Adverse Possession – the “free” method

My father first told me a story about Adverse Possession many years ago, which was the method he used 20 something years ago, to acquire the large parcel of land that our family holiday home now sits on. Back in the old days, he would camp on the block with his friends and paid the taxes for a period of 10 years. Today, the title is in his name.

In recent months, I have taken to researching this method a little more frugally, and it seems too, the subject has been explored by others and through the media.

Adverse Possession, as a general observation, allows an 'investor' to pay the property rates or land tax on an estate that is currently unoccupied. It may be that its owner passed away and had not listed it in their will – their relatives are unaware of its existence. Although it can be quite difficult to locate such property, and in recent years, Council's have partnered with few specialists to recover "unoccupied" property and claim as Crown Land, a valuable exercise! Though if an 'investor' is able to locate an unclaimed property and pay its taxes for a period of between 10 – 15 years, and or charge a squatters fee to tenants, they may petition that they are entitled to the estate. 

I am still quite blurry on the subject as I have only just begun my research (it is proving difficult to find published transcripts that offer further advise, as historically, this method has been kept quiet). If you have a legal background in dealing with Adverse Possession, or have yourself used this method to acquire property in the past, I have a couple of questions:

– In the instance that an estate / land has been unoccupied for a period of 25 years and rates unpaid, if the 'investor' pays its rates to date (25 years worth of rates and or taxes), in Victoria for example (where Adverse Possession requires an 'investor' to pay 15 years of rates/taxes), would this constitute land ownership? Or would the 'investor' be required to pay the rates/taxes for a period of 15 years from today's date?

– Are there any known researchers / specialists to supply data on unoccupied estate, or are there any ways to obtain this information through Land Victoria / DSE / Land Information Centre?

I am also interested in applying this method to real estate in France. If anyone can provide advice on Adverse Possession / land acquisition for property locally or globally, I would greatly appreciate your suggestions!