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 often require senior-rights analysis because an earlier grant may control over later grants from the same source.
- Simultaneous conveyances, such as subdivision lots created together, generally avoid seniority among lots unless the record establishes otherwise.
Conveyance Logic for Boundary Questions
A conveyance is the transfer of an interest in real property. FS questions may describe a grantor selling one parcel, then another, or creating several lots by a plat. The survey problem is often about what was conveyed first, what was left afterward, and how conflicts should be allocated. You do not need to memorize every deed form, but you do need to read instruments carefully.
A deed usually includes parties, words of grant, a legal description, reservations or exceptions, and signatures or acknowledgments. For boundary analysis, the description and timing matter most. A deed may convey all land within a metes-and-bounds description except an existing road right-of-way. It may reserve a utility easement for the grantor. It may reference a recorded plat, a prior deed, or a monument. Each phrase can affect what the surveyor locates.
| Conveyance concept | Meaning | Boundary effect |
|---|---|---|
| Senior right | Earlier valid conveyance from a common grantor | Usually satisfied before later junior conveyances |
| Junior right | Later conveyance from the same remaining title | May bear shortages if the grantor had less land left |
| Reservation | Grantor creates or keeps a right from the property conveyed | Can burden the granted parcel for the grantor's retained land |
| Exception | Property or right excluded from the grant | Not included in what passes to grantee |
| Simultaneous conveyance | Parcels created at the same time, often by plat | Shortage or excess may be apportioned depending on law and facts |
Sequential conveyances are a common exam pattern. Suppose a grantor owns a tract and first conveys the west 100 feet to Buyer A. Later the grantor conveys the east 100 feet to Buyer B, but the original tract is only 195 feet wide. If the first deed is valid and clearly locatable, Buyer A's senior right may receive the full 100 feet, leaving the shortage to the junior parcel. Exact legal treatment depends on jurisdiction and facts, but the survey logic is to respect the order of grants.
Simultaneous conveyances are different. If a subdivision plat creates ten lots at once and the block is short, there may be no senior lot within that same simultaneous creation. Shortage may be apportioned among lots or handled according to the controlling plat and law. The FS exam may test the principle that senior-right analysis is strongest when the parcels were conveyed in sequence, not when they were created together by one plat.
Reservations and exceptions are frequently confused. A reservation usually creates or retains a new right in favor of the grantor, such as reserving an access easement over the conveyed parcel. An exception withholds something from the conveyance, such as excepting a previously conveyed railroad strip. In either case, the surveyor reads the words and searches the record chain to understand what is included.
The recording system provides notice and priority information, but recording statutes are state specific. Avoid universal statements about race, notice, or race-notice statutes unless the question gives that rule. For exam purposes, the better answer is often to search the chain of title, identify the sequence of conveyances, and evaluate whether each deed could convey what it purports to convey.
A practical workflow begins with a source deed and moves backward and forward. Trace the parent tract, list each out-conveyance, identify senior and junior descriptions, and compare record calls to field evidence. If a conflict appears, the survey should show the competing lines and explain the basis for the surveyor's opinion under applicable standards.
The safest exam reasoning is disciplined and chronological. Do not allocate a shortage by guesswork. Do not assume all later deeds are equally valid if the grantor had already conveyed part of the tract. Do not ignore a reservation because it is inconvenient to locate. Read the deed, place it in the chain, identify the estate or right conveyed, and then apply evidence rules.
A common grantor conveys the west 200 feet of a tract, then later conveys the remainder, but the tract is short. Which principle is most relevant?
Which deed clause most likely keeps a right for the grantor over the land being conveyed?
Lots created together on a subdivision plat are best described as what kind of conveyance context?