1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

Why Legal Descriptions Matter

A street address is not a legal description. To convey title, a deed must describe land precisely enough to locate it on the earth. Three methods are accepted:

1. Metes-and-bounds — measures distances (metes) and directions/boundaries (bounds) from a fixed point of beginning (POB), tracing the perimeter and returning to the POB. The description must "close." Used for irregular parcels and the original 13 colonies.
2. Rectangular (government) survey — a grid of principal meridians (north–south) and base lines (east–west) dividing land into townships and sections. Used across most of the U.S. west of the colonies.
3. Lot-and-block (recorded plat) — references a lot and block number on a subdivision plat map recorded in the county. Simplest for platted urban subdivisions.

Reading a metes-and-bounds description, you literally walk the boundary: "Beginning at the iron pin at the NE corner, thence S 30° E for 200 feet, thence..." until you arrive back at the POB. If the calls do not close the loop, the description is defective and the deed may fail. Monuments (a tree, a road, an iron pin) are physical markers; when a monument conflicts with a stated distance, the monument generally controls because it is the more reliable evidence of intent.

Rectangular Survey Math

This is the most tested calculation area. Memorize the conversions:

Sections within a township are numbered 1–36 in a boustrophedonic (back-and-forth) pattern: Section 1 is in the northeast corner, numbering runs west to Section 6, drops down, and snakes back, ending with Section 36 in the southeast corner.

To find acreage of a fractional description, multiply the fractions and apply to 640. Read the description right-to-left: "the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 10" means start at Section 10, take its SW quarter, then the NE quarter of that.

The grid has correction features the exam may reference. Because meridians converge toward the poles, surveyors insert correction lines and guide meridians to keep sections roughly square; the leftover odd-shaped parcels along township edges are government lots, often used for land bordering water. Townships are located by range (columns east/west of the principal meridian) and tier (rows north/south of the base line). You will not compute convergence on the exam, but you should recognize range, tier, base line, and principal meridian as the locating vocabulary.

Worked Acreage Calculation

Problem: How many acres are in "the N 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4" of a section?

Multiply the fractions, then multiply by 640 acres:

• 1/2 × 1/4 × 1/4 = 1/32
• 1/32 × 640 = 20 acres

Second problem — square footage: A buyer wants a lot of exactly 1/4 acre. How many square feet is that?

• 43,560 ÷ 4 = 10,890 square feet

Combined problem: A description reads "the W 1/2 of the NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4" of a section. Multiply the fractions: 1/2 × 1/4 × 1/4 = 1/32. Then 1/32 × 640 = 20 acres, the same answer as the first problem — useful as a self-check that different fraction chains can yield the same acreage.

Vertical Descriptions (Datum & Benchmark)

Condominiums, air rights, and subsurface rights need a vertical reference. A datum is a defined point of elevation (in the U.S., often mean sea level). A benchmark is a permanent marked reference point used by surveyors to measure elevation from the datum. A condo unit, for example, is described by floor and ceiling elevations relative to a datum.

Trap: Numbering snakes back and forth, so Section 7 is directly below Section 6, not to its right. And a "quarter of a quarter" is 1/16 of a section (40 acres), a common distractor.

Third problem — front footage cost: A commercial lot has 80 feet of road frontage priced at $1,200 per front foot. Total price = 80 × $1,200 = $96,000. Front-foot pricing values the road exposure, not total area, and appears on commercial questions.

Finally, distinguish the three methods by use case: choose lot-and-block when a recorded subdivision plat exists (most suburban homes), rectangular survey for large rural or western parcels described by section, and metes-and-bounds for irregular parcels or where no plat exists. A description that closes back to a POB is metes-and-bounds; one citing a section and township is rectangular; one citing "Lot 4, Block B" is lot-and-block.

Choosing and reading the right method

A fast triage for exam stems: a description that closes back to a point of beginning is metes-and-bounds; one citing a section, township, and range is rectangular survey; one citing "Lot 4, Block B" of a recorded plat is lot-and-block. Each suits a different setting — irregular or colonial-era parcels (metes-and-bounds), large rural/western tracts (rectangular survey), and platted subdivisions (lot-and-block).

When a stated distance conflicts with a monument, the monument controls because it is the more reliable evidence of the parties' intent. Vertical descriptions for condos and air rights rely on a datum (a fixed elevation, often mean sea level) measured from a permanent benchmark.

Trap: A street address is never a legal description, and "the quarter of a quarter" is 1/16 of a section = 40 acres, a common distractor when the question expects you to multiply the fractions before applying 640 acres.