Boundary dispute

You'd be surprised how quickly a JCB can pull a wall down.

Joking aside. I would without hesitation speak to a solicitor to find out what your options are. Perhaps your mother has used one in the past who she could recommend. They are well versed in property issues.

Squatters, in this case your neighbours, have the 12 years on their side which has now passed. Should your neighbours get wind of the boundary issue before you act then you could be in a bit of bother in trying to get the land back.

The squatter rights pass to the new owner hence why I said don't waste time and get on to a solicitor ASAP.

A local solicitor will be able to provide the advice you need.

'Hi, I'm Sam your neighbour next door, and this is John my solicitor …' Nobody wants to live next to people like this so if it was me I'd do my homework first and then engage them in a friendly way. After all they bought the property like that and are most likely unaware of the issue. Also you have to consider the possible outcomes and what you're willing to settle on, e.g.:

1. Getting the wall demolished and rebuilt in its correct location - who's going to pay for this
2. Getting it demolished and just replaced with a lesser fence - is this worthwhile
3. Leaving it as-is
4. Redrawing the property boundary and transferring it theirs with some money changing hands

Years ago when we were buying a property that had an adverse possession angle, our solicitor advised us to get a written statement from the sellers stating that they had exclusive, uncontested sole access to a certain piece of property for x number of years. And getting that was a prerequisite for the sale.

The new owners may still be able to get such a statement from the previous owner. In that case I don't know if you would have to provide written evidence that your mother had contested the adverse possession or if simply witnessing her verbal assertion of her property rights to her neighbour would count for anything. But if your old neighbour wasn't the nicest guy, it's possible he won't want anything to do with the situation now. In which case, the land registry is your friend.

Have you checked against the land registry that the boundary is where you believe it to be?

Land registry maps are not regarded as conclusive of the boundaries. You would need the deed which describes the parcels of land to have measurements, e.g. 100 feet from the west wall of the dwelling house, or or some such.

If the encroachment happened more than 12 years ago, you are in difficulty. there is an established boundary marker, the wall. The neighbour would have squatted out your mother and passed his interest on to the new owner.