Who has the right to own the land?

Question

Who has the right to own the land?
30 years ago my friends uncle used to bougth small land for over 250sq meter and accdg to its lot the 30 sq.meter was donated to be used as a deep well under local citizens of the town but then again the deep well is no longer existing and the new owner of the land who was the uncle of my friend is sitll paying for the tax of the land including the donated one, is it possible or do the owner has the right to take the donated land which is no longer existing or not properly used by its purpose, the reason that the owner wants to get the piece of land is because one of their neigbhorhood is putting a lot of garbage trash and human and animal waste in donated property which was being taxed by the owner...

Answer 1

If you are in the US:

1. Uncle may be able to claim "adverse possession" if he used it continuously, openly and notoriously and paid the taxes. But it sounds like he didn't use it at all, so it may not be a strong case. Uncle should see a real estate lawyer

2. Since Uncle is being taxed, he might actually be the owner. The "donation" may only be an easement, which gives the town the right to access and drill a well, but not actual ownership. It may be possible to have the town voluntarily release the easement. Uncle should see a real estate lawyer.

3. Uncle can stop illegal dumping on the property by contacting local authorities.

If you are not in the US--you may get better answers in the proper forum. When posting a legal question, always mention your location, as laws vary quite a bit, even from state to state in the US.

Answer 2

What you wrote was one long run-on sentence when it should have been broken down into maybe 15 separate thoughts, which would have made it easier to understand. Because this is all one long drawn out bunch of thoughts it is difficult to grasp the real meaning. When dealing with land and real estate it is important to be as clear as possible, and stringing everything together as one long thought blurs the separate thoughts, which are very important. If you read a real estate contract you will see how carefully everything is spelled out, sometimes with small points given a complete sentence to insure clarity. When you run everything together without stopping it is impossible to determine where one thought ends and another begins, and this can cause much confusion and ambiguity, and can change the meaning entirely. Because of this, it is a little hard to tell exactly what you are talking about.

Common sense would say that if you "donate" a parcel of land it is deeded to someone else, so you cannot give it and keep it at the same time, unless the "donation" was in the form of an easement. Even then there should be an allowance for taxes based upon the donation, and all this would be spelled out in the original agreement, which you will find would have been much better written than your question, which is maybe why you cannot read it.

Land sales, including "donations" would be noted by the local governmental authority and the taxes assessed accordingly.

Answer 3

It depends on a couple of things.

First, the precise wording in the conveyance of the donated land. If it reserved the ownership back to the grantor in the event the property was not used a certain way, there's a possibility that it reverts back to the grantor or the grantor's heirs.

However, you'd also have to check applicable statutes, as some such reservations are void (for example, donations to the government may be ruled "absolute" regardless of reservation language) or reversions of that type may lapse after a certain number of years.

It's a maybe.

Answer 4

When the uncle donated the land, did he put it in writing and sign rights to the land away? If he did, he should have stopped paying taxes on it long ago for he'd no longer own it.

If there is written agreement, he'd need to check the terms in that agreement to see what he signed away. If it says he gives the land for a certain purpose, and that purpose no longer applies, hopefully it says the land reverts back to him. If it says that if the people to whom he donated don't meet certain requirements in using the donated land then he'd have the land back, it's his. If the written agreement says he's giving away the land completely, he no longer has rights.

If there is no written agreement, the land is still his and he has the right to retract his verbal agreement and can do with the land as he wishes. He has tax payments and should also have a deed listed with his town to support his stance and to order the trash be removed at that neighbor's expense.

When in doubt, check with a real estate lawyer.

Hope he gets the land issue straightened away.

Answer 5

This will depend on local, federal or state law where you live. Hard to answer in general terms.

Answer 6

yes