Adverse Possession in Texas: Five Limitations Periods and a 160 Acre Cap
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Texas · Last updated October 5, 2026
Texas does not run one adverse possession clock. It runs five at once, and which one governs a tract depends on the paperwork and the conduct behind the possession. Adverse possession is the rule that lets someone who openly occupies land they do not own become its legal owner after a set number of years, and Texas defines it as an actual and visible appropriation of real property, commenced and continued under a claim of right that is inconsistent with and hostile to the claim of another person (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.021). Three years applies to possession under title or color of title (16.024). Five years applies where the possessor cultivates, uses, or enjoys the property, pays applicable taxes on it, and claims it under a duly registered deed, and it is unavailable on a quitclaim deed, a forged deed, or a deed executed under a forged power of attorney (16.025). Ten years applies to bare possession by someone who cultivates, uses, or enjoys the property, with no deed and no tax requirement, and that is where the acreage limit bites: without a title instrument the possession is limited to 160 acres including improvements, unless the acres actually enclosed exceed 160 (16.026). Twenty-five years runs regardless of legal disability (16.027), and a separate twenty-five year period covers a possessor holding in good faith under a recorded instrument, reaching everything the instrument describes even if it is void (16.028). Cotenant heirs have a fifteen year combined route of their own (16.0265). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Texas
Which side of the boundary question are you on?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
How long does adverse possession take in Texas?
It depends on the route. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.024 sets three years for possession under title or color of title, 16.025 sets five years for use plus applicable taxes plus a duly registered deed, 16.026 sets ten years for bare use, and 16.027 and 16.028 set twenty-five years.
Do you have to pay the property taxes to claim adverse possession in Texas?
Only on some routes. Paying applicable taxes is one of three requirements of the five year period in Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.025, alongside use and a duly registered deed. The word tax appears nowhere in the three year, ten year or twenty-five year sections, 16.024, 16.026, 16.027 and 16.028.
Is there an acreage limit on a Texas adverse possession claim?
Yes, on one route. Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.026, without a title instrument peaceable and adverse possession is limited to 160 acres including improvements, unless the number of acres actually enclosed exceeds 160, in which case the possession extends to the property actually enclosed.
Can land owned by a city or the state be taken by adverse possession in Texas?
No. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.030 provides that a person may not acquire through adverse possession any right or title to real property dedicated to public use, and 16.061 provides that a right of action of the state or a political subdivision is not barred by sections 16.021 through 16.028.
Texas adverse possession at a glance
Adverse possession lets a person who openly occupies land belonging to someone else become its owner once every statutory requirement has been met for the full period. Texas is unusual in giving that idea five periods rather than one, and in letting documents move the number rather than only the acreage. Title or color of title puts the claim on a three year clock (16.024). A duly registered deed plus payment of applicable taxes plus cultivation, use or enjoyment puts it on five (16.025). Nothing but use puts it on ten, and capped at 160 acres including improvements where there is no title instrument (16.026). Two separate twenty-five year periods run regardless of legal disability (16.027 and 16.028). Land dedicated to public use is outside the doctrine entirely (16.030).
Four hundred acres of Coleman County rangeland and one fence line
Consider 400 acres of mesquite rangeland west of Coleman that a neighbouring operator has grazed, brush sprayed and worked since 2014, with no deed to any of it and no tax account in his name. The ten year route in Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.026 asks only that the possessor cultivate, use, or enjoy the property, and the grazing has not stopped. The acreage sentence is where the claim narrows. Without a title instrument the possession is limited to 160 acres including improvements, unless the number of acres actually enclosed exceeds 160, in which case it extends to the property actually enclosed. The fence line, not the grazing line, sets what is even in play. Whether these facts satisfy the statute is a question for the district court.
Relevant Laws
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.021 (statutory definitions)
Defines adverse possession as an actual and visible appropriation of real property, commenced and continued under a claim of right that is inconsistent with and is hostile to the claim of another person; defines peaceable possession as possession that is continuous and is not interrupted by an adverse suit to recover the property; and defines color of title and title.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.022 and 16.023 (disability and tacking)
Section 16.022 defines legal disability as being younger than 18, of unsound mind, or serving in the United States Armed Forces during time of war, and excludes the time of the disability from a limitations period, except as provided by sections 16.027 and 16.028. Section 16.023 allows possession to pass between holders to satisfy a limitations period but requires privity of estate between each holder and the successor.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.024 (three year limitations period)
Requires suit to recover real property held by another in peaceable and adverse possession under title or color of title to be brought not later than three years after the day the cause of action accrues.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.025 (five year limitations period)
Requires suit within five years where the property is held in peaceable and adverse possession by another who cultivates, uses, or enjoys it, pays applicable taxes on it, and claims it under a duly registered deed, and provides that the section does not apply to a claim based on a quitclaim deed, a forged deed, or a deed executed under a forged power of attorney.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.026 (ten year limitations period and the 160 acre limit)
Requires suit within ten years where the property is held in peaceable and adverse possession by another who cultivates, uses, or enjoys it; limits that possession to 160 acres including improvements where there is no title instrument, unless the number of acres actually enclosed exceeds 160, in which case it extends to the property actually enclosed; and extends possession held under a duly registered deed or other memorandum of title that fixes the boundaries to those boundaries.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.0265 (cotenant heir route, fifteen year combined period)
Lets one or more cotenant heirs acquire other cotenant heirs' interests where, for a continuous uninterrupted ten year period, the possessing heirs hold peaceable and exclusive possession, cultivate, use or enjoy the property and pay all property taxes no later than two years after they come due, and no other cotenant heir has taken the listed protective steps; then requires affidavits filed in the deed records, four consecutive weeks of newspaper notice and certified mail notice, with a five year window for a controverting affidavit or suit.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.027 and 16.028 (twenty-five year periods)
Section 16.027 requires suit within twenty-five years, regardless of legal disability, where the property is held in peaceable and adverse possession by another who cultivates, uses, or enjoys it. Section 16.028 bars an action for property held for twenty-five years in peaceable and adverse possession by another holding in good faith under a recorded deed or instrument purporting to convey it, extends that possession to all the property the instrument describes even though the instrument is void on its face or in fact, and gives the claimant a good and marketable title.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.029 (evidence of title to land by limitations)
Provides that in a suit involving title to real property that is not claimed by this state, it is prima facie evidence that title has passed if for one or more years during the preceding twenty-five the apparent record title holder neither exercised dominion nor paid taxes, and the opposing parties openly exercised dominion, asserted a claim and paid taxes annually before delinquency for as long as twenty-five years.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.030 (title through adverse possession and the public use bar)
Provides that if an action for the recovery of real property is barred under the chapter, the person who holds the property in peaceable and adverse possession has full title, precluding all claims, and that a person may not acquire through adverse possession any right or title to real property dedicated to public use.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.031 and 16.032 (enclosed land and adjacent land)
Section 16.031 provides that a tract surrounded by land owned, claimed or fenced by another is not considered enclosed by a fence that encloses part of the surrounding land, and that possession of the interior tract is not peaceable and adverse under 16.026 unless it is separately fenced or at least one tenth is cultivated for agricultural purposes or used for manufacturing. Section 16.032 applies similar conditions to a claimant owning or claiming 5,000 or more fenced acres adjoining the land.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.034 (attorney's fees and the ten day demand)
Provides that in a suit for possession between a record title claimant and an adverse possession claimant the court shall award costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party where it finds the adverse possession claim was groundless and made in bad faith, and may award them otherwise, and requires a written demand to vacate given by registered or certified mail at least ten days before filing.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.061 (rights of the state and political subdivisions not barred)
Provides that a right of action of this state or a political subdivision of the state, including a county, an incorporated city or town, a navigation district, a municipal utility district, a port authority, a school district and other listed entities, is not barred by sections 16.021 through 16.028 or 16.030 through 16.032, among others.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 15.011 (mandatory venue for land actions)
Requires actions for recovery of real property or an estate or interest in real property, for partition, to remove encumbrances from the title, for recovery of damages to real property, or to quiet title to real property to be brought in the county in which all or a part of the property is located.
Tex. Prop. Code 22.001, 22.003 and 22.021 (trespass to try title)
Section 22.001 provides that a trespass to try title action is the method of determining title to lands, tenements, or other real property and that the action of ejectment is not available in this state. Section 22.003 makes a final judgment establishing title or right to possession conclusive against the party from whom the property is recovered. Section 22.021 lets a good faith possessor who made permanent and valuable improvements recover the amount by which their value exceeds the value of use, occupation and waste.
Tex. Gov't Code 24.007, 24.008 and 26.043 (which court hears a land title suit)
Sections 24.007 and 24.008 give the district court the jurisdiction provided by Article V, Section 8 of the Texas Constitution, original jurisdiction where the amount in controversy exceeds 500 dollars, and power to hear any cause cognizable by courts of law or equity. Section 26.043 provides that a county court does not have jurisdiction in a suit for the recovery of land.
Regional Variances
Texas adverse possession rules at a glance
Three year route
Section 16.024. Suit to recover property held in peaceable and adverse possession under title or color of title must be brought not later than three years after the cause of action accrues. This is the shortest period in the chapter, and the instrument is what unlocks it.
Five year route
Section 16.025. Five years where the possessor cultivates, uses, or enjoys the property, pays applicable taxes on it, and claims it under a duly registered deed. All three are required. The section does not apply to a claim based on a quitclaim deed, a forged deed, or a deed executed under a forged power of attorney.
Ten year route
Section 16.026. Ten years where the possessor cultivates, uses, or enjoys the property, with no deed requirement and no tax requirement. This is the bare possession route, and the only one of the main four that carries the acreage limit.
Twenty-five year routes
Two of them. Section 16.027 runs twenty-five years regardless of whether the claimant has been under a legal disability. Section 16.028 bars recovery of property held twenty-five years by a possessor in good faith under a recorded instrument purporting to convey it, and gives that possessor a good and marketable title.
Cotenant heir route
Section 16.0265, a fifteen year combined period. Ten uninterrupted years of peaceable and exclusive possession with all property taxes paid no later than two years after they come due, followed by recorded affidavits, four weeks of newspaper notice, certified mail notice, and a five year window for another heir to controvert.
Property taxes
A period shortener, not a universal element. Payment of applicable taxes is one of the three requirements of the five year route and a requirement of the cotenant heir route. The word tax does not appear in 16.024, 16.026, 16.027 or 16.028.
Acreage cap
160 acres including improvements, on the ten year route where there is no title instrument, unless the number of acres actually enclosed exceeds 160, in which case the possession extends to the property actually enclosed. The same limit appears in the cotenant heir section at 16.0265.
Color of title
Moves the number rather than only the acreage. Title or color of title means three years. A duly registered deed that fixes the boundaries of the claim also extends the possession to those boundaries instead of the acreage limit, and a recorded instrument under 16.028 reaches all the property described even if it is void.
Fencing and ranch limits
Sections 16.031 and 16.032. A surrounded interior tract is not enclosed by a fence that encloses part of the surrounding land, and possession of land adjoining a holding of 5,000 or more fenced acres is not peaceable and adverse under 16.026 unless a substantial fence, one tenth cultivation or manufacturing use, or actual possession is shown.
Government owned land
Excluded. Section 16.030 bars acquiring any right or title to real property dedicated to public use through adverse possession, and 16.061 provides that a right of action of the state or a political subdivision, including counties, cities, school districts, navigation districts, municipal utility districts and port authorities, is not barred by 16.021 through 16.028.
Perfecting title
Title vests by operation of law once the recovery action is barred (16.030). To establish it of record Texas uses trespass to try title, which Tex. Prop. Code 22.001 makes the method of determining title and which displaces ejectment, filed in the county where all or part of the property is located (15.011) in the district court (Tex. Gov't Code 26.043 and 24.008).
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Texas guides
Ready to Draft Your Document?
Get AI-powered legal documents with attorney review included. Plans start at $39.99/mo.
Get Started