A Tallahassee real estate investor is buying property adjacent to a navigable river. The deed describes the property as extending "to the thread of the Apalachicola River." After purchase, the investor discovers that Florida law may affect waterfront property boundaries differently than the deed language suggests. What are the actual property boundaries?
Correct Answer
A) To the mean high water mark of the river
To the mean high water mark of the river is correct because Florida law establishes that private property adjacent to navigable waters extends only to the mean high water mark, regardless of deed language. The state owns the submerged lands below the mean high water mark. The thread or center of navigable rivers is state-owned. The low water mark would give the owner less than legally entitled. The navigable channel edge is not the legal boundary for private property.
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Related Topics & Key Terms
Key Terms:
Related Concepts
Fee simple absolute is the highest and most complete form of property ownership, giving the owner unrestricted rights to use, possess, enjoy, and dispose of the property. It is of unlimited duration and fully inheritable.
Community property is a system where property acquired during a marriage is owned equally by both spouses.
A freehold estate represents ownership of real property with an indefinite duration.
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