Boundary & title disputes in Victoria.

Boundary disputes turn on the plan of subdivision and a licensed surveyor's re-establishment survey, not on where the fence has always been. Once the true boundary is fixed on the ground, the question becomes what to do about any encroachment: remove it, licence it, adjust the title, or compensate for it.

Title disputes cover a wider field: caveats lodged over your property, competing claims to an interest in land, adverse possession claims based on long exclusive occupation, disputes between co-owners about whether a property should be sold, and errors or fraud in registered dealings.

The Fences Act 1968 governs dividing fences and cost sharing, with a formal notice process before either owner can recover a contribution. VCAT handles fencing and many co-ownership matters; the Supreme Court handles adverse possession, caveat removal and title rectification.

Adverse possession is real but demanding. Occupying land that is not on your title, for the statutory limitation period and in the way the law requires, can in defined circumstances support a claim to it, but the evidence requirements are strict and a successful applicant can even face a duty assessment on the land. It is a carefully evidenced application, not a shortcut.

Fencing disputes run under the Fences Act 1968, which sets out how a fencing notice is given and how the cost of a dividing fence is shared between neighbours. Boundaries, encroachments and dividing structures are a common source of neighbour friction, and the notices and process matter.

Where co-owners cannot agree, the Property Law Act 1958 allows an application to have the land divided or sold. That prospect is often the lever that breaks a deadlock between co-owners.

Never rely on the existing fence as the boundary. A re-establishment survey by a licensed surveyor is the evidence that decides these matters, and getting one early usually shortens the dispute dramatically.