Kennedy v. Schneider

The Court today departs from a century of eases that construed the tax-payment requirement liberally in favor of a good-faith adverse claimant. Upon considering the Kennedys’ Motion for Reconsideration, I must respectfully dissent.

I. The Kennedys Should Prevail on Their Adverse Possession Claim Because They Paid Taxes on Roughly the Same Number of Acres They Occupied

This Court has repeatedly indicated that it will liberally construe the tax requirement set forth in I.C. § 5-210(2). E.g. Flynn v. Allison, 97 Idaho 618, 620, 549 P.2d 1065, 1067 (1976). As this Court warned in Trappett v. Davis,…