Claim that part of the land was never sold rejected at trial and on appeal

Background

The opposing party claimed that when it sold farmland to our client's family over 30 years ago, it had kept part of it (about 294 square meters), yet the whole parcel was transferred, and sued to cancel the registration of that share. On appeal, it changed the claim to one for transfer of title to restore the true owner's name.

Issues and ruling

The court held that a registration is presumed to rest on a valid cause and the party alleging invalidity must prove it. The opposing party's document was not shown to be genuine, the buyers had taken over and used the whole parcel, and the opposing party had neither subdivided the land nor paid property tax and raised no objection for about 20 years, so the claim was rejected.

Outcome

The claim was dismissed at first instance, and the amended claim on appeal was also dismissed. All litigation costs were placed on the opposing party.

This is the outcome of an individual case and does not guarantee the same result in similar matters. Some facts have been generalized to protect the parties involved.