Adjoining landowners are owners of land with common boundaries, and have mutual rights, duties, and obligations related to their adjoining pieces of land.
In Kansas, adjoining landowners, also known as adjacent property owners, have certain rights and responsibilities concerning their shared property lines. These include the duty to respect property boundaries, the obligation to maintain fences along those boundaries, and the right to be free from any encroachments or nuisances from a neighbor's property. Kansas law, specifically the Kansas Fence Law, outlines the rules for constructing and maintaining partition fences, which are fences that divide the properties of adjoining landowners. Each landowner is typically responsible for half of the cost and maintenance of a partition fence. Additionally, if one landowner wants to build, repair, or improve a fence and the other does not, the interested party may seek to have a fence viewer appointed to resolve the dispute. Adjoining landowners must also manage their property in a way that does not cause harm to their neighbors, such as by ensuring proper drainage and not creating a nuisance. Disputes between adjoining landowners can often be resolved through negotiation, mediation, or, if necessary, legal action.