When lands belonging to different persons in severalty have been occupied in common by such persons without a partition fence between their respective lands and one of the occupants desires to occupy that occupant’s part in severalty, that occupant may apply to a majority of the proper fence viewers:

1.    If the other occupant or occupants shall refuse or neglect, upon demand, to divide with the applicant the line where the partition fence ought to be built, to divide such line and assign to the parties the parts thereof upon which each party shall build the fence; or

2.    If the other occupant or occupants, when the line has been divided, shall refuse or neglect, upon demand, to build a sufficient fence upon the line assigned, to order such fence built.

Upon a division or assignment as provided in subsection 1, the fence viewers, in writing over their signatures, may assign a reasonable time for building the fence, having regard to the season of the year. If either party shall not build that party’s part of the fence within the time assigned, the other party, after having completed that party’s part thereof, may build the part assigned to the other party or parties and recover therefor the ascertained expense thereof, together with the fees of the fence viewers.