Final answer:
Adverse Possession is a legal principle allowing someone to gain ownership of land after occupying it under certain conditions for a specified time, without the permission of the legal owner. This possession must be hostile, actual, open, exclusive, and continuous.
Step-by-step explanation:
Adverse Possession is a legal doctrine that allows a person to claim ownership of land under certain conditions. This concept comes into play when an individual who is not the legal owner of a property occupies it for a period of time, which can lead to gaining legal title to the land. The basic idea behind this doctrine is that if the landowner fails to enforce their property rights within a certain timeframe, they can lose those rights to the occupant who has openly taken possession.
For adverse possession to apply, the occupant's possession of the property must be: hostile (without the permission of the real owner), actual (exercising control over the property), open and notorious (possessing the property in a way that is observable by others), exclusive (not shared with the real owner or the public), and continuous for a statutory period (which varies by jurisdiction).