Brennan v. DeCosta

Neighbors, no longer friendly, dispute the right to use a street shown on a plan recorded in 1897 but never laid out on the ground. The DeCostas, defendants, claim the right to close and use a portion of the paper street, Fem Avenue, in Middleton. A judge of the Land Court determined, adversely to the DeCostas, that abutters on Fem Avenue, notably the plaintiffs, have the right to use Fem Avenue as shown on the 1897 plan for all purposes for which streets or ways are used in Middleton.1

1. Status of the way. As a general mle, the title of persons who acquire land bounded by a street or way mns…