The ten-year adverse possession period includes which of the following?

• A. It includes easements by prescription.
• B. It excludes easements by prescription.
• C. It requires 20 years regardless of other factors.
• D. It applies only to improvements, not to use.

Answer: (A)

In New York, the ten-year window for adverse possession can also create a prescriptive easement. If someone uses another’s land in a way that is open, continuous, and adverse for ten years, that use can ripen into a non-possessory right to continue that use—the easement by prescription. The same period that can lead to title ownership through adverse possession can also establish this ongoing right to use the land for a specific purpose, such as a path or driveway. So the ten-year period includes easements by prescription because prescription rests on long, open use, not on building ownership. The other statements aren’t accurate: the period isn’t defined as 20 years, it isn’t only about improvements, and it doesn’t exclude prescriptive easements.