Missouri Adverse Possession (Squatters' Rights)

Missouri's adverse-possession period is set by RSMo 516.010, the statute of limitations for recovering real property. It bars an action "unless it appear that the plaintiff... was seized or possessed of the premises in question, within ten years before the commencement of such action." Courts require the claimant's possession to be hostile, actual, open and notorious, exclusive, and continuous for the entire ten years before title may be acquired. A mere trespasser or recent occupant has no protected interest, and a dispossessed owner must sue within the ten-year window. Adverse possession is distinct from eviction: an occupant claiming under a lease or holding over is removed through unlawful-detainer or rent-and-possession actions, not adverse-possession law.

No specific statutory penalty. A would-be adverse possessor who cannot prove the full ten years of hostile, open, exclusive, continuous possession gains no title; the record owner retains the right to recover possession.