Family Land Feud...........w/ Illustration

I have been chosen to mediate a family quarrel. I don't think I'm biased, but this has really gotten out of hand. I was wondering what someone else might think.

I'll try to make it understandable.

Blue Lines are property linesRed Lines are fence lines

A is 10 acres owned by Ryan
B is 90 acres owned by Merle
C & D is 17 acres owned by Bill.........later by
D is less than an acre by its self

Merle is Ryans father and a devout Christian

1. Merle leases 'B' to Marvin.
2. Ryans drive has passed w/ permission for 10 years through Bills land 'C&D'.
3. Marvin is tapped into Ryans well to water his 60 head of cows.
4. Ryan gave Marvin-------to petty to print
5. Marvin passes across Ryans land 'A' to get to his leased land 'B' where the road dead ends.
6. Marvins lease w/ Merle is verbal, and he said he could keep his cows there as long as he wished.
7. Marvin ask Ryan " When Merle dies, can I keep my cows here?" Ryan says "As long as you would like"

So here it goes.

a week later.........

Bill dies and the land 'C &D' is put up for sale. Marvin ask both Merle and Ryan if they have any problems if he bought the land. Neither cared because Merle owns about 400 acres and Ryan will inherit 'B' [everyone in this story is 50+]. It's nothing but Blackjack Sandland w/ little value.

Ryan ask if he can buy 'D' from Bills family or Marvin once he buys it.

Did I tell ya Marvin grew up beside Bill?

Well the answer was "No.". Not only was the answer no, but Ryan was cut off from his driveway by Marvin. He could still get to his house through gate II instead of gate I.

Ryan has a FIT. Tells Marvin to get the hay that he had been storing beside gate II on 'A' and tells him not to cut 'A' for hay any more.

Goes to Merle to complain and wants Marvin gone from 'B'.

Threatens to block the road in & gate III also to cut off his water.

This happened in January, and what happened was.......

Merle tells Ryan not to block him off, do not cut off his water and he will not terminate Marvins lease beause " I told him he could lease it till I died. I'm a Christian and cannot go back on my word."

I mean things are really nasty and these are gun toting country hicks. The questions being ask are w/ all legalities aside, we know what they are.

1. Should Merle not renew Marvins lease as Ryan wishes?
2. Did Merle sell out and do his son wrong?
3. Should being a Christian play any part in this?
4. Should Ryan block off road in?

I'm fixen to suggest a cage match. What chall think?

My suggestion is to have Merle to insist to Marvin to sell him 'D' and he can keep his lease and use said payment for 'D' applied to lease 'B'.

I know that won't happen though....................over less than acre that looks like this.

PF people?

One thing that is not know is what the land from gate 2 to the dwelling looks like. If it is an easy drive then I don't see where A has a problem but if it is going to take much work to establish a road to the dwelling C&D would not use my land to get to gate 3. He could kiss it.

Getting to his house is no problem as to the fact 'A' is a pasture. The bad thing is it's up a 150yds up a steep hill now causing a lot of washout [the reason he ask Bill permision to cross his land in 98],while the driveway through 'D' was flat and wooded.

If Marvin wouldnt allow me to cross his I wouldn't allow him to cross mine. The ol'man needs to open his eyes.

Merle should be a stand up guy and go to Marvin and find out why he shut Ryan out of gate 1 as to make it more difficult for him having to use gate 2 due to the road condition and remind him of their long standing friendship. He just may have an acceptable reason.

If Marvin wants to be unreasonable then, Merle should decide if Ryan is being unreasonable and if Ryan is not then Merle should not let Marvin do no more that what was committed to him. Also, Melvin should consider the worth of using Ryan’s well water and the extra cost of the electric bill in relationship with Ryan using gate 1.

If Marvin has change from the kind of person he was when Merle made the commitment to him, then, I would take that as, him being a different person from the one he committed to and would release him from the commitment promise and this can be done within the capacity of a Christian.

If Ryan ever expects to get to use gate1 again, then, he is going at it in a 360 degree direction toward that goal. On the other hand if Marvin doesn’t have a good reason for closing gate 1 then no more free water or hay from lot A and Daddy and Merle can make do with the rest.

Since Merle most likely gave Ryan lot A then let the road and gate issues end.

Ryan will have to decide how this is going to impact his Daddies decision on dividing up the property for his part and how much all this will be worth in the end.
Winning is not always gain.

Looks to me like Marvin needs to move his cows and hay. Don't seem like there was a problem untill he became the owner of C&D. If he dont remember the kindness of Merle there is no need for Ryan to contine to let him have access and use his water. Marvin is the problem here.

If you agree to be the mediator then everybody is going to end up mad at you.

Gun Guru said:

If you agree to be the mediator then everybody is going to end up mad at you.

Click to expand...

Agreed. Get a mediator who is completely removed from family, friendship etc.

Couple of options:

Sell the land. Figure out a share rate and divide. If they don't like that...

Tell them all to shuddup!

Donate the land to the state. You done, walk away.

Make a permanent easement at the right side property line. Then everyone can gate off their portion.
Merle will need to change his driveway to the easement.
Everyone would only have 1 gate to go thru to get to their parcel.They would need to fence in the left side of the easement.
Every one would be responsible for their own power and water.
This is a legal issue,not a family issue.
If not taken care of, years from now there will be a family feud that makes this one seem small.JMO

1. Should Merle not renew Marvins lease as Ryan wishes?
2. Did Merle sell out and do his son wrong?
3. Should being a Christian play any part in this?
4. Should Ryan block off road in?

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#1. If Merle is a man of character and his word is his bond, a common practice among gentlemen, Merle needs to keep his word to Marvin.

#2. I don't see it. The issue at hand is between Ryan and Marvin.

#3. Are all the parties Christians? If so, an appeal to reason and charity should be attempted with an emphasis on their claims to being followers of Jesus. If they are not all Christians, the Christian should take the "high road" and the responsibility for living in peace as much as is possible.

#4 Only if he wants to go to war. He will more than likely win, as he controls access to the "leased" property (which he possibly stands to inherit) and the water from his well. How important is it for him to have the use of Gate I? Is he really hopeful of purchasing "D" from Marvin?

Marvin is not holding a winning hand, if he wants to lease "B", especially if Ryan's fence line is the eastern boundary of his property. Marvin could lose water and access to "B" if he is so stubborn about Ryan not using the drive and Gate I.

Some folks just "get stupid" about the silliest of things. There is available to them both, a gentleman's solution and a legal way of safeguarding the interests of both parties.

It would also be interesting to know whether the road is county and, if so, to what point. Could swing things in Marvin's favor. As diagrammed, the south end of the road extending to Gate II may be at play here and not just the current driveway access through Gate I.

I say you are wasting your time, the seeds of contempt have already been planted. The logical thing to do is Ryan cuts Marvin off from Ryan's water and passage through Ryan's land. Ryan uses gate on Ryan's property. Marvin has no water or passage to lease land. Merle keeps word to Marvin says he can keep cows there but has no control over Ryan. After all is said and done it will probably end up in court and after a few years and alot of money a judgement will come down and it won't solve a thing. There was something similar to this that happened hear, a couple of years ago, after years of bickering, one of the particpants shot and killed the other one in his driveway, problem solved the surviving family decided to work it out after the funeral for one and the sentencing of the other.

The only advice I will give you is to advise you to stay away from this...stay far far away.

Truly I am too confused by all the bickering... Walk away now...

I was in a situation kind of like this but in the end was almost in the law suit. Since my land joined theirs they tried to drag me into it also. After 50 thousand dollars in lawyer fees between the two of them. The solution was I sold and one of the members fighting sold. No fighting but family members never speaking to each other for many years. Was it worth it I would say no but that is their problem to solve.