Metes and bounds: This type of legal description dates back hundreds of years. Metes and Bounds descriptions are not the only way to describe the location of a property`s boundaries. Bearings can mark corners with high accuracy. In addition, you can have a description of your country that is relative to a map. For example, if your package has been divided by a larger one. You may have a number that refers to the parcel of land on the subdivision map that corresponds to yours. However, many of these cards also use degree, minute, and second notation. You may also have curved areas in your land borders that require special descriptions. Well, in this image, it looks like the double quotes are actually triple. This is not the case. This “third” mark is part of the capital letter “W” for West.
You see, in legal descriptions (and quadrant compass notations in general), directions are written that start with “North” or “South,” then degrees, minutes, and seconds, then “West” or “East.” Like, north 56 degrees, 4 minutes, 1 second west. If abbreviated, it looks like this. In Part 1 of How To Read Metes And Bounds, we laid the groundwork and covered the basics of compass quadrant notation and what they essentially look like in legal descriptions. In general, most legal descriptions today meet and limit in most states, it`s pretty simple with quadrants and degrees. “Metes” are exact measurements in a straight line from a defined “terminal” or land point to another terminal. “Borders” are descriptions of certain features of the country that are part of the border, such as a wall or a road. The “metes and bounds” method combines these direct measurements and descriptions to define the boundaries of a property, and the system has been around since colonial times. A survey with Métis and boundaries usually begins with a main landmark. It then describes in which direction to go from this landmark and for what distance. From this point, he describes the next jog in terms of direction and angle.
The process continues until the description returns the surveyor to the original starting point. The directions in modern Metes and Bounds descriptions don`t just describe feet and degrees. They break down distance measurements into hundredths of a foot and directions into degrees, minutes and seconds. Since 1893, the legal definition of foot in the United States has been based on the meter. While your title insurance will cover you for the worst, it`s always best to cover a legal description of a property before it becomes a problem. Cardinal capes are usually expressed in numbers. For example, north is a direction of 0 and west is a direction of 270, meaning northwest would be 315 degrees or in N45W survey systems. N44W is slightly further north and less to the west than N45W. If you need more precision, you can also use fractions of degrees. A sixtieth of a degree is called a minute.
If the description of the instructions in minutes is not precise enough, you can also further divide the minutes into seconds so that there are 60 seconds in one minute. Well, if you`re not a surveyor, you`ll never use them. But you need to know what they mean so you don`t get bogged down in the legal description. And you need to know how to represent them in notation in a legal description. As you can see, the blue line in the northwest quadrant is (approximately) 54 degrees. Starting with the word “north” gives us our vertical direction, followed by the degree down (because north is always 0) and then “west”, allows us to know our horizontal orientation. When creating a legal description, you must use the exact legal description that was on the last deed of ownership. Have the legal description of your property verified by a survey so that everything is aligned and ready to use. A degree is represented by the notation of a small circle above and to the right of the number.
You already know that. But the minute is represented by a single quotation mark and the second by a double quotation mark. To make it look like this in a legal description. In this section, we will try to decipher how to read the legal description of the property using the grid system adopted by the United States in 1785. Distance is measured in feet these days, in the United States anyway. But if you go back in time, you`ll find legal descriptions in some documents that use regional and now archaic units of measurement. In Texas and California, for example, you will encounter the word “Vara.” It comes from Spain, Portugal and South America. The really funny thing about this one is that it varies between 32 and 43 inches depending on the region.
But fortunately, the Mexican Vara measures 32.09 inches. In Texas and California, it corresponds to 33.5 and 33 inches, respectively. The name of the point is used in the legal text to designate a point that will be referenced later in the same document. When you start reading legal descriptions, you will notice that there are different types of legal descriptions. There are basically two types of compass readings. Quadrant means 4 different zones and azimuth means directions worldwide. The second is much more complex than what I have described, but we do not need to go into detail, because fortunately, the first, the quadrant notation, is the one we use to read the legal descriptions. A professional surveyor creates legal descriptions of real estate. While the legal description of a property can be controversial, the solution is often to hire another surveyor, on whom both parties agree, to conduct an additional version of a survey. If the legal description was copied and pasted from an outdated survey, it`s worth hiring a surveyor who can update this information for you.
Legal descriptions are essential to the process of buying land, so it`s just as important to know how to read the legal description of a property. The direction is a bit more complex, but not necessarily difficult if you are familiar with the concept of cardinal directions, i.e. north, south, east, west. And you should be familiar with compass grades such as 90 degrees and 45 degrees If the legal description (and the information it is supposed to contain) is incorrectly stated on the deed, the wrong plot will be transferred from the previous owner to the new owner. You need the legal description for all purchase contracts, deeds and mortgages. So I learned it, practiced reading, mapping and, basically, my thoughts on the subject as much as possible. Good thing I did too. The more residential work was moved internally and overseas, the clearer it became that commercial work and finding cell towers was a must, not an option. Ultimately, you own what is in the legal description of your deed. The land surveyor must find three of the certified corners of the section – which are one kilometre apart – and travel there with his equipment according to the instructions in the legal description. If that`s wrong, then you`re not really legally the owner of what you think you`re doing. As one of the most important pieces of information involved in real estate transactions, legal descriptions are important to understand before buying a property.
That said, before proceeding with a sale, you need to make sure that you and your real estate agent have verified the age of the legal description. Hi Jennifer, that sounds like a mess! In complicated situations like this, you should contact a title company and/or land use attorney to check what the correct legal description is and where the correct property boundaries are. Sometimes property owners confuse legal descriptions with other descriptions of the property, such as its civic address or description in property tax records. In the north around the colonies, and then in the Midwest, measurements called sticks or perches or poles are encountered.