Section 10: Legal Descriptions

Base Lines Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

Lines running in an East-West direction.

Assessment Roll Assessor's Parcel Number

List information for every property in the assessing municipality or county including showing the owner's name and address of record. Also included is the assessed value of land and structures. Information is used to levy ad valorem taxes and special assessments on each property. Every assessing municipality publishes tentative and final assessment rolls annually.

Surveys are Utilized to:

Locate property. Resolve boundary disputes. Resolve encroachment disputes. Verify information for a sale and purchase. Divide and to smaller parcels.

Range Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

The North-South strip of land formed by 2 range lines.

Primary Reference Line

The line running North and South on a compass. This is the point of beginning (POB). Legal descriptions will always start with either North or South.

R3W - Government Survey System

3 range lines to the West of the principal Meridian.

T3S - Government Survey System

3 township lines to the South of the baseline. Township line is always listed 1st reading from left to right.

Benchmark Preparation & Use of Surveys

A marked point of known or assumed elevation from which other elevations may be established. May be placed on an iron post or brass marker. The US governmentment maintains a register of these benchmarks so that records are available for use.

Legal Description

A method of describing the location of RE that will be accepted by a court.

Government Survey System/ Public Land Survey System/ Rectangular Survey System Types of Legal Description

Based on the logic that you can identify any point on a plane by reference to 2 axes. Created by the land ordinance of 1785 to survey land brought into the US as a result of the 1783 Treaty of Paris. Relies on Principal Meridian Lines and Base Lines. Originally proposed by Thomas Jefferson, with the goal to distribute land after the Revolutionary War. To create the system, intersecting principal Meridian lines and baselines are positioned throughout the US. There are 37 principal Meridian lines. They run through the center of Tallahassee.

Checks Correction Lines & Checks Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

Contains 16 townships.

Surveys Rely on:

Datum. Benchmarks. Monuments. Points of beginning. Terminus points.

Aliquot Part Fractional Sections & Government Lots Calculating Size Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

Dividing sections by quarters, the standard subdivisions of a section, such as a 1/2 section, quarter section, or quarter-quarter section.

Subdividing Sections Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

Each section is one square mile which equals 640 acres. People rarely own a township or entire section. Each section must be divided into smaller units. This is done by quartering a section into for quadrans. Each quadrant is quartered again and again until their remaining unit represents the property. Not uncommon for the last division to be a 1/2 unit instead of a quarter. Legal descriptions are read from left to right, but when working them to identify the location of a property, they are worked right to left.

Purpose of Legal Descriptions

Establish boundary lines. If there is ever a discrepancy between a common description and a legal description, the legal description rules.

Property Survey Preparation & Use of Surveys

Establishes and describes the legal description as a written word statement and also as a sketch or a map of a piece of land showing the property boundaries and physical features, like rivers, creeks, and roadways. Some also note topographical information, like elevation and soil density; residential documents typically show the location of houses and other structures, too. Property can be identified as to exact location and also shows boundary lines between neighbors, establishes exactly how much property is included, and it identifies encroachments. Used to verify the info for the sale of property and also for developers who divide the property or repurpose it for other uses than how the property is currently being used.

Calculating Size Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

It is common to have a legal description the adds together land from one section to land from another section. Townships physically butt up against each other, so a property owner could actually own property that pulls from more than 1 township.

Tax Maps Assessor's Parcel Number

Makes it easier to track property and impose assessments which are placed on properties annually and with special assessments. Based on recorded plat maps and other survey records of property located throughout the county.

Lot & Block Survey Method/ Recorded Plat Method

Modern way to identify property. Used to locate and identify land, particularly for lots and densely populated metropolitan and suburban areas. Came about as developers began to divide property into subdivisions. Extremely widely used system. Specific parcels of land are identified by their lot # or letter within the block in which the lot is located. The block itself is located by using either the metes and bounds system or the rectangular survey system.

Legal Address Legal Description

Obtained from a survey of the property. Identifying information used in the survey is detailed and unambiguous - identifying the location, boundaries, and any existing easements on the property. Always utilized in a deed, mortgage, or other purchase and lease document. What is kept on record with the county recorder, tax assessor, and similar officials.

Metes-and-Bounds Types of Legal Description

Oldest method of land description and stopped being used before Florida was established as a state. Metes refer to distance (measured in feet) and bounds refer to direction. Begin with reference point called a point of beginning (POB). An identified corner serving as a benchmark. The end point is the terminus. Monuments are fixed objects used to establish boundaries. Compass bearings are used to describe the direction of the boundary lines. (90° is the largest measure used.) Circle equals 360°. Directions given in degrees (°), minutes ('), and seconds ("). Ex.) N 45°25'20"E = North 45 degrees, 25 minutes, 20 seconds East

Principal Meridians Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

Primary reference lines running in a North-South direction.

Surveys Verify:

Property location. Boundary lines. Amount of land. Encroachments.

Township Lines Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

Run East West every 6 miles.

Range Lines Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

Run North-South every 6 miles.

Platted Subdivision Map

Shows the developed area divided into blocks and then lots - taking the property down to smaller parcels to be sold. Must be submitted by a developer and reviewed and approved by a governing body such as the urban planning commission or zoning board. The map is then recorded and put into the official county records. Shows proposed roads and right-of-ways and verifies that all parcels have access to main roads without being landlocked. Easements are identified as well as any land being dedicated to the public for parks or other public uses. Allows government officials to ensure that all lots comply with regulations.

Tier or Township Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

The East-West strip of land formed by two township lines. 36 sections in a township. Each is numbered starting at the top far right as 1 then numbering to the left stopping at 6 at the far left, dropping down with 7 directly below 6 and stop with 12 and so forth working this pattern until it ends with the 36 section at the bottom right.

Correction Lines & Checks Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

The curvature of the Earth combined with the crude instruments used in the early days of the system means that few townships are exactly 6 mile squares or contain exactly 36 square miles. Every 4th township line is used as a correction line in which the placement of the range lines is measured and corrected to a full 6 miles.

Common Address Legal Description

The identifier of the property based on house or unit number, street, city, and zip code.

Datum

The survey data on the plat map required to identify the location of the block.

Assessor's Parcel Number

To aid in the assessment of property for a tax collection. A way for property to be identified.

Government Lot Fractional Sections & Government Lots Calculating Size Government Survey System Types of Legal Description

When the government began dividing land by thie Aliquot Part process, they ended up with areas of land which were less than and aliquot part that frequently bordered water. This sub part of a section was designated by a number.