Bonardi v. Kazmirchuk

Summary

The New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed a judgment declaring that the defendant had established a prescriptive easement over the plaintiff’s driveway. The court held that regular, continuous use of the driveway for more than twenty years, with the owners’ knowledge but without permission, was adverse and sufficient to create the easement; subjective beliefs about permission were immaterial.

Holdings

1. Defendant established adverse use because she or her mother regularly used plaintiff's driveway as the primary access to the property for more than twenty years, with the knowledge but without the permission of the owners.
2. Permission allegedly granted in 1993 or 1994 did not defeat the claim because the prescriptive easement had already matured after twenty years of use in approximately 1986 or 1987.
3. The subjective belief of defendant or her mother that they had permission was irrelevant because the nature of the use, rather than subjective intent, controls whether use is adverse.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defendant's use of plaintiff's driveway was adverse, rather than permissive, for purposes of establishing a prescriptive easement.
2. Whether the trial court's finding of adverse use was supported by the evidence.
3. Whether defendant's or her mother's subjective belief that they had permission defeated the adverse-use element.
4. Whether permission allegedly given by plaintiff in 1993 or 1994 defeated the prescriptive easement claim.

Disposition

affirmed