Adverse Possession in Vermont: Fifteen Years and the Public, Pious or Charitable Use Exemption
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Vermont · Last updated October 5, 2026
Vermont's hardest adverse possession questions are usually not about the number of years but about what counts as possession of a woodlot. 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, once every requirement has been met. The period comes from 12 V.S.A. 501: except as otherwise provided in 32 V.S.A. 5263, an action for the recovery of lands, or the possession thereof, shall not be maintained unless commenced within 15 years after the cause of action first accrues to the plaintiff or those under whom he or she claims. A matching section cuts off a right of entry into houses or lands fifteen years after that right accrues (12 V.S.A. 502). The elements belong to the Vermont Supreme Court rather than the statute: title passes through open, notorious, hostile and continuous possession of another's property for a period of fifteen years, and the claimant has the burden of establishing all of those elements (Jarvis v. Gillespie, 155 Vt. 633 (1991)). The same court holds that a possessor is not required to change nor necessarily improve the land, but merely to perform acts of possession consistent with the parcel's nature, so seasonal use of rural ground can still be continuous. Vermont does not make tax payment an element, and neither limitation section mentions taxes at all. What Vermont does carve out is old and broadly worded: nothing in the chapter extends to lands given, granted, sequestered, or appropriated to a public, pious, or charitable use, or to lands belonging to the State (12 V.S.A. 462). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
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Which side of the boundary question are you on?
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How long does adverse possession take in Vermont?
Fifteen years. Under 12 V.S.A. 501 an action for the recovery of lands, or the possession thereof, may not be maintained unless commenced within 15 years after the cause of action first accrues, and 12 V.S.A. 502 bars a person with a right of entry from entering after 15 years from when that right accrues.
Do you have to pay the property taxes to claim adverse possession in Vermont?
No. Neither 12 V.S.A. 501 nor 12 V.S.A. 502 mentions taxes, assessment or payment. Taxes appear once in the Vermont scheme, in 32 V.S.A. 5263, which gives a grantee under a recorded tax collector's deed who possesses openly and pays the taxes a one year limitation period.
Does seasonal use of Vermont land count as continuous possession?
It can. The Vermont Supreme Court holds that a possessor is not required to change nor necessarily improve the land, but merely to perform acts of possession consistent with the parcel's nature, and has found yearly seasonal uses of rural ground to be more than fragmentary and occasional.
Can town or state land be taken by adverse possession in Vermont?
Lands belonging to the State are exempt outright under 12 V.S.A. 462, which also exempts lands given, granted, sequestered, or appropriated to a public, pious, or charitable use. The Vermont Supreme Court has held that section gives municipal land a rebuttable presumption rather than a blanket exemption.
Vermont adverse possession at a glance
Adverse possession lets a person who openly occupies land belonging to someone else become its owner once every requirement has been satisfied for the full period. Vermont sets that period at fifteen years (12 V.S.A. 501) and then leaves the substance to its courts. The Vermont Supreme Court requires open, notorious, hostile and continuous possession across those fifteen years, puts the burden on the claimant, and measures continuity against the nature of the parcel rather than against constant occupation. Hostility needs no ill will, only an intent to claim the land and treat it as one's own. Nothing turns on tax payment. The statutory exemption is the oldest language in the scheme and the most distinctive: nothing in the limitation chapter extends to lands given, granted, sequestered, or appropriated to a public, pious, or charitable use, or to lands belonging to the State (12 V.S.A. 462).
A sugarbush wedge in Orleans County and fifteen seasons of tapping
Imagine a six acre wedge of hardwood above a town road near Barton, tapped and tubed every spring since 2006, thinned twice for firewood, with a landing cut at the road edge. There is no fence and no year round occupation, which is the shape most Vermont disputes take. The Vermont Supreme Court does not demand constant use: a possessor is not required to change nor necessarily improve the land, but merely to perform acts of possession consistent with the parcel's nature, and yearly seasonal use of rural ground has been held more than fragmentary and occasional. Because the landing is visible from the road, the open and notorious test asks whether a person of ordinary prudence would be put on notice. Whether these facts satisfy the fifteen years is a question for the Superior Court.
Relevant Laws
12 V.S.A. 501 (recovery of lands, fifteen years)
Provides that except as otherwise provided in 32 V.S.A. 5263, an action for the recovery of lands, or the possession thereof, shall not be maintained unless commenced within 15 years after the cause of action first accrues to the plaintiff or those under whom he or she claims.
12 V.S.A. 502 (entry into houses or lands)
Provides that a person having right or title of entry into houses or lands shall not enter after 15 years from the time such right of entry accrues.
12 V.S.A. 462 (lands for a public, pious, or charitable use)
Provides that nothing contained in the limitation of actions chapter shall extend to lands given, granted, sequestered, or appropriated to a public, pious, or charitable use, or to lands belonging to the State.
12 V.S.A. 461 (actions by the State)
Provides that the limitations prescribed in the chapter for the commencement of actions apply to the same actions when brought in the name of the State, or otherwise for the benefit of the State, as in actions brought by citizens.
32 V.S.A. 5263 (limitation of actions against a grantee in possession)
Provides that an action for the recovery of lands, or the possession thereof, shall not be maintained against the grantee of such lands in a tax collector's deed, duly recorded, or that grantee's heirs or assigns, where they have been in continuous and open possession of the land conveyed and have paid the taxes on it, unless commenced within one year after the cause of action first accrues.
12 V.S.A. 4761 (ejectment, when maintainable and parties)
Provides that a person having claim to the seisin or possession of lands, tenements, or hereditaments shall have an action of ejectment according to the nature of the case, brought against the landlord if any as well as against the tenant in possession, and that tenants in common of lands may join in an action concerning their common interest.
12 V.S.A. 4811 (counterclaim for betterments)
Requires a defendant in an action of ejectment to counterclaim for the value of improvements made on the land by that defendant or by those under whom the defendant claims, where they purchased the land supposing the title to be good in fee at the time of purchase or took a lease supposing it to convey the interest expressed, with recovery contingent on the plaintiff's recovery on the ejectment claim and the increase in the value of the land treated as the value of the betterments.
4 V.S.A. 31 (jurisdiction of the Superior Court Civil Division)
Provides that the Civil Division shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction of all original civil actions, except as otherwise provided in sections 2, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 1102 of that title, along with appellate jurisdiction and the other heads of jurisdiction the section lists.
Jarvis v. Gillespie, 155 Vt. 633 (1991)
The Vermont Supreme Court states that one acquires title by adverse possession through open, notorious, hostile and continuous possession of another's property for a period of fifteen years and that the claimant has the burden of establishing all of those elements; that acts of possession are sufficiently open and notorious if conducted in a manner which would put a person of ordinary prudence on notice of the claim; that hostility requires no ill will, only an intent to claim the land and treat it as one's own; that a possessor need not change or improve the land but must perform acts of possession consistent with the parcel's nature; and that 12 V.S.A. 462 gives municipally owned land a rebuttable presumption of public use rather than a blanket exemption.
Regional Variances
Vermont adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period
Fifteen years. An action for the recovery of lands, or the possession thereof, may not be maintained unless commenced within 15 years after the cause of action first accrues to the plaintiff or those under whom the plaintiff claims (12 V.S.A. 501), and a right of entry is cut off after the same 15 years (12 V.S.A. 502).
Property taxes
Not an element. Neither limitation section mentions taxes. The only place taxes appear is 32 V.S.A. 5263, which gives a grantee under a duly recorded tax collector's deed, in continuous and open possession and having paid the taxes, a one year limitation period instead of fifteen.
Elements
Judicial, not statutory. Open, notorious, hostile and continuous possession for fifteen years, with the claimant bearing the burden of establishing all of them (Jarvis v. Gillespie, 155 Vt. 633 (1991)).
Continuity standard
Measured against the parcel. A possessor is not required to change nor necessarily improve the land, but merely to perform acts of possession consistent with the parcel's nature, and yearly seasonal uses of rural ground have been held more than fragmentary and occasional.
Open and notorious standard
Acts of possession are deemed sufficiently open and notorious if they are conducted in a manner which would put a person of ordinary prudence on notice of the claim.
Hostility standard
No ill will needed. Hostility does not require the presence of ill will toward the actual owner nor destructiveness toward the land; what is required is that the adverse possessor intends to claim the land and treat it as his own.
Color of title
Nothing in 12 V.S.A. 501 or 502 refers to a deed, written instrument, recording or color of title, and neither section sets a separate period for a claimant holding one. The single deed based variation in the scheme is the tax collector's deed rule.
Acreage cap
None. The Vermont sections bearing on the recovery of land, 12 V.S.A. 461, 462, 501 and 502 together with 32 V.S.A. 5263, contain no acreage figure.
Exempt land
Nothing in the limitation chapter extends to lands given, granted, sequestered, or appropriated to a public, pious, or charitable use, or to lands belonging to the State (12 V.S.A. 462). Municipally owned land is presumed given to a public use, rebuttable by showing the town abandoned any plans for it.
Perfecting title
An action of ejectment by a person having claim to the seisin or possession of lands (12 V.S.A. 4761), brought in the Superior Court Civil Division, which has original and exclusive jurisdiction of all original civil actions subject to the exceptions listed in 4 V.S.A. 31. A losing occupant counterclaims for betterments under 12 V.S.A. 4811.
Frequently Asked Questions
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