By the reign of Henry VIII the fact that there had been no changes to the cutoff date had become very inconvenient and a new approach was taken whereby the person claiming possession had to show possession of the land a certain number of years (60, 50 or 30 depending on the kind of claim made) before the date of the claim.[4] Later statutes have shortened the limitation period in most common law jurisdictions. // Adverse possession is based on the doctrine of laches, which states that failing to assert a right or claim in a timely manner can prejudice an adverse party. This means the law may be used to reward a person who possesses the land of another for a requisite period of time. Failure of a landowner to exercise and defend his property rights for a certain period may result in the permanent loss of the landowner's interest in the property.
See original: 
Adverse possession - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
