1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

Legal Descriptions and Surveys

A legal description identifies a parcel precisely enough that a surveyor can locate its exact boundaries. A mailing address or a tax-assessor parcel number is not a legal description. Three systems are accepted nationally.

1. Metes-and-bounds

The oldest method, used in the original colonies. It describes the parcel by metes (distances and compass directions) and bounds (boundaries and monuments). Every metes-and-bounds description:

• Starts at a defined point of beginning (POB),
• Traces each boundary by direction and distance (and references monuments such as "the old oak" or "the iron pin"),
• Must return to the POB — the description must "close."

Trap: A description that ends at a different point than the POB is defective; the parcel does not close, and the description fails. Monuments (physical markers) generally control over recited distances if the two conflict.

2. Rectangular (government) survey system

Also called the public land survey system (PLSS). It divides land using principal meridians (north-south lines) and base lines (east-west lines). Memorize the grid:

Township lines run east-west and create tiers; range lines run north-south and create columns. Sections within a township are numbered 1 to 36 in a boustrophedonic (zigzag) pattern: Section 1 is the northeast corner, numbering runs west to Section 6, drops down, runs east, and so on, ending at Section 36 in the southeast corner.

Worked acreage math: "The NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 8." Start with a 640-acre section. Multiply the fractions: 1/4 x 1/4 = 1/16. Then 640 / 16 = 40 acres. Shortcut: multiply all the denominators (4 x 4 = 16) and divide 640 by that product.

Second example: "The S 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4." Denominators: 2 x 4 x 4 = 32. 640 / 32 = 20 acres.

Reading section fractions and combining acreage

The rectangular-survey questions almost always ask for acreage from a chain of fractions. The reliable method: multiply all the denominators, then divide 640 (acres in a section) by the product.

Worked example — combined tracts: "The N 1/2 of the SW 1/4 and the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 10."

• First tract: N 1/2 of SW 1/4 → denominators 2 × 4 = 8 → 640 ÷ 8 = 80 acres.
• Second tract: SE 1/4 of SW 1/4 → denominators 4 × 4 = 16 → 640 ÷ 16 = 40 acres.
• Combined: 80 + 40 = 120 acres.

When a description joins parcels with "and," compute each piece separately, then add. When it nests with "of," multiply the denominators of the whole chain. Mixing these two operations is the most common arithmetic error on survey questions.

Township grid, correction lines, and conflicts

The public land survey system numbers townships by tier (north or south of a base line) and range (east or west of a principal meridian). A description like "Township 3 North, Range 2 West" (T3N, R2W) locates one 36-square-mile township on the grid.

Because meridians converge toward the poles, surveyors insert correction lines and guide meridians so townships stay close to six miles square; the leftover slivers create slightly undersized government lots, often along the north and west edges of a township.

Rule of priority when descriptions conflict: physical monuments (an iron pin, a river) control over courses and distances (bearings and footages), which control over area (the stated acreage). So if a deed says "to the old oak, 300 feet" but the oak is actually 290 feet away, the monument wins and the boundary runs to the oak.

Exam shortcut: Monuments beat measurements; measurements beat acreage. Memorize that hierarchy and most boundary-conflict questions answer themselves.

3. Lot-and-block (recorded plat / subdivision)

Used for subdivided urban and suburban land. A developer records a subdivision plat map with the county; each parcel is then identified by its lot number and block number, referencing that recorded plat (for example, "Lot 7, Block C, of Sunnyvale Estates, as recorded in Plat Book 12, Page 45"). This is the simplest method because the recorded map carries all the dimensional detail.

Vertical descriptions: datum, benchmarks, and air rights

Legal descriptions also handle elevation. A datum is an established reference plane of elevation (commonly mean sea level) from which heights and depths are measured. A benchmark is a permanent marked reference point whose elevation relative to the datum is known. These are essential for describing air rights (e.g., a condominium unit on the 14th floor) and subsurface rights (mineral or tunnel rights).

Method-selection shortcut

Exam shortcut: Any acreage question that uses the words "quarter" or "half" of a section is solved by multiplying the denominators and dividing 640 by the result.