What if the fence is not on the actual boundary?

Fences get built where it was convenient, where the old one was, or where a previous owner thought the line ran. None of that changes the title boundary, and the misalignment often only surfaces when someone builds close to it, subdivides, or sells.

When it actually matters

• Building anything with a setback requirement, since setbacks are measured from the boundary and not from the fence.
• A retaining wall, where the question of whose land is being retained decides who pays.
• Subdivision or sale, where a survey will be done anyway and the discrepancy becomes a disclosure item.
• A dispute about the fence itself, where a contribution claim depends on it being a common boundary.

Getting it resolved

A licensed surveyor locates the boundary from the title and the survey marks, and places pegs. That is the only authoritative answer, and it is not expensive relative to what it prevents. Councils, neighbours and builders all defer to it.

Where a fence has stood in the wrong place for a very long time, adverse possession can occasionally be argued, but the requirements are strict, the periods are long, and it is genuinely a matter for a property lawyer rather than something to plan around.