Background
Taylor Thornton III and Carter Edwards (his lessee) owned 104 acres in Haywood County, Tennessee, bordering property owned by T.M.D. Farms. The parties disputed ownership of an 11.28-acre area running along their shared boundary. Thornton’s father acquired the property in 1947 and conveyed it to Thornton in 1963. T.M.D. Farms acquired its property from Dobbins’s grandfather in 1957. Both parties claimed to have paid property taxes on the disputed area for more than 20 years.
In 2013, Edwards notified Dobbins he would “exercise control” over the disputed area. In 2017, Edwards constructed a driveway, culvert, and drainage ditch on the disputed land, preventing T.M.D. Farms from farming it. T.M.D. Farms responded by having the property surveyed in 2021 and recording a quitclaim deed with a metes and bounds description that included the disputed area. Thornton and Edwards sued to quiet title, claiming they owned the area and had paid exclusive taxes on it for over 20 years.
The Court’s Holding
The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment for T.M.D. Farms. The appellate court held that Thornton and Edwards failed to establish their entitlement to a presumption of ownership under Tennessee Code Annotated sections 28-2-109 and 28-2-110 because both parties—not just the plaintiffs—had paid taxes on the disputed area for more than 20 years. The statute requires exclusive tax payment by the claimant to create a rebuttable presumption of ownership. The trial court properly found that T.M.D. Farms had been implicitly assessed and taxed on 73 acres in Haywood County annually since 1993, which included the disputed area; absent the disputed acreage, T.M.D. Farms would have owned only 62–63 acres.
The court also found the surveys conducted by Richardson and Maness for T.M.D. Farms more reliable than Dodd’s survey for the plaintiffs. Richardson and Maness relied on older deed descriptions (the 1896 T.M.D. deed versus the 1919 Thornton deed as the oldest), properly traced the Conyers boundary line referenced in multiple deeds, and used established monuments like Johnson Grove Road and railroad beds. By contrast, Dodd relied on buggy axles that were not clearly referenced in the oldest deeds and that may have been repositioned by an 1952 surveyor. The trial court properly gave greater weight to the more methodologically sound surveys.
Alternatively, the court held that T.M.D. Farms had acquired the disputed property through adverse possession under Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-2-105, having possessed and farmed the land openly and continuously for many years until Edwards’s 2017 improvements prevented further farming.
Key Takeaways
- The statutory presumption of ownership based on 20+ years of tax payment (Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-2-109) requires exclusive tax payment by the claimant and is rebuttable upon proof that another party also paid taxes on the disputed property.
- Tax assessment records and maps are admissible to show tax payment but do not prove exclusive payment absent corroborating evidence; when both parties can demonstrate tax payment, the statutory presumption does not apply.
- In boundary disputes involving conflicting survey evidence, trial courts may properly credit surveys that rely on older, more reliable deed descriptions and established monuments over surveys relying on undocumented or repositioned markers.
- Adverse possession remains available as an alternative ground for ownership when a party has openly possessed and used property continuously for the statutory period, even if deed-based title arguments fail.
Why It Matters
This decision clarifies the interplay between statutory tax-payment presumptions and actual boundary ownership in Tennessee. Litigants cannot rely solely on their own tax payment history to establish title; they must affirmatively prove that the adverse party did not also pay taxes on the same land. The case also reinforces that survey reliability turns on the quality of underlying deed descriptions and the pedigree of historical boundary markers. Where older deeds provide clearer reference points and better historical documentation, courts will favor surveys that honor those foundational sources over surveys relying on more recent or questionable monuments.
For property owners and their counsel, the decision underscores the importance of careful deed research and qualified surveyors who can trace historical boundary lines through chain-of-title analysis. It also demonstrates that long-term possession and use of property can independently establish ownership through adverse possession, providing a safety net when deed-based claims prove difficult to prove definitively.