1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

What a Legal Description Must Do

A legal description identifies a parcel so precisely that a surveyor could locate its exact boundaries and no other parcel could be confused with it. A mailing address or tax-parcel number is convenient but is not a legal description - the exam tests this directly.

There are three accepted methods:

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

Exam tip: Many states use a combination. A subdivided lot may be described by lot and block, while the original tract was described by metes and bounds or section reference.

Method 1: Metes and Bounds

This oldest method describes the parcel by metes (distances) and bounds (directions/boundaries), tracing the perimeter.

Key rules:

• The description begins and must close at the point of beginning (POB). If it does not return to the POB, the parcel is not enclosed and the description fails.
• Monuments are physical or natural reference markers (iron pins, a stone, a creek). When a monument conflicts with a stated distance, the monument generally controls.
• Directions use compass bearings such as N 45 degrees E.

Example: "Beginning at the iron pin at the SE corner of Elm and Main; thence N 90 ft; thence E 100 ft; thence S 90 ft; thence W 100 ft to the POB." That traces a 90 ft by 100 ft rectangle = 9,000 sq ft.

When the description's calls conflict, courts apply a priority order: monuments (natural then artificial) control over courses (directions), which control over distances, which control over area. So if the deed says "to the oak tree, 200 feet" and the oak is actually 210 feet away, the monument (the oak) wins and the boundary runs to the tree. This is the most common metes-and-bounds trap on the exam.

Method 2: Rectangular (Government) Survey

Also called the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), it divides land using principal meridians (run north-south) and base lines (run east-west).

• Townships are formed by range lines (vertical, measured east/west of a meridian) and township lines (horizontal, north/south of a base line).
• A township is 6 miles by 6 miles = 36 square miles and contains 36 sections.
• A section is 1 mile by 1 mile = 1 square mile = 640 acres.
• Sections are numbered 1 through 36 in a boustrophedonic (back-and-forth) pattern, beginning in the NE corner with Section 1.

Because the earth curves, surveyors insert correction lines and guide meridians so townships stay close to 6 miles square. The leftover slivers along the north and west edges of a township are placed in government lots, which is why some sections contain slightly more or fewer than 640 acres. The exam may show a description such as "Government Lot 2" for fractional parcels along a lake or township boundary.

Method 3: Lot and Block; Plus Survey Tools

The lot and block (recorded plat) system is used for subdivisions. After a developer records a plat map in the county recorder's office, each parcel is described simply as, for example, "Lot 7, Block 3, Sunnyvale Subdivision, as recorded in Plat Book 12, Page 45."

Surveyors rely on two tools:

• Monuments mark horizontal boundary corners.
• Benchmarks are permanent reference points of known elevation, used in datum measurements for condominiums and air lots.

A datum is an established reference point of elevation; in the United States the U.S. Geological Survey datum is mean sea level at New York harbor. Air lots and condominium units are described by reference to a datum so the vertical boundaries of each unit are fixed.

Essential Conversions and a Worked Calculation

The exam expects you to convert between units quickly. Memorize:

Worked Math: Acreage and Price

A seller lists the SW quarter of the NE quarter of Section 14. That is a quarter-quarter = 40 acres. At $6,500 per acre the price is 40 x $6,500 = $260,000. Remember: each "of" divides by 4, so one quarter of one quarter of 640 = 640 / 4 / 4 = 40 acres.

Worked Math: Lot Size in Acres

A rectangular lot measures 217.8 ft by 200 ft. Area = 217.8 x 200 = 43,560 sq ft = exactly 1 acre. This recurring number, 43,560, is the most-tested conversion in legal-description math, so commit it to memory.

Reading a Compound Section Call

The exam frequently strings together fractional descriptions and asks for acreage. Work the call right to left, and remember each fraction multiplies the 640-acre section.

Worked example. "The N 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 8."

• SE 1/4 = 640 / 4 = 160 acres.
• SW 1/4 of that = 160 / 4 = 40 acres.
• N 1/2 of that = 40 / 2 = 20 acres.

A shortcut: multiply the denominators (2 x 4 x 4 = 32) and divide 640 by the result: 640 / 32 = 20 acres. Either method works; the multiply-the-denominators trick is faster and harder to fumble.

Trap: "and" combines parcels (add the acreages), while "of" divides (multiply the fractions). Misreading "and" as "of" is the most common compound-description error.