Adverse Possession in Washington: Ten Years, or Seven If You Paid the Taxes
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Washington · Last updated October 5, 2026
Adverse possession is the rule that lets a person who openly occupies land they do not own become its legal owner once a set number of years has passed, and in Washington asking for one number gets you the wrong answer. Several periods run side by side, and the route decides which applies. The general figure is ten years, because no action for the recovery of real property may be maintained unless the plaintiff, or an ancestor, predecessor or grantor, was seized or possessed of the premises within ten years before the action begins (RCW 4.16.020(1)). Nothing in that route turns on property taxes. Three seven year routes sit alongside it in RCW chapter 7.28. Two of them are bought with tax money. A person in actual, open and notorious possession under claim and color of title made in good faith, who continues seven successive years and also pays all taxes legally assessed, is adjudged legal owner to the extent and according to the purport of their paper title (RCW 7.28.070). A good faith color of title holder of vacant and unoccupied land who pays all taxes for seven successive years is adjudged owner too, unless a person with a better paper title pays those taxes for any one of the seven years (RCW 7.28.080). The third seven year route rests on a connected title deducible of record and carries no tax requirement (RCW 7.28.050). On forestland, claims outside those three sections face a separate proof bar (RCW 7.28.085). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Washington
Which side of the boundary question are you on?
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How long does adverse possession take in Washington?
Washington has more than one clock. The general route is ten years, since no action to recover real property may be maintained unless the plaintiff or a predecessor was seized or possessed within ten years before it begins (RCW 4.16.020(1)). Separate seven year routes exist under RCW 7.28.050, 7.28.070 and 7.28.080.
Do you have to pay the property taxes to claim adverse possession in Washington?
Only on some routes. The ten year route in RCW 4.16.020(1) and the seven year record title route in RCW 7.28.050 state no tax requirement at all. RCW 7.28.070 and RCW 7.28.080 each condition their seven year route on paying all taxes legally assessed on the land.
What extra proof does Washington require for a forestland claim?
Substantial improvements. A claimant whose claim is not under RCW 7.28.050, 7.28.070 or 7.28.080 is not deemed to have established open and notorious possession of forestland without clear and convincing proof of substantial improvements standing at least ten years, meaning construction costs above fifty thousand dollars (RCW 7.28.085).
Can state or school land in Washington be taken by adverse possession?
No. RCW 7.28.070 and 7.28.080 do not extend to lands owned by the United States or this state, nor to school lands, nor to lands held for any public purpose (RCW 7.28.090). No claim of right predicated upon the lapse of time shall ever be asserted against the state (RCW 4.16.160).
Washington 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 statutory period. Washington runs several of those periods at once, so the route decides the number. Ten years is the general figure (RCW 4.16.020(1)), and none of it turns on property taxes. Seven years is available three ways: on a connected title in law or equity deducible of record, with no tax element (RCW 7.28.050), on claim and color of title made in good faith plus payment of all taxes legally assessed (RCW 7.28.070), and on good faith color of title to vacant and unoccupied land plus seven successive years of tax payment (RCW 7.28.080). Forestland claims outside those three sections face the substantial improvement bar in RCW 7.28.085.
Twelve years on a Stevens County timber tract that still misses the forestland bar
Picture a timbered tract in Stevens County where a neighbor has cut firewood, run cattle through a corner and kept a gated spur road for twelve years, with no deed to that ground and no tax bill ever in their name. On the face of the general route the time is there, since RCW 4.16.020(1) asks only whether the owner was seized or possessed within ten years, and it says nothing about taxes. Then the forestland provision applies. Because the claim is not brought under RCW 7.28.050, 7.28.070 or 7.28.080, open and notorious possession is not deemed established without clear and convincing proof of substantial improvements, meaning construction costs above fifty thousand dollars, remaining at least ten years (RCW 7.28.085). Whether a gate and a woodpile meet that is for the superior court.
Relevant Laws
RCW 4.16.020(1) (ten year period for recovery of real property)
Provides that actions for the recovery of real property, or for the recovery of the possession of it, must be commenced within ten years, and that no action may be maintained for such recovery unless it appears that the plaintiff, or his or her ancestor, predecessor or grantor, was seized or possessed of the premises in question within ten years before the commencement of the action.
RCW 7.28.050 (seven years on a title deducible of record)
Provides that actions for the recovery of lands held by actual, open and notorious possession for seven successive years, where the possessor has a connected title in law or equity deducible of record from the state, the United States, a public officer authorized to sell for nonpayment of taxes, or a sheriff or marshal selling on execution, must be brought within seven years after possession was taken.
RCW 7.28.070 (seven years on color of title plus payment of taxes)
Provides that every person in actual, open and notorious possession of lands under claim and color of title made in good faith, who continues in possession for seven successive years and also during that time pays all taxes legally assessed on the lands, shall be held and adjudged the legal owner to the extent and according to the purport of his or her paper title.
RCW 7.28.080 (color of title to vacant and unoccupied land)
Provides that a person having color of title made in good faith to vacant and unoccupied land who pays all taxes legally assessed on it for seven successive years is adjudged the legal owner to the extent of his or her paper title, with a proviso that a person having a better paper title who pays the assessed taxes for any one or more of those seven years defeats the benefit of the section.
RCW 7.28.083 (tax reimbursement, costs and attorneys' fees)
Provides that a party who prevails against the holder of record title may be required to reimburse that holder for taxes or assessments levied during the period of possession and proven by competent evidence to have been paid, and to pay the county treasurer taxes or assessments unpaid at judgment, and that the prevailing party may request costs and reasonable attorneys' fees the court may award if equitable and just.
RCW 7.28.085 (forestland, additional requirements and exceptions)
Provides that on forestland an adverse claimant is not deemed to have established open and notorious possession unless, as a minimum, clear and convincing evidence shows substantial improvements that have remained on the land at least ten years, defines substantial improvement as a permanent or semipermanent structure or enclosure costing over fifty thousand dollars to construct, excludes claims asserted under RCW 7.28.050, 7.28.070 and 7.28.080, and does not apply against an owner of less than twenty acres of forestland in the state.
RCW 7.28.090 (public lands, minors and protected persons)
Provides that RCW 7.28.070 and 7.28.080 do not extend to lands or tenements owned by the United States or this state, nor to school lands, nor to lands held for any public purpose, nor to land where the holder of the adverse title is under eighteen years of age or has been placed under a guardianship or conservatorship, and gives those holders three years after the disability ends to commence an action.
RCW 4.16.160 (limitations against the state, counties and municipalities)
Provides that the chapter's limitation periods apply to actions brought in the name or for the benefit of any county or other municipality or quasimunicipality in the same manner as to actions brought by private parties, but that there is no limitation on actions brought in the name or for the benefit of the state and no claim of right predicated upon the lapse of time shall ever be asserted against the state.
RCW 7.28.010 (who may bring the action and quiet title)
Provides that any person having a valid subsisting interest in real property and a right to the possession of it may recover the same by action in the superior court of the proper county, brought against the tenant in possession or, if there is no such tenant, against the person claiming the title or some interest in it, and may have judgment quieting or removing a cloud from the plaintiff's title.
RCW 7.28.120 (pleadings and superior title)
Requires the plaintiff to set forth in the complaint the nature of his or her estate, claim or title to the property, allows the defendant to set up a legal or equitable defense, provides that the superior title, whether legal or equitable, prevails, and requires the property to be described with such certainty as to enable possession to be delivered if a recovery is had.
RCW 65.08.070 (recording a conveyance of real property)
Provides that an acknowledged conveyance of real property may be recorded in the office of the recording officer of the county where the property is situated, and that a conveyance not so recorded is void as against a subsequent purchaser or mortgagee in good faith for valuable consideration whose conveyance is first duly recorded.
Regional Variances
Washington adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period, general route
Ten years. No action for the recovery of real property may be maintained unless the plaintiff, or an ancestor, predecessor or grantor, was seized or possessed of the premises in question within ten years before the commencement of the action (RCW 4.16.020(1)).
Statutory period, record title route
Seven years. Actual, open and notorious possession for seven successive years with a connected title in law or equity deducible of record from the state, the United States, a tax sale officer, or a sheriff or marshal selling on execution (RCW 7.28.050). No tax payment is stated.
Statutory period, color of title route
Seven years. Actual, open and notorious possession under claim and color of title made in good faith, continued seven successive years, with payment during that time of all taxes legally assessed on the land (RCW 7.28.070).
Statutory period, vacant and unoccupied land
Seven years of tax payment. A person with color of title made in good faith to vacant and unoccupied land who pays all taxes legally assessed for seven successive years is adjudged the legal owner to the extent of their paper title (RCW 7.28.080).
Property taxes
A route condition, not a universal element. Neither RCW 4.16.020(1) nor RCW 7.28.050 states any tax requirement. RCW 7.28.070 and RCW 7.28.080 each require payment of all taxes legally assessed across the seven years.
Color of title
Shortens the period to seven years, on terms. The claim and color of title must be made in good faith, and under RCW 7.28.070 the possessor must also pay all taxes legally assessed. What is won is limited to the extent and according to the purport of the paper title.
Acreage cap
None. RCW chapter 7.28 caps no claim by size. Its only acreage figure is the twenty acre threshold that switches off the forestland requirement where the record owner owns less than twenty acres of forestland in the state (RCW 7.28.085(5)).
Forestland
An extra bar for claims outside RCW 7.28.050, 7.28.070 and 7.28.080. Open and notorious possession is not deemed established without clear and convincing proof of substantial improvements, costing over fifty thousand dollars, remaining at least ten years (RCW 7.28.085).
Government owned land
Excluded. RCW 7.28.070 and 7.28.080 do not extend to lands owned by the United States or this state, school lands, or lands held for any public purpose (RCW 7.28.090), and no claim predicated upon the lapse of time may ever be asserted against the state (RCW 4.16.160).
Perfecting title
An action in the superior court of the proper county against the tenant in possession, or the person claiming title, for judgment quieting or removing a cloud from title (RCW 7.28.010), with a complaint setting forth the nature of the estate, claim or title (RCW 7.28.120).
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