Plettner v. Sullivan

John, Doris, Joel, and Bernice Plettner (plaintiffs) acquired land from the Fremont Hatchery (the hatchery). The Plettners and the hatchery jointly used a road that provided access to the Plettner property located west of the road. On the east side of this road and on land owned by the hatchery, there were two chicken houses. The Plettners believed that the boundary line for their property was located 10 feet west of the chicken houses. Some years later, the hatchery sold Earl and Ruth Sullivan (defendants) the land located east of the road. The Sullivans discovered that the true boundary line for the Plettner property was 30 feet west of the chicken houses. The Sullivans erected a fence that prevented access to the Plettner property from the road. The Plettners subsequently filed a quiet-title action. The trial court found that the Plettners had acquired by adverse possession all land lying west of a line located 10 feet from the chicken houses. The trial court also held that the Plettners and the Sullivans had each acquired a prescriptive easement on the other’s property, so that each of the parties had a reciprocal easement. Due to the trial court’s decision, the Sullivans lost one-half of the road to the Plettners through adverse possession but gained a prescriptive easement in that part of the road awarded to the Plettners. The Sullivans appealed.