5-c requires each defendant to state in the answer whether any estate, interest or encumbrance is claimed and how it is derived, and provides for judgment against a defendant who disclaims.
RSA 498:5-d (decrees in a disputed titles action)
Provides that the court in any action brought under RSA 498:5-a shall hear the several claims and determine the rights of the parties, whether derived from deeds, wills or other instruments or courses of title, may determine the construction of them, and may render judgment determining the questions and disputes and quieting and settling the title to the property. It also sets a reimbursement condition where a tax sale is adjudged invalid.
New Hampshire Supreme Court, Jostrom v. Cochran (2023), quoting O'Malley v. Little
The opinion states that to acquire title to real property by adverse possession, the possessor must show twenty years of adverse, continuous, exclusive and uninterrupted use of the land claimed so as to give notice to the owner that an adverse claim is being made, that these elements must be proved by a balance of probabilities, that a use of land is adverse when made under a claim of right where no right exists, and that whether a use is adverse or permissive is a question of fact for the trial court.
New Hampshire Supreme Court, Blagbrough Family Realty Trust v. A & T Forest Products (2007)
The opinion states that the adverse possessor must prove, by a balance of probabilities, twenty years of adverse, continuous and uninterrupted use of the land claimed so as to give notice to the owner that an adverse claim is being made, that adverse use is trespassory in nature and the use must be exclusive, and that success or failure is not determined by the subjective intent or the motives of the adverse possessor.
New Hampshire Law Library: NH Law About Adverse Possession
A New Hampshire Judicial Branch law library research guide that collects the statutes and the reported New Hampshire decisions on adverse possession, including quotations from Hewes v. Bruno, Blagbrough, Mastroianni v. Wercinski, Fagan v. Grady on tacking, O'Malley v. Little on ouster, Gordon v. Town of Rye, and State v. Tallman on state lands. It is a research guide rather than a step by step self-help walkthrough.
Regional Variances
New Hampshire adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period
Twenty years. No action for the recovery of real estate shall be brought after 20 years from the time the right to recover first accrued to the party claiming it or to some persons under whom the party claims (RSA 508:2, I). The possession must be continuous and uninterrupted across that span.
Property taxes
Irrelevant. New Hampshire has no tax payment element and no tax based period shortener. RSA 508:2 carries no tax language, and the element set the courts apply makes no reference to who paid the bills on the disputed ground.
Elements
Twenty years of adverse, continuous, exclusive and uninterrupted use of the land claimed, so as to give notice to the owner that an adverse claim is being made (O'Malley v. Little, 170 N.H. 272, 276). Adverse use is trespassory in nature, and the use must be exclusive.
Standard of proof
A balance of probabilities. The adverse possessor must prove the elements by a balance of probabilities, and whether a use of property is adverse or permissive in nature is a question of fact for the trial court (Jostrom v. Cochran, quoting O'Malley v. Little).
Color of title
Does not shorten the period. RSA 508:2, I states a single twenty year limitation with no written instrument variant, and no New Hampshire statute creates a shorter period for a claimant holding a deed, judgment or decree. A document may still bear on whether the use was under a claim of right.
Acreage cap
None. No acreage figure appears anywhere in RSA chapter 508 or RSA chapter 477. New Hampshire limits claims through the quality of the use instead, having rejected uses found not sufficiently notorious or exclusive for the prescriptive period.
Second, shorter period
Five years, but for a different right. No action for the recovery of real estate pursuant to rights based on a possibility of reverter, right of re-entry, or executory interest may be brought after 5 years from when that right first accrued (RSA 508:2, II), added by Laws 2008, 228:3.
Government owned land
Barred by two statutes. No right is acquired by adverse possession of state land as against the state or its grantees (RSA 539:6), and no person may acquire by prescription a right to any part of a town house, schoolhouse or church lot, or of any public ground, by fencing or otherwise inclosing it or occupying it adversely for any length of time (RSA 477:34).
Perfecting title
A disputed titles action in the superior court under RSA 498:5-a, open to any person claiming title to or an interest in real property whether or not entitled to immediate or exclusive possession. The court hears the several claims and may render judgment quieting and settling the title (RSA 498:5-d, I).
Owner side tolling
Where the person first entitled to bring an action for recovery of real estate is an infant or mentally incompetent when the right accrues, the action may be brought within 5 years after that disability is removed (RSA 508:3). RSA 508:1 adds that the chapter yields where a different time is limited by statute.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other New Hampshire guides
Asset Protection Planning in New Hampshire (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in New Hampshire (2026)
Expunging a Criminal Record in New Hampshire (2026)
Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in New Hampshire
Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in New Hampshire (2026)
Firing an Employee in New Hampshire (2026)
Ready to Draft Your Document?
Get AI-powered legal documents with attorney review included. Plans start at $39.99/mo.
Get Started