Imprecise Legal Descriptions

Ordinarily, geographic precision is needed when describing real estate.  Imprecise or ambiguous descriptions lead to disagreement and conflict.  Owners and builders need to know precisely where a parcel is located in order to plan for its use and development.  Finding out that the new garage you just built is on the neighbor’s property can spoil neighborly friendship.

One common description error  occurs when a parcel is subdivided using generic references like the “North Half” of a lot that is not oriented in a north/south or east/west direction.  Does the dividing line run parallel with the other boundaries or does it run in an east west direction according to the written description?  Descriptions of this sort, when the original parcel lies at an angle to the direction referred to in the description, can pose problems.

Another related problem arises when generic references like the “North Half” of a lot are used when the original lot is irregularly shaped.  If a lot is wider at one end than the other, for example, the dividing line between the halves may actually be closer to the wide end than to the narrow end.  One half cannot be bigger than the other half but neither half will have the same shape as the other.  This kind of description can often lead to disputes.

Problems can also arise when a parcel is divided using assumed dimensions which prove to be incorrect.  For example, a “forty” is, in theory, a square forty acres measuring 1,320 feet on each side.  In fact, a “forty” in theory is not the same as where the forty was actually laid out by the original government survey.  The section corners actually laid out by the original government survey were never precisely located where they were theoretically supposed to be.  Legally, the actual corners are where they were actually laid out, not where they might have been laid out using more precise survey technique that was unavailable at the time of the original survey.  Some “forties” are considerably smaller or larger than forty acres.  A landowner who incorrectly assumes his forty to be exactly 1,320 feet on each side and then sells smaller parcels out of that forty with dimensions that combine to total exactly 1,320 feet on each side, is almost certainly leaving a gap between parcels (when the forty is larger than 1,320 feet on a side), or selling overlapping parcels (when the forty is smaller than 1,320 feet on a side).

Another common description error occurs whenever a parcel is described using a measurement from a waterway.  Because waters rise or fall, and shorelines erode, measurements from a waterway are a moving target and imprecise.  Measurements should never be taken from a waterway because of that problem.

These errors are just a sample of description problems.  Many others also arise from time to time.  A common feature of description errors is that they are imprecise or ambiguous.  Another common feature is that more than one party may claim ownership of the same parcel.  A good legal description of real estate is precise and not susceptible to dispute between adjoining landowners.