Adverse Possession in Virginia: One Statute, Five Court Made Elements, Fifteen Years
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Virginia · Last updated October 5, 2026
The Code of Virginia never uses the words adverse possession in the article that makes the doctrine work. 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 in Virginia all of the timing rests on a single sentence: no person shall make an entry on, or bring an action to recover, any land unless within fifteen years next after the time at which the right to make such entry or bring such action shall have first accrued to such person or to some other person through whom he claims (Va. Code 8.01-236). Everything else comes from the Supreme Court of Virginia. To establish title to real property by adverse possession a claimant must prove actual, hostile, exclusive, visible, and continuous possession, under a claim of right, for the statutory period of 15 years, and has the burden of proving all the elements by clear and convincing evidence (Harkleroad v. Linkous, 281 Va. 12 (2011)). That court also supplies the definitions. Possession is hostile if it is under a claim of right and adverse to the right of the true owner, exclusive when it is not in common with others, and visible when it is so obvious that the true owner may be presumed to know about it. Virginia asks nothing about property taxes, nothing about a deed, and nothing about acreage, because none of those words appears in Va. Code 8.01-236 through 8.01-242. It does cap how long a legal disability can hold the clock open, at twenty-five years (8.01-237). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Virginia
Which side of the boundary question are you on?
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How long does adverse possession take in Virginia?
Fifteen years. Va. Code 8.01-236 provides that no person shall make an entry on, or bring an action to recover, any land unless within fifteen years next after the time at which the right to make such entry or bring such action first accrued to that person or to someone through whom the person claims.
Do you have to pay the property taxes to claim adverse possession in Virginia?
No. The word tax does not appear in Va. Code 8.01-236 through 8.01-242, the article governing limitations on the recovery of realty, and tax payment is not one of the five elements the Supreme Court of Virginia requires. Those are actual, hostile, exclusive, visible and continuous possession under a claim of right.
How strong does the evidence have to be in a Virginia adverse possession case?
Clear and convincing. The Supreme Court of Virginia holds that a claimant has the burden of proving all the elements of adverse possession by clear and convincing evidence, and that the possession must have been actual, hostile, exclusive, visible, and continuous under a claim of right for the statutory period of 15 years.
Can Commonwealth of Virginia land be taken by adverse possession?
The limitation statutes do not reach it. Va. Code 8.01-231 provides that no statute of limitations which does not in express terms apply to the Commonwealth shall be deemed a bar to any proceeding by or on behalf of the Commonwealth, and 8.01-236 contains no such express terms.
Virginia 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. Virginia divides that job between the General Assembly and the courts. The General Assembly supplies the clock and nothing more: fifteen years from when the owner's right of entry or action first accrued (Va. Code 8.01-236), with a twenty-five year ceiling on how far a legal disability can push that out (8.01-237). The Supreme Court of Virginia supplies the substance: actual, hostile, exclusive, visible, and continuous possession, under a claim of right, proved by clear and convincing evidence. Two statutes shape how much ground a claim covers. Possession of part is not possession of the whole where an actual adverse possession can be proved (8.01-145), and a cotenant plaintiff must prove actual ouster or a total denial of the cotenant's right (8.01-141).
An inherited Buckingham County farmhouse and the ouster question
Consider a 1920s farmhouse on nine acres outside Dillwyn, left by an intestate death in 1998 to three siblings, with one branch of the family living in it, renting out rooms and paying for every roof and well repair since. On raw timing the fifteen years in Va. Code 8.01-236 is long past. The relationship is where it gets hard. Virginia addresses cotenants expressly: where an ejectment action is by tenants in common, joint tenants or coparceners against their cotenants, 8.01-141 binds the plaintiff to prove actual ouster or some other act amounting to total denial of the plaintiff's right as cotenant. Alongside that, the Supreme Court of Virginia still demands hostile possession under a claim of right, proved by clear and convincing evidence. Whether these facts meet that is a question for the circuit court.
Relevant Laws
Va. Code 8.01-236 (limitation of entry on or action for land)
Provides that no person shall make an entry on, or bring an action to recover, any land unless within fifteen years next after the time at which the right to make such entry or bring such action shall have first accrued to such person or to some other person through whom he claims, with a proviso that an action for unlawful entry or detainer under 8.01-124 shall be brought within three years after such entry or detainer.
Va. Code 8.01-237 (effect of disabilities on a right of entry or action for land)
Provides that notwithstanding subsection A of 8.01-229, no disabilities or tacking of disabilities shall preserve to any person or his successors a right to make entry on or bring an action to recover land for more than twenty-five years after such right first accrued, although such person or persons shall have been disabled during the whole of such twenty-five years.
Va. Code 8.01-231 (Commonwealth not within statute of limitations)
Provides that no statute of limitations which shall not in express terms apply to the Commonwealth shall be deemed a bar to any proceeding by or on behalf of the same.
Va. Code 8.01-238 (bill in equity to repeal a grant of land)
Provides that a bill in equity to repeal, in whole or in part, any grant of land by the Commonwealth shall be brought within ten years next after the date of such grant.
Va. Code 8.01-255.1 (condition subsequent and determinable fee)
Bars an action for the recovery of lands, or an entry on them, by reason of a breach of a condition subsequent or the termination of an estate of fee simple determinable unless commenced or made within ten years, and provides that possession of land after such a breach or termination shall be deemed adverse and hostile from the first breach of the condition or from the occurrence of the terminating event.
Va. Code 8.01-235 (limitation raised only as an affirmative defense)
Provides that the objection that an action is not commenced within the limitation period prescribed by law can only be raised as an affirmative defense specifically set forth in a responsive pleading, that no statutory limitation period shall have jurisdictional effects, and that the defense cannot be set up by demurrer.
Va. Code 8.01-145 (possession of part not possession of whole)
Provides that in a controversy affecting real estate, possession of part shall not be construed as possession of the whole when an actual adverse possession can be proved.
Va. Code 8.01-141 and 8.01-144 (cotenants and recovery of part)
Section 8.01-141 provides that if the action be by one or more tenants in common, joint tenants or coparceners against their cotenants, the plaintiff shall be bound to prove actual ouster or some other act amounting to total denial of the plaintiff's right as cotenant. Section 8.01-144 provides that the plaintiff may recover any specific or any undivided part or share of the premises, though it be less than claimed in the motion for judgment.
Va. Code 8.01-131, 8.01-134, 8.01-136 and 8.01-163 (the action of ejectment)
Section 8.01-131 retains the action of ejectment, subject to the article and the applicable Rules of Court, for any person claiming real estate in fee or for life or for years. Section 8.01-134 requires it to be commenced and prosecuted as other actions at law. Section 8.01-136 requires the premises to be described with convenient certainty so that possession may be delivered. Section 8.01-163 makes the judgment conclusive as to the title or right of possession established, against the party and those claiming under that party by later accruing title.
Va. Code 8.01-158 and 8.01-160 (mesne profits and the improvements claim)
Section 8.01-158 lets the jury assess damages for mesne profits of the land for any period not exceeding five years previously to the commencement of the suit until the verdict, plus damages for destruction or waste, where the plaintiff filed a statement of the profits and damages demanded. Section 8.01-160 requires a defendant intending to claim allowance for improvements to file a statement of that claim with the pleading.
Va. Code 17.1-513 (jurisdiction of circuit courts)
Provides that circuit courts shall have original and general jurisdiction of all civil cases, except cases upon claims to recover personal property or money not of greater value than 100 dollars exclusive of interest, and except such cases as are assigned to some other tribunal, along with the other heads of jurisdiction the section lists.
Harkleroad v. Linkous, 281 Va. 12 (2011)
The Supreme Court of Virginia states that to establish title to real property by adverse possession a claimant must prove actual, hostile, exclusive, visible, and continuous possession, under a claim of right, for the statutory period of 15 years, and has the burden of proving all the elements by clear and convincing evidence. Quoting Grappo v. Blanks, it adds that one is in hostile possession if the possession is under a claim of right and adverse to the right of the true owner, that possession is exclusive when it is not in common with others, and that possession is visible when it is so obvious that the true owner may be presumed to know about it.
Regional Variances
Virginia adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period
Fifteen years. No person shall make an entry on, or bring an action to recover, any land unless within fifteen years next after the time at which the right to make such entry or bring such action first accrued to that person or to someone through whom the person claims (Va. Code 8.01-236).
Where the elements come from
Not the Code. The land-limitation article, 8.01-236 through 8.01-242, never uses the phrase adverse possession. The Supreme Court of Virginia supplies the requirements: actual, hostile, exclusive, visible, and continuous possession, under a claim of right, for the statutory period of 15 years.
Burden of proof
Clear and convincing evidence, borne entirely by the claimant, who must prove all of the elements.
Definitions the court uses
Hostile means possession under a claim of right and adverse to the right of the true owner. Exclusive means not in common with others. Visible means so obvious that the true owner may be presumed to know about it.
Property taxes
Not an element and not a period shortener. The word tax appears nowhere in 8.01-236 through 8.01-242, and tax payment is not one of the five elements.
Color of title
No separate route and no separate period. The phrase appears nowhere in the land-limitation article, and 8.01-236 sets one fifteen year period for everyone. The court's requirement is possession under a claim of right.
Acreage cap
None. The land-limitation article contains no acreage figure. Extent is governed instead by 8.01-145: possession of part shall not be construed as possession of the whole when an actual adverse possession can be proved.
Disabilities
Capped at twenty-five years. No disabilities or tacking of disabilities shall preserve a right to make entry on or bring an action to recover land for more than twenty-five years after the right first accrued (8.01-237).
Cotenants
Handled by statute. Where the action is by one or more tenants in common, joint tenants or coparceners against their cotenants, the plaintiff shall be bound to prove actual ouster or some other act amounting to total denial of the plaintiff's right as cotenant (8.01-141).
Commonwealth owned land
Outside the limitation statutes. No statute of limitations which does not in express terms apply to the Commonwealth shall be deemed a bar to any proceeding by or on behalf of the Commonwealth (8.01-231), and 8.01-236 contains no such express terms.
Perfecting title
Virginia retains the action of ejectment (8.01-131), commenced and prosecuted as other actions at law (8.01-134), with the premises described with convenient certainty so that possession may be delivered (8.01-136) and a judgment that is conclusive as to the title or right of possession established (8.01-163), in the circuit court (Va. Code 17.1-513).
Frequently Asked Questions
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