A metes and bounds call reading 'thence along the centerline of Mill Creek' relies on:
Correct Answer
B) A natural monument as the boundary
Why this is correct: The call 'along the centerline of Mill Creek' uses the creek itself as a physical, natural feature to define the property line. In the hierarchy of calls for metes and bounds descriptions, natural monuments (like rivers, trees, or rocks) are given priority over other elements, such as measured courses and distances, because they are considered more permanent and identifiable on the ground. Why the other choices are wrong: 'A course and distance measurement' is incorrect because the call specifies a monument (the creek), not a measured bearing and length. 'A recorded plat reference' is wrong as the description does not refer to a subdivision lot and block from a plat map. 'The government survey grid' is incorrect because the call does not use the rectangular survey system's townships, ranges, and sections. Exam tip: In a metes and bounds description, any call referencing a natural geographic feature (creek, oak tree, rock ledge) is a 'natural monument' and holds the highest priority in resolving boundary disputes.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
A creek is a natural physical feature used to fix the boundary, which is the definition of a natural monument. The call does not state a bearing or a length; it points to something the surveyor can stand on and identify. That is why it outranks courses and distances when the description contains internal conflicts. It also means the boundary can move with the watercourse over time through accretion and reliction, which is a consequence the appraiser must consider when acreage matters.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: A course and distance measurement
A course and distance call states a bearing and a length, such as north 42 degrees east, 218.5 feet, and defines the line by measurement rather than by reference to anything on the ground. This call contains neither a bearing nor a distance. Courses and distances also rank below monuments in the hierarchy, so misidentifying the call type would reverse the priority in a boundary conflict.
Option C: A recorded plat reference
A plat reference describes property by lot, block, and subdivision name as recorded on a filed map, which is the lot and block system used in platted subdivisions. Nothing in the call refers to a recorded map. Plat descriptions and metes and bounds descriptions are alternative systems, and the stem has already told you this is the latter.
Option D: The government survey grid
The rectangular or government survey system describes land by township, range, section, and aliquot parts measured from principal meridians and base lines. A creek call has no place in that grid notation. The systems can appear together, since a metes and bounds description may begin from a section corner, but the call quoted here is not grid notation.
Nature Beats Numbers
Rank the calls from most permanent to least: something the river made, something a person planted, something a surveyor measured, something a clerk computed. Natural monument, artificial monument, course and distance, area. Nature beats numbers.
How to use: When a description names a physical feature, classify it as a monument first and then ask whether nature or a person put it there. Only calls containing a bearing or a length are courses and distances.
Exam Tip
Water boundaries carry a second lesson beyond the hierarchy: gradual accretion and reliction change the boundary and the acreage, while sudden avulsive change generally does not.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Ranking a stated distance above a monument call in a conflicting description
- -Confusing natural monuments with artificial ones such as fences and iron pins
- -Relying on deed acreage where a moving water boundary has changed the parcel
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
A metes and bounds description traces the perimeter of a parcel by walking it in words, using a combination of monuments, courses, and distances. Metes are the measured distances and bearings; bounds are the boundaries themselves, often described by reference to physical or artificial features. Monuments come in two kinds: natural monuments such as creeks, rivers, ridges, ledges, and long-standing trees, and artificial monuments such as iron pins, concrete markers, fences, roads, and walls. Courts resolving boundary disputes apply a hierarchy of calls, generally ranking natural monuments first, then artificial monuments, then courses and distances, then area, on the theory that the parties intended the most permanent and identifiable feature on the ground to control. A call reading along the centerline of Mill Creek therefore invokes the highest-ranking category, and the creek governs even if a stated distance in the same description contradicts it.
Background Knowledge
You need the three legal description systems, metes and bounds, rectangular survey, and lot and block, and the vocabulary of metes and bounds: point of beginning, call, course, distance, and monument. You also need the hierarchy of calls and the water boundary doctrines of accretion, erosion, reliction, and avulsion.
Real-World Application
An appraiser handling a rural tract finds the deed calls for a creek centerline on one side but a distance that no longer reaches the creek after decades of channel migration. She notes the monument controls, orders the survey acreage rather than relying on the deed figure, and discloses the discrepancy in her property description.
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