11-12-2007, 07:49 AM
quote:
One suggestion would be to have her find an attorney she fully trust to look after and act in her exclusive interest, and offer to just pay the bill.
yes, when I was thinking whether there was anything that would convince her, this idea came to mind. I didn't mention it because it is sure to cost you some money, and you didn't say what you were willing to invest in this without any assurance you would get what you want. Glad that Bob suggested it.
Bob, I too think it's a fascinating area of law.
Hawai`i is unique because of the land division made by the king to people who had never owned land nor even had the concept of owning land. Many people did not formally claim their kuleana.
Also, many people in Hawai`i allowed their property to pass by intestate succession, which made it subject to rather tangled kinship laws.
Then a lot of the easement law has to do with public access to the shoreline, Native Hawaiian access rights, etc.. It's relatively difficult to find straightforward cases of next door neighbors battling it out such as is common on the mainland.
When researching my issue, what I found was that the legal principles were repeated over and over, but I couldn't find a case that resembled my own situation.
maud,
I can understand your neighbor's skittishness. I was blown away that a reputable attorney would try to bully us with a bogus prescriptive easement claim, but he did it.
This despite the fact that she was driving over her mother-in-law's parcel and the use was clearly by permission, and we had even written a letter when we first had problems with her -- stating that she had our continued permission. And his office had not refuted that it was permissive. But later the attorney tried to claim otherwise.
I love the law, but some attorneys are such sleazoids the way they try to do their job. Like I said, no wonder she doesn't want to get anywhere near a situation where attorneys could get involved. The simplest course of action is for her to just say no, which is too bad for you who are looking for a win-win situation.
Edited by - KathyH on 11/12/2007 11:51:01