Opinion
December 29, 1995
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Orange County (Owen, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
We agree with the Supreme Court that the defendants' submissions established that between 1967 and 1987 they exclusively, and under a claim of right, possessed all the land upon which the two walnut trees in question were located. These two trees were located on the defendants' side of an established fence which the defendants honestly believed reflected the boundary of their property. The defendant Joseph Nick maintained this area, and pruned the subject trees, during this 20-year period. The defendants demonstrated all of the remaining elements of proof required to establish their entitlement to ownership by adverse possession, and the plaintiff failed, in its submissions, to demonstrate the existence of a material issue of fact (see, e.g., Morris v DeSantis, 178 A.D.2d 515; Bassett v Nicholls, 26 A.D.2d 569). Thompson, J.P., Altman, Friedmann and Goldstein, JJ., concur.