1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

Why a Street Address Is Not Enough

A mailing address can change and is not precise enough to convey land. A legal description identifies a parcel exactly enough that a surveyor can locate its boundaries on the ground. The three accepted national methods are metes and bounds, the rectangular (government) survey system, and the lot-and-block (recorded plat) system. A deed using any of these is enforceable; a deed relying only on a street address risks being void for an inadequate description.

Metes and Bounds

The oldest method, common in the original 13 colonies, describes a parcel by distances (metes) and directions/boundaries (bounds). It always:

• Starts and ends at the point of beginning (POB) — the description must close back to where it started.
• Uses monuments (fixed markers such as a stone, iron pin, or stream) and compass bearings (e.g., N 45° E).

A trap: if a description does not return to the POB, the parcel does not close and the description is defective.

Rectangular (Government) Survey System

Used in most states outside the original colonies, this system uses principal meridians (run north-south) and base lines (run east-west) as reference axes.

One acre = 43,560 square feet. Township ranges run east/west of the meridian; township tiers run north/south of the base line.

Reading a Compound Government Description

Read these descriptions right to left, dividing 640 acres at each step. Example: the NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 10.

• SE 1/4 of the section = 640 ÷ 4 = 160 acres
• NW 1/4 of that = 160 ÷ 4 = 40 acres

A quicker method: multiply the fractions and apply to 640. For NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4: (1/4 × 1/4) × 640 = 1/16 × 640 = 40 acres. For a three-part call like the N 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4: (1/2 × 1/4 × 1/4) × 640 = 1/32 × 640 = 20 acres.

Lot and Block (Recorded Plat)

The lot-and-block system describes property by its lot number, block number, and the subdivision plat recorded in the county map books (for example, Lot 7, Block C, Sunny Acres, as recorded in Plat Book 12, Page 45). It is the most common method for urban and suburban subdivisions because the recorded plat already contains the surveyed dimensions. A datum is a defined reference point for elevation, and a benchmark is a permanent marked reference used to measure elevation — both matter for describing condominium air lots and below-grade rights.

Doing the government-survey arithmetic

Rectangular-survey acreage questions are pure fraction multiplication anchored to two constants: a section contains 640 acres, and you multiply the fractions in the description.

Example: The NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of a section. Multiply the denominators: 4 x 4 = 16, so the parcel is 1/16 of a section. Acreage = 640 / 16 = 40 acres.

Longer chain: The N 1/2 of the NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4. Multiply: 1/2 x 1/4 x 1/4 = 1/32. Acreage = 640 / 32 = 20 acres.

Read the description right to left to picture it (start with the section, then the SE quarter, then the NE quarter of that, then the north half). A quick check: each "quarter" divides the prior tract by four, and each "half" divides by two. If your fractions multiply to 1/16 you have 40 acres; 1/32 gives 20 acres; 1/64 gives 10 acres.

Choosing the right description method

Each method fits a different setting, and the exam tests which one applies:

Metes and bounds uses distances (metes) and directions/boundaries (bounds) and is only valid if the description closes by returning to its point of beginning (POB); an open description is fatally defective. Lot and block is shorthand that relies on the recorded plat to supply the surveyed dimensions. A single legal description may combine methods, but on the exam a valid metes-and-bounds description always closes back to the POB, and acreage questions almost always use the rectangular system.

Townships, ranges, and reading a full description

The rectangular survey system organizes land around principal meridians (north-south lines) and base lines (east-west lines). Range lines run north-south and number townships east or west of the principal meridian; township tiers run east-west and number them north or south of the base line. The intersection grid creates townships that are six miles square, each containing 36 sections numbered 1 through 36 in a boustrophedon (back-and-forth) pattern starting in the northeast corner.

Each section is one square mile and contains 640 acres, which is the anchor for every acreage calculation. Sections are subdivided into halves and quarters, and those quarters into smaller quarters, which is why multiplying the fractions in a description and dividing 640 by the result gives the acreage.

Reading a compound description from right to left keeps you oriented: identify the township and range first to locate the section on the grid, then work inward through each quarter and half. South Dakota, settled under the federal survey, is described almost entirely by this system, so the exam expects fluency with townships, ranges, sections, and the 640-acre constant. Combining the survey vocabulary with the fraction arithmetic from the previous block lets you both locate and measure any government-survey parcel.