Adverse Possession in Rhode Island: A 10 Year Clock an Owner Can Interrupt
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Rhode Island · Last updated October 5, 2026
Adverse possession is the rule that turns long, open occupation of someone else's land into legal ownership once every requirement has been met for the statutory period. Rhode Island sets that period at 10 years, and words it in older language than most: title passes where a person has been for the space of ten years in the uninterrupted, quiet, peaceful and actual seisin and possession of the land, claiming it during that time as their own proper, sole and rightful estate in fee simple (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-1). The Supreme Court of Rhode Island restates that as actual, open, notorious, hostile, continuous and exclusive use under a claim of right, and requires strict proof, meaning proof by clear and convincing evidence (McGarry v. Coletti, 2011). What makes Rhode Island unusual is the stop button the statute hands the record owner. An owner who anticipates that someone may obtain title or an easement by possession may serve written notice of an intention to dispute the claim, and once served and recorded in the town's land evidence records, that notice is deemed an interruption of the use and prevents the acquiring of any right by continuing it (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-6). Paying property taxes is not part of the test. The word tax appears nowhere in the chapter, and there is no acreage cap either. Land held by a nonprofit for conservation, open space or a cemetery is excluded outright (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-9). Title is perfected by a quiet title action in the Superior Court. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
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How long does adverse possession take in Rhode Island?
Ten years. Title passes where a person has been for the space of ten years in the uninterrupted, quiet, peaceful and actual seisin and possession of the land, claiming it during that time as their own proper, sole and rightful estate in fee simple (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-1). The quiet title chapter uses the same ten year figure.
Does Rhode Island require an adverse possessor to have paid the taxes?
No. The word tax appears nowhere in the nine sections of the Rhode Island chapter governing title by possession and prescription. The Supreme Court of Rhode Island lists the requirements as actual, open, notorious, hostile, continuous and exclusive use under a claim of right, with no tax payment among them.
How can a Rhode Island owner interrupt an adverse possession claim before the ten years run?
By serving and recording a notice of intent to dispute. Written notice of the owner's intention to dispute any right arising from the claim or use, served and recorded as the statute provides, is deemed an interruption of the use and prevents any right being acquired by continuing it (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-6).
Which Rhode Island land is excluded from adverse possession by statute?
Land held or preserved by a nonprofit corporation or nonprofit association for conservation, open space, or a cemetery is not subject to adverse possession or prescription (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-9). The chapter separately denies prescriptive rights to footways, easements of light and air, and utility posts, wires and apparatus.
Rhode Island adverse possession at a glance
Adverse possession lets a person who has openly occupied land belonging to another become its legal owner once the statutory requirements have been satisfied for the full period. Rhode Island fixes that at ten years of uninterrupted, quiet, peaceful and actual seisin and possession, the land being claimed throughout as the possessor's own estate in fee simple (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-1). The Supreme Court of Rhode Island adds that the claimant must show actual, open, notorious, hostile, continuous and exclusive use under a claim of right, by strict proof amounting to clear and convincing evidence. The feature that sets the state apart is the recordable interruption: an owner may serve and record a notice of intent to dispute, which the statute deems an interruption of the use (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-6). Taxes are not an element, and no acreage cap exists.
A Little Compton stone wall, and the notice that lands in year eight
Consider a fieldstone wall running through a Newport County hayfield, with the strip on the far side mowed, planted and used by the adjoining household since 2017 although the recorded line sits twenty feet beyond the wall. By 2025 the household is eight years into a ten year count under R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-1. That spring the record owner has a disinterested person serve written notice of an intention to dispute any right arising from the use, files the return under oath, and records both in the Little Compton land evidence records within three months. The statute deems a notice served and recorded that way an interruption of the use (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-6), and it also entitles the party claiming to bring an action to try the right, with full costs if that party prevails (34-7-7).
Relevant Laws
R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-1 (conclusive title by peaceful possession under claim of title)
Provides that where a person, or those from whom they derive title, has been for the space of ten years in the uninterrupted, quiet, peaceful and actual seisin and possession of lands, tenements or hereditaments, claiming the same during that time as their proper, sole and rightful estate in fee simple, the actual seisin and possession gives a good and rightful title forever, and may be pleaded in bar of any action brought for the land.
R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-2 (absentees, persons under disability, reversioners and remaindermen)
Provides that nothing in the chapter prejudices the rights of persons under age, persons of unsound mind, or persons imprisoned or beyond the limits of the United States, if they sue within ten years after the impediment is removed, and does not bar a person with an estate in reversion or remainder who pursues title by due course of law within ten years after the right of action accrues.
R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-3 and 34-7-4 (light and air, and footway, denied)
Provides that a person who erects a building with windows overlooking a neighbour's land acquires no easement of light or air by mere continuance of those windows, and that no right of footway, except one claimed in connection with a right to pass with carriages, may be acquired by prescription or adverse use for any length of time.
R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-5 (utility rights of way not acquired by enjoyment)
Provides that no enjoyment by any persons, companies or corporations, for any length of time, of the privilege of maintaining telegraph, telephone, electric or other posts, wires or apparatus in, upon or over the lands or buildings of others confers any right to continued enjoyment of the easement or raises any presumption of a grant.
R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-6 (notice of intent to dispute interrupting adverse possession)
Lets the legal owner who anticipates that another may obtain title or an easement by possession give written notice of an intention to dispute any right arising from the claim or use. Served and recorded as the section provides, the notice is deemed an interruption of the use and prevents the acquiring of any right by continuing the use. It may be served by any disinterested person making return under oath, and must be recorded within three months in the town's records of land evidence.
R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-7 (action by claimant in possession after notice)
Provides that a notice given to prevent the acquisition of land or of a way, privilege or other easement is considered so far a disturbance of the right or claim as to enable the party claiming to bring an action for disturbing it, in order to try the right, and that a prevailing plaintiff recovers full costs.
R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-8 (shore rights preserved)
Provides that nothing in the chapter affects any rights of the shore to which the people of the state are entitled under the charter, the constitution or by the law, or is construed to apply to any preceding action.
R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-9 (land preserved for open space, conservation or cemetery purposes)
Provides that any land held or preserved by a nonprofit corporation or nonprofit association for purposes of conservation, open space, or a cemetery is not subject to adverse possession or prescription. Enacted in 2008 and amended in 2012.
R.I. Gen. Laws 34-16-4, 34-16-5, 34-16-7 and 34-16-14 (quieting title)
Allow a civil action to determine the validity of a title, remove any cloud on it and quiet it, whether the plaintiff is in or out of possession; prescribe the contents of the complaint, including the duration of ownership, occupation, possession and enjoyment and a recital of acts performed as a normal incident of the possession; provide that at least ten years of open, adverse, exclusive and uninterrupted possession raises a rebuttable presumption of a lost grant; and bar judgment by default, requiring proof satisfactory to the court.
McGarry v. Coletti, No. 2009-277-Appeal (R.I.)
Opinion of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island quoting R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-1 verbatim, holding that obtaining title by adverse possession requires actual, open, notorious, hostile, continuous and exclusive use of property under a claim of right for the statutory period, and that the party asserting adverse possession must establish the required elements by strict proof, that is, proof by clear and convincing evidence.
Rhode Island Superior Court
The Rhode Island Judiciary states that the Superior Court has original jurisdiction in all felony proceedings, in civil cases where the amount in controversy exceeds 10,000 dollars, and in equity matters, and that appeals from District Court trials result in entirely new trials in the Superior Court.
Regional Variances
Rhode Island adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period
Ten years of uninterrupted, quiet, peaceful and actual seisin and possession, the land being claimed throughout as the possessor's own proper, sole and rightful estate in fee simple (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-1). The quiet title chapter uses the same ten year figure (34-16-7).
Property taxes
Not an element and not a period shortener. The word tax does not appear in any of the nine sections of the chapter, and the Supreme Court's list of requirements does not include tax payment.
Elements
The statute's wording is seisin and possession that is uninterrupted, quiet, peaceful and actual, under a claim of the land as the possessor's own fee simple estate. The Supreme Court restates it as actual, open, notorious, hostile, continuous and exclusive use under a claim of right.
Standard of proof
Strict proof, that is, proof by clear and convincing evidence, as held by the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. The standard is judicial, not statutory.
Color of title
No statutory effect. The phrase appears nowhere in the chapter, which states one period of ten years whether or not the possessor holds any written instrument.
Acreage cap
None. A search of the full text of all nine sections of the chapter on title by possession and prescription returns no instance of the word acre.
Owner's statutory interruption
A notice of intent to dispute. Served and recorded as the statute provides, including recording within three months in the town's land evidence records, it is deemed an interruption of the use and prevents the acquiring of any right by continuing it (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-6).
Land excluded by statute
Land held or preserved by a nonprofit corporation or nonprofit association for conservation, open space, or a cemetery (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-7-9). Rights of the shore belonging to the people of the state are preserved (34-7-8).
Rights that cannot be gained by use
An easement of light or air from overlooking windows (34-7-3), a right of footway unless claimed with a right to pass with carriages (34-7-4), and utility posts, wires or apparatus on another's land (34-7-5).
Publicly owned land
The chapter contains no exclusion for land owned by the state or by a city or town, and the only express property exclusion covers nonprofit held conservation, open space and cemetery land. Claims touching public land have been litigated in the Rhode Island Supreme Court, so this one is left to the record rather than stated as a rule here.
Perfecting title
A quiet title action in the Superior Court, which has original jurisdiction in equity matters, pleading the contents the statute lists including the duration of possession and the acts performed as a normal incident of it (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-16-5), with no judgment available by default (34-16-14).
Frequently Asked Questions
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