Estate of Wells v. Estate of Smith
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
576 A.2d 707 (1990)
Smith (plaintiff) began occupying property under a lease from Wells (defendant), later shifting from paying rent to covering taxes and repairs by agreement, and continued living there, making improvements and paying expenses consistent with that same arrangement, even after Wells died in 1960 and Smith unsuccessfully tried to notify the heir, acknowledging in that very letter that the home was owned by Wells; the trial court found Smith gained adverse-possession title upon Wells's death because it destroyed the prior tenancy at will, and Wells's estate appealed.
Whether permissive possession of land can ripen into adverse possession in the absence of an unequivocal and notorious disclaimer by the possessor of the true owner's ownership.