Understanding Land Measurement and Legal Descriptions

Interest Approach Write down a description of the location at which you live Write down the directions from the High School to Urbana Library

Interest Approach Lot 3 and Lot 3A in Wesley Brumfield Subdivision of Blocks 13 and 18 except the South 99 feet of T.M. Brown’s Plat of Mahomet, Illinois in the Northwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of Section 15, Township 20 North, Range 7 East of the Third Principal Meridian, as per plat recorded in Book 577 at page 662, in Champaign County Illinois

What is the Purpose of Land Measurement and Legal Descriptions? Land is owned as private property in the United States and is transferred in various ways from one owner to another.

To obtain a piece of land, you must have a clear title Clear Title: no legal claims against the ownership of the property What is the Purpose of Land Measurement and Legal Descriptions?

In order to transfer the real estate, its location must be positively and specifically described. If this is not done, endless arguments and lawsuits may occur. What is the Purpose of Land Measurement and Legal Descriptions?

Surveying land for the purpose of describing and locating it includes the work of identifying boundaries and recording descriptive data. What is the Purpose of Land Measurement and Legal Descriptions?

Two Main Objectives: Identify a definite location Such a description can fit no other tract. From it you can locate that specific area. The legal description of property is given on many documents and papers, such as abstracts, deeds, and tax statements. Create a land title Title to real estate is dependent on a legal description of the property, which in turn must be based on an official survey. What is the Purpose of Land Measurement and Legal Descriptions?

What are the systems of land measurement and legal description? Two systems of describing land in US metes and bounds rectangular surveys

A. Metes and bounds: The metes and bounds system of describing land is widely used in many parts of the world and was the system initially used in the United States. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

In the eastern part of the United States, an area extending from the northern boundary of Florida to Canada and to the western boundaries of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and parts of Ohio, were described under this system. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

There are three basic items that can be included in a land description in the metes and bounds system. They are: - Starting point - Courses and Distances - Irregular boundaries - Rectangular land surveys What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

Starting point: a starting place or point of reference These points may be trees, stones, rivers, or lakes and are called Natural Monuments. Natural monuments and Artificial Monuments, such as government markers, fences, or highways, have the disadvantage that they may be moved or destroyed. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

Courses and Distances: identified by direction, with distances being linear measurements along these lines Sometimes a course has been partly described as connecting two natural monuments, such as trees, but generally it is described in terms of its angle to a point of reference. The usual point of reference is a Meridian or true north and south line. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

Irregular Boundaries: Some tracts of land, such as those bordering lakes or rivers, have irregular boundaries. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

Rectangular Land Surveys: In 1785 the Continental Congress of the United States passed an ordinance directing that a rectangular system be used in surveying public lands. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

The rectangular survey system was set up to accomplish two things: 1.Provide for definite location of the land by establishing corner markers on the ground, 2.Provide a short, complete, direct, and easily understood legal description. The system involves the use of principal meridians, base lines, townships, sections, and tracts. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

B. Principal Meridians and Base Lines: These lines form the skeleton of the rectangular survey system. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

The intersection of the base line and the principal meridian is the starting point of the survey for a given area. The meridians are north and south lines. The Baselines are east and west lines. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

1. Townships and Sections: The location of a township can be expressed in terms of ranges east or west of the principal meridian and in terms of tiers of townships north or south of the base line. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

A Regular Township is six miles square. A section is located within a township. Each square mile (640 acres) of a township is considered a Section. In all surveys since 1796, the sections in each township have been numbered from 1 to 36, beginning at the upper right, or northeast, corner of the township. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

Tracts of Land: land located within a section If the tract in question is smaller than a section or is located in more than one section, the fraction or fractions of the section or sections must be indicated. This is done by identifying and locating the fractional portion of each section for each tract of land. In land descriptions the last fraction given is the largest area or portion of the section. What are the systems of land measurement and legal description?

What Causes Irregular Townships and Sections? It can be observed that not all townships and sections in a rectangular survey are square. There are several possible reasons for this. - Curvature of the Earth - Human error - Surveys meeting

Curvature of the Earth: Applying a rectangular system to a curved surface, such as the Earth, results in some irregularities. Meridian lines get closer together as they approach the north and south poles. Sections containing more or less than 640 acres may be found in the north and west rows of sections in a township. What Causes Irregular Townships and Sections?

Human Error: The surveyors who conducted these surveys are human and therefore made mistakes. Occasionally errors in surveying have resulted in townships with sections of odd shapes and sizes. What Causes Irregular Townships and Sections?

Surveys Meeting: Where the survey from one principal meridian meets the survey from another, both irregular townships and sections are sure to occur. What Causes Irregular Townships and Sections?