1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

A legal description identifies a parcel precisely enough that a surveyor can locate its exact boundaries. A street address is not a legal description. Three methods are recognized nationally:

1. Metes and bounds
2. Rectangular (government) survey
3. Lot and block (recorded plat / subdivision)

Metes and bounds

This is the oldest method, used heavily in the original 13 colonies and for irregular parcels. Metes are distances; bounds are directions or boundaries (often using monuments or compass bearings). The description begins at a defined point of beginning (POB), runs course by course around the parcel, and must return to the POB to enclose the land. If a description does not close back to the POB, the parcel is not fully enclosed — a frequent exam trap.

Lot and block

Used in subdivided urban and suburban areas. The developer records a plat map with the county, dividing land into numbered lots within blocks. A description then reads like "Lot 7, Block 3, Sunset Acres Subdivision, as recorded in Plat Book 12, Page 45." Lot-and-block depends on a recorded plat, so it cannot be used until the subdivision plat is recorded.

Rectangular (government) survey system

The rectangular survey divides land using principal meridians (north–south lines) and base lines (east–west lines). From their intersection, land is gridded into townships and sections.

• Township lines run east–west; range lines run north–south.
• A township is 6 miles by 6 miles = 36 square miles, divided into 36 sections.
• A section is 1 mile by 1 mile = 640 acres.
• Sections are numbered 1–36 in a serpentine (boustrophedonic) pattern: Section 1 is the northeast corner, numbering runs west to 6, drops down, then runs east, and so on to Section 36 in the southeast corner.

The critical conversion

1 acre = 43,560 square feet. Commit this to memory; it appears constantly.

Worked example 1: How many acres are in "the SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 14"? Work right to left, dividing 640 each time: 640 ÷ 4 (NW 1/4) = 160 acres; 160 ÷ 4 (SE 1/4 of that) = 40 acres.

Worked example 2: A rectangular lot measures 150 ft by 200 ft. Area = 30,000 sq ft. Acres = 30,000 ÷ 43,560 = 0.689 acre (about 0.69 acre).

Vertical descriptions: datum, benchmark, air and subsurface rights

Legal descriptions can also fix elevation, which matters for condominiums, air rights over a building, and subsurface (mineral) rights.

• A datum is an established reference point of elevation, often the U.S. Geological Survey datum (mean sea level at New York Harbor).
• A benchmark is a permanent reference marker (often a brass disk) whose elevation relative to the datum is known. Surveyors measure up or down from benchmarks.
• Air rights describe the space above a parcel; they can be sold or leased separately (for example, building over a rail yard).
• Subsurface rights describe the area below the surface, used for minerals, oil, and gas.

Choosing and combining methods

A single description may combine methods — for example, a government-survey description that then uses metes and bounds for an irregular interior tract. Regardless of method, the goal is the same: a description so exact that only one parcel on earth fits it.

Common traps to avoid:

1. Treating a mailing address or tax-parcel ID as a legal description (it is not).
2. Forgetting that metes and bounds must close to the POB.
3. Mixing up township (36 sq mi) with section (1 sq mi).
4. Using 43,560 incorrectly — divide square feet by 43,560 to get acres; multiply acres by 43,560 to get square feet.

More government-survey math and correction lines

Because the earth curves, the rectangular system cannot tile perfectly, so surveyors insert correction lines (standard parallels every 24 miles north-south) and guide meridians (every 24 miles east-west). The leftover, irregular parcels along these adjustments are government lots — used for fractional sections near water or survey boundaries — and they are described by lot number rather than a clean quarter fraction.

Practice converting fractions to acres, always working right to left and dividing 640 at each step:

Worked example: "The N 1/2 of the SE 1/4 of Section 9" = 640 / 4 = 160 acres in the SE 1/4, then 160 / 2 = 80 acres. To price it at $3,500 per acre, 80 x $3,500 = $280,000.

Why a street address fails as a legal description

A mailing address or tax-assessor parcel number is an administrative label that can change and does not fix exact boundaries; it is not a legal description. The recorded reference systems — metes and bounds, rectangular survey, and lot-and-block — exist precisely because only one parcel on earth can satisfy a properly drafted legal description. When a contract or deed relies only on a street address, title problems and survey disputes follow.