Legal Descriptions
~12 min read · Read metes and bounds, lot and block, and the rectangular survey system.
Three systems put boundaries into words: metes and bounds walking the perimeter, lot and block pointing at a recorded plat, and the rectangular survey slicing the land into townships and sections. The exam tests reading each — especially section math and the closure rule.
Metes and bounds
The oldest system traces the parcel's perimeter from a point of beginning (POB) through courses (bearings like N 42° E) and distances (metes), referencing monuments — natural or artificial markers (the oak, the iron pin) — and adjoiners (bounds). The description must close: return exactly to the POB, or it is defective. Priority when calls conflict: monuments generally control over courses and distances, which control over area recitals.
- POB → bearings + distances → back to POB (closure)
- Monuments outrank distances; area recitals rank last
- Failure to close = defective description
Lot and block
Subdivision land describes by lot and block on a recorded plat: 'Lot 7, Block C, Sunrise Estates, recorded in Plat Book 14, Page 33, ___ County.' The plat map — with its surveyed lots, streets, and easements — is incorporated by the reference, making this the cleanest urban system. Validity depends on the plat's actual recording.
- Lot + block + subdivision + recording reference
- The recorded plat supplies the geometry
- Standard for platted urban/suburban land
Government rectangular survey
The PLSS grids land from principal meridians (north-south) and base lines (east-west): townships are 6×6-mile squares located by tier/township (N/S) and range (E/W) numbers, containing 36 sections of one square mile (640 acres), numbered 1–36 in a boustrophedon (snake) pattern starting at the NE corner. Fractional descriptions divide sections: read them backwards (from the section outward is how you locate; multiply denominators to size): the NW¼ of the SE¼ = 640 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 = 40 acres. Corrections (government lots, correction lines) absorb the earth's curvature.
- Meridian + base line → township (6×6 mi) → 36 sections
- Section = 1 sq mi = 640 acres; snake numbering from NE
- Fraction math: divide 640 by each denominator
Worked example
Three descriptions cross an appraiser's desk: (a) 'the E½ of the NW¼ of Section 14, T2N, R3W' — how many acres?; (b) a metes-and-bounds description whose final course ends 30 feet short of the POB; (c) 'Lot 12, Block B, Harborview' with no recording reference in a county where two plats bear that name. Evaluate each.
(a) Size by denominators: 640 ÷ 4 (NW¼) = 160; ÷ 2 (E½) = 80 acres; locate by reading backwards — find Section 14 in the township two tiers north, three ranges west of the meridian intersection, take its NW quarter, then that quarter's east half. (b) The description fails to close — a 30-foot gap makes it defective; a surveyor must re-run the courses, and title work should flag it (monuments on the ground may cure what the paper botched, since monuments control). (c) Ambiguous: without the plat book/page reference, two same-name plats leave the parcel unidentifiable — the description is insufficient until the recording cite pins the plat. Three systems, three failure modes: arithmetic, closure, reference.
Common exam pitfalls
Adding section fractions instead of multiplying.
Stacked fractions multiply through: a quarter of a quarter is a sixteenth — 40 acres, not 320.
Trusting distances over monuments.
When calls conflict, monuments control — the iron pin beats the tape measure.
Accepting street addresses as legal descriptions.
Addresses locate mail, not boundaries — deeds need one of the three legal systems.
Walk it (metes), plat it (lot-block), grid it (PLSS) — close the walk, cite the plat, multiply the fractions.
Recap
- Metes and bounds: POB, courses, monuments — must close
- Monuments > distances > area when calls conflict
- Lot and block: recorded plat reference does the work
- PLSS: township (36 sections), section (640 acres), snake numbering
- Fraction sizing: divide 640 by each denominator
- Addresses are never legal descriptions
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