1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

What a Legal Description Must Do

A legal description identifies a parcel of land precisely enough that a surveyor could relocate its exact boundaries. A street address or tax-parcel number is convenient but is not a legal description, because addresses can change and do not fix boundaries.

There are three accepted methods, and a single deed may combine them. The method used often depends on the region: the original 13 colonies and Texas commonly use metes and bounds, while most western states use the rectangular survey.

Method 1: Metes and Bounds

Metes are distances; bounds are directions and boundaries. The description starts at a point of beginning (POB), follows a series of courses (direction + distance), and must return to the POB so the parcel closes. Monuments (fixed markers such as an iron pin, a tree, or a road) anchor the description.

Trap: a metes-and-bounds description that does not return to the POB is defective because it fails to close, leaving an open boundary.

Method 2: Rectangular (Government) Survey System

The rectangular survey system (also called the government survey or PLSS) uses principal meridians (north-south lines) and base lines (east-west lines) as reference axes.

Key math you must memorize:

Townships are formed by horizontal township lines and vertical range lines. Sections within a township are numbered 1 to 36 in a boustrophedonic (back-and-forth) pattern, starting in the northeast corner.

Worked Acreage Example

To find the acreage of a fractional parcel, multiply the fractions and apply them to 640 acres.

Question: How many acres are in the NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of a section?

Step 1: Multiply the denominators: 4 x 4 = 16. Step 2: Divide the section by that product: 640 / 16 = 40 acres.

Shortcut: read the description right to left, and each "quarter" divides by 4. Two quarters means 640 / 4 / 4 = 40 acres. A description like the S 1/2 of the NW 1/4 equals 640 / 4 = 160, then / 2 = 80 acres.

Method 3: Lot and Block (Recorded Plat)

The lot and block method (also called the recorded plat or subdivision method) refers to a numbered lot within a numbered block on a plat map that a developer has recorded with the county. A typical description reads: "Lot 7, Block 3, Sunrise Estates, as recorded in Plat Book 12, Page 45, of the county records."

This is the most common method for modern residential subdivisions because the recorded plat already contains the precise surveyed boundaries.

Two related survey concepts the exam tests:

• Datum - a fixed reference point for measuring elevations and depths (used for condominium air-lot descriptions).
• Benchmark - a permanent marker with a known elevation, used to reference the datum.

Reading the Section Grid

Within each 640-acre section, surveyors use compass-quarter language to subdivide. Visualize the section as a square and split it as the description directs, always working right to left.

A dollar-value twist: if the 40-acre parcel above sells for $6,000 per acre, the total is 40 x $6,000 = $240,000. The exam frequently chains an acreage calculation into a price calculation, so always finish the acreage step first.

Choosing the Right Method by Region

No single method is "best"; the correct method depends on history and geography:

A single deed may combine methods - for example, using the rectangular survey to locate the section, then metes and bounds to carve out an irregular parcel within it. The exam may show a hybrid description and ask which method anchors the starting reference; the answer is whichever method establishes the section or POB first.

Frontage, Correction Lines, and Air Rights

A few survey details show up as distractors:

• Front foot - measures lot width along a street; a 60-foot-wide lot has 60 front feet, used to price commercial frontage.
• Correction lines and guide meridians - the rectangular system inserts these every 24 miles to correct for the curvature of the earth, which is why range strips are not perfectly rectangular.
• Air rights and subsurface rights - ownership of land includes the space above and the minerals below, and these rights can be sold separately (a developer may buy only the air rights over a rail yard).

Trap: when a question gives both a width and a depth, decide whether it wants square footage (width x depth) or front footage (width along the street only) - they are not the same.