Mississippi Squatter and Adverse Possession Rules

Mississippi's adverse-possession period is one of the shorter ones nationally. Miss. Code section 15-1-13(1) provides that 'ten (10) years' actual adverse possession by any person claiming to be the owner for that time of any land, uninterruptedly continued for ten (10) years by occupancy, descent, conveyance, or otherwise... shall vest in every actual occupant or possessor of such land a full and complete title.' The possession must be actual, open, and uninterrupted for the full decade. A disability of minority or unsound mind extends the owner's time to sue (never beyond 31 years). Subsection (2) lets a landowner defeat a fence-or-driveway claim by recording written notice with the chancery clerk within the 10 years. A holdover tenant is not a squatter and is removed through Justice Court eviction, not adverse possession.

No statutory penalty against the possessor; the consequence is loss of the owner's title after 10 years. An owner defeats a claim by interrupting possession, suing in ejectment within 10 years, or (for a fence/driveway) recording the section 15-1-13(2) notice.