UNDERSTANDING LEGAL LAND DESCRIPTIONS - IT'S EASY!

The United States uses several different methods of describing a unique parcel of land. Generally speaking, the Eastern United States uses the METES AND BOUNDS system, while the Western United States uses the RECTANGULAR SURVEY method. This is because the Eastern United States was settled before the rectangular survey method was designed. This is also true of Canada with a few added quirks. There are some exceptions to this rule, the most important one being certain parts of Texas, which will be discussed later. We will learn the rectangular survey method first because it is the easiest.

RECTANGULAR SURVEY METHOD

In the following example we are going to be locating an 80 acre parcel of land. This land is described as:

Township 2 South, Range 2 East, 6th PM
Section 31: S1/2 SW1/4

This method is based on a measurement from a particular Meridian and degree of latitude, called a baseline. Each meridian has a matching baseline, so the baseline is never referred to in legal descriptions. For example, most of Colorado and Wyoming are measured off of the 6th Principal Meridian (abbreviated 6th PM). This meridian is not even in Colorado, but rather runs north and south through Kansas or Missouri (I can't remember exactly where the 6th PM is and it isn't important anyway). Parts of Illinois are measured off of the 5th PM. Montana is measured off of the Montana Principal Meridian (MPM). Parts of California and Nevada are measure off of the Mount Diablo Prime Meridian (MDPM). Meridians and baselines aren't that important to you in general because they are understood and often aren't mentioned in an old legal description. Some states, such as Colorado, have rectangular surveys based off of more than one meridian. Colorado has a small area in the southwest that is measured off of the Ute Meridian. This is because the Ute Indian Reservation was surveyed at a later date and the surveyors used a different meridian. The most important thing for you to know here is that Meridians are lines running North-South (with parcels of land being measured as East or West of the Meridian) and baselines run East-West (with parcels of land being measured as North or South).

The goal here is to narrow down a description to a smaller and smaller area. The Rectangular Survey uses something called a Township to do this. A Township is a square parcel of land 6 miles long on each side. If we do the math, we determine that it contains 36 square miles (6x6=36). Townships are numbered as being North or South of the baseline and East or West of the Meridian. Once you have determined your Township, you have your lands narrowed down to 36 square miles. Look at the example below.


First you locate your Township by going 2 squares east of the Prime Meridian and 2 squares south of the baseline. The pink parcel is the target. After you have found your Township, you need to narrow it down further. Notice the blowup of the pink Township. A Township is divided into 36 Sections which are 1 mile square each. Numbering begins with Section 1 in the upper right corner and winds back and forth until it finally ends up with Section 36 in the lower right hand corner. In this exercise we were given Section 31 to locate, which is in the lower left hand corner. Section 31 is blown up and shown in green below.



Now we have narrowed our search down to 1 square mile of land which contains 640 acres. When we describe subdivisions of a Section, we describe them in halves or quarters such as the East half of Section 31, which is usually written:

Township 2 South, Range 2 East, 6th PM
Section 31: E1/2
or
E1/2 of Section 31, Township 2 South, Range 2 East, 6th PM.

We know that the E1/2 of Section 31 contains 320 acres, because it is half of a full Section. We can also describe smaller parcels of land such as the Southwest quarter of Section 31. This would be abbreviated Section 31: SW1/4 and would contain 160 acres, which is ¼ of 640 acres. Now it gets trickier as we describe smaller parcels of land. You have to read them backwards to locate your piece.
Consider the following examples:

Section 31: E1/2SE1/4

This is read as the East half OF the Southeast quarter. First you locate the Southeast quarter of Section 31, which contains 160 acres. Then you divide that piece into halves and locate the East piece, which will contain 80 acres.

Section 31: SE1/4NW1/4

Read this as the Southeast quarter OF the Northwest quarter. Find the Northwest quarter and then divide it into quarters. The Southeastern quarter is your target and contains 40 acres.

NOW A WORD ABOUT COMMAS - THEY ARE IMPORTANT!

Commas separate different parcels of land and when you see one, substitute the word AND for the comma.
Consider the following 2 similar descriptions:

Section 31: S1/2NE1/4

Section 31: S1/2, NE1/4

They are the same, except for the comma! The first parcel contains 80 acres and the second parcel contains 480 acres - a big difference!
The first parcel reads "the South half OF the Northeast quarter"
The second parcel reads "the South half AND the Northeast quarter"

One final note on the Rectangular Survey. Although most Sections contain 640 acres, this is not always so. Corrections were made by the surveyors because the earth is curved. The top tier of Sections in a Township will always be smaller than the bottom tier because of this curvature. Corrections were made along the top tier and along the western column of sections in a Township. Sometimes you will see these corrections referred to as Lots with the acreage indicated in parethensis, such as:

Section 31: Lot 1 (38.06), S1/2NE1/4

If this had been a normal Section, Lot 1 would have been the NE1/4NE1/4 and would have contained the usual 40 acres. You will also often find Lots when a river meanders through a Section. If you need to know exactly where the Lots are, you can order an MT plat (master title plat) from the Bureau of Land Management that handles your state for about $2.00. Just give them the Township and Range and they will send you the plat for the entire township.

Irregularly shaped parcels of land are described by Metes and Bounds. This is actually an easy system if you can determine where the starting point is. Usually Metes and Bounds starts at a particular point and then calls off directions and distances, following the boundaries of the land until it returns to the point of beginning (abbreviated pob). There are times when you cannot locate the point of beginning, but you can locate some other point. In that case you can just work backwards to find your point of beginning. In any case, you usually need a piece of paper to draw your description out. Here is a typical description:

Beginning at a stake in the ground, which is the northwesterly corner of said parcel of land; thence North 89 degrees East a distance of 650 feet, thence South 45 degrees West a distance of 500 feet; thence North 2 degrees West 250 feet to a point which is the center of the intersection of Highway 69 and Highway 45; thence Northwesterly to the point of beginning.

The picture below describes this tract of land.



Great you say! This is wonderful, but how do I actually read this description? Easy! Let's take it in pieces:

Piece #1:
"Beginning at a stake in the ground, which is the northwesterly corner of said parcel of land; thence North 89 degrees East a distance of 650 feet,"
Stand at your point of beginning, facing North. Then turn 89 degrees East (which is almost due East) and travel a distance of 650 feet.

Piece #2:
"thence South 45 degrees West a distance of 500 feet,"
Stand at this second point and face South (because the description says "thence South"). Then turn 45 degrees to the West (which would be halfway between South and West) and travel 500 feet.

Piece #3:
"thence North 2 degrees West 250 feet to a point which is the center of the intersection of Highway 69 and Highway 45,"
Stand at this 3rd point facing North (because it says "thence North"). Then turn 2 degrees towards the West which is not very much! And travel 250 feet. You should be at the center of the highway intersection. Lookout!

Piece #4
"thence Northwesterly to the point of beginning."
From this 4th point, head back to your point of beginning (you should know where it is) in a Northwesterly straight line. Voila!

Lets say that you couldn't find the stake that is the point of beginning, because someone buried it, or because it wasn't shown on your map (and a stake won't be!). But you can locate the center of the intersection of the 2 highways and work backwards to find your point of beginning. Then follow your metes and bounds description all the way around.

Now - the bad part of metes and bound descriptions. Most metes and bounds descriptions use terms such as rods, poles, links, chains and varas, rather than feet. I have included a list of Units of Measurements for you to use on my conversion page. Also - it is difficult to determine the exact acreage in an irregular tract of land. Once you have determined the boundaries you can use that geometry that you ignored in high school to divide up the tract into squares and triangles to determine the acreage. Usually your deed will tell you the acreage, but not always.

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