5.3 Conveyances, Sequential and Simultaneous Rights
Key Takeaways
- Conveyance analysis starts with the instrument: parties, granting clause, description, reservations, exceptions, and recording context.
- Sequential conveyances from a common grantor require senior-rights analysis — the earlier valid grant is satisfied first, and the junior grant bears the shortage or excess.
- Simultaneous conveyances (subdivision lots created together by one plat) have no seniority among the lots; shortage or excess is prorated (apportioned) among them.
- A reservation creates or keeps a right for the grantor out of the land conveyed; an exception withholds something already excluded from the grant.
Conveyance Logic for Boundary Questions
A conveyance is the transfer of an interest in real property. FS questions describe a grantor who sells one parcel, then another, or who creates several lots by recording a plat. The boundary problem is usually about what was conveyed first, what remained afterward, and how a shortage or excess in the parent tract should be allocated. You do not memorize deed forms, but you must read instruments carefully and track the order of events.
A deed includes parties (grantor and grantee), words of grant (the granting clause), a legal description, reservations or exceptions, and execution (signatures, acknowledgment, and delivery). Recall the basic vocabulary the exam assumes: the grantor transfers, the grantee receives, and the deed is effective on delivery and acceptance, with recording providing notice to third parties. The habendum clause ("to have and to hold") defines the estate's extent. For boundary analysis the description and the timing matter most.
A deed may convey all land within a metes-and-bounds description except an existing road right-of-way, may reserve a utility easement for the grantor, and may reference a recorded plat, a prior deed, or a monument. Each phrase changes what the surveyor locates and how conflicts resolve.
Senior and Junior Rights
| Concept | Meaning | Boundary effect |
|---|---|---|
| Senior right | Earlier valid conveyance from a common grantor | Satisfied in full first; gets its called dimension |
| Junior right | Later conveyance from the same remaining title | Takes what is left; bears shortage or excess |
| Reservation | Grantor creates/keeps a right out of the land conveyed | Burdens the granted parcel for the grantor's retained land |
| Exception | Property or right excluded from the grant | Never passes to the grantee |
| Simultaneous conveyance | Parcels created at one time, often by plat | No seniority; shortage/excess prorated |
Sequential conveyances are a core exam pattern. Suppose a grantor owns a tract and first conveys the west 100 feet to Buyer A, then later conveys the east 100 feet to Buyer B, but the parent tract is only 195 feet wide. The senior grant (Buyer A) is satisfied first and receives its full 100 feet; the junior grant (Buyer B) takes the remainder and absorbs the 5-foot shortage. The principle is "first in time, first in right" — respect the order of grants. The exact legal treatment depends on jurisdiction and on whether each deed is clearly locatable, but the survey logic follows seniority.
Simultaneous Conveyances and Proration
Simultaneous conveyances behave oppositely. If a subdivision plat creates ten lots in a block at one instant and the block measures short, no lot is senior to another within that same simultaneous creation. The shortage (or excess) is prorated — apportioned among the lots in proportion to their record dimensions — unless an original monument or the controlling plat dictates otherwise. The FS exam loves to contrast this with sequential deeds: senior-rights analysis is strongest when parcels were conveyed in sequence, and proration governs when they were created together.
A quick decision rule:
- Sequential deeds from a common grantor → apply seniority; junior bears the difference.
- Lots from one plat (simultaneous) → no seniority; prorate the difference.
- Original monuments found → monuments control over proration; hold the found corners and distribute only the remainder.
Reservation vs. Exception
These two are routinely confused. , reserving an access easement over the conveyed parcel. " A reservation typically yields a fresh interest (often an easement) back to the grantor; an exception simply removes acreage or a right from what passes. A practical test: ask whether the clause creates a right that did not exist before (reservation) or merely carves out something already separate (exception). The distinction changes both the acreage conveyed and the rights the grantee receives.
Also watch the difference between a call and a recital. A call is operative description language that the surveyor must honor; a recital ("being the same land conveyed in Book 12, Page 305") points to the chain of title and helps resolve ambiguity but does not itself enlarge or shrink the grant. When a description and a recital disagree, the operative description generally governs unless it is itself ambiguous.
A Disciplined Workflow
Start from a source deed and move both directions in the chain of title. Trace the parent tract, list each out-conveyance in order, label each description senior or junior, and compare record calls to field evidence. Recording statutes (race, notice, race-notice) are state specific, so do not import a universal priority rule unless the question supplies it. If a conflict appears, show the competing lines and explain the basis for the surveyor's opinion.
Do not allocate a shortage by guesswork, do not assume every later deed is equally valid once the grantor has already conveyed part of the tract, and do not ignore a reservation merely because it is inconvenient to locate. Read the deed, place it in the chain, identify the estate or right conveyed, then apply the evidence rules.
Senior-rights quick recap
- The first parcel conveyed out of a larger tract holds senior rights; later (junior) parcels take what remains.
- A shortage or overage is absorbed by the junior parcel, not prorated, when the conveyances were sequential.
- Simultaneously created parcels (e.g., lots in one recorded subdivision plat) share any excess or deficiency by proration.
A common grantor conveys the west 200 feet of a tract, then later conveys the remainder, but the tract is short of the called total. Which principle most directly governs the allocation?
A recorded plat creates twelve lots in one block at the same time, and the block measures 6 feet short with no controlling monuments found. How is the shortage handled among the lots?
A deed conveys a parcel but keeps for the grantor a new 20-foot access easement across it. What is this clause called?