1. Florida Real Estate Principles, Practices & Law 39th Edition
Unit 10: Legal Descriptions

2. Purposes of Legal Descriptions
Used to describe property in a way that uniquely identifies it from any other parcel
Survey is a drawing of a parcel showing its boundary lines

3. Types of Legal Descriptions
Metes-and-bounds
Government survey system
Lot and block description

4. Description by Metes-and-Bounds
Oldest type of legal description
Metes refers to distance
Bounds refers to direction
Point of beginning (POB)
Exact reference starting point
Starting at POB, first boundary is determined from the legal description that indicates the direction and the distance to the first corner of parcel, and so on
Corners of the parcel and POB are identified with a fixed marker called a monument

5. Metes-and-Bounds
Begin with either north or south followed by a number of degrees, up to 90 degrees
Direction that follows number of degrees indicates whether direction is east or west of due north or south; N45°E
Directions are given in degrees, minutes, and seconds; N45⁰ 25’ 20”E

6. Description by Government Survey
Government survey system
Based on grid system
Used in Florida but not the original 13 states
Beginning reference is intersection of north/south line principal meridian and east/west line base line
36 Principal meridians and base lines
Tallahassee Principal Meridian and Base Line

7. Range
Vertical (north/south) range lines parallel to the principal meridian (PM)
Every six miles
Resulting six-mile-wide vertical (north/south) strip called range
Numbered beginning at PM
First vertical strip east of PM is Range 1 East (R1E); first strip west of PM is Range 1 West (R1W)
Range numbers increase by moving further from PM

8. Township (Tier)
Horizontal (east/west) township lines every six miles parallel to the base line (BL)
Series of lines six miles apart on either side of BL
Six-mile-wide horizontal east-west strip called tier or township
Numbered beginning at BL
First strip north of BL is Township 1 North (T1N); first strip south of BL is Township 1 South (T1S)
Township numbers increase moving further from BL

9. Townships
Grid pattern formed by intersection of range lines and township lines
Series of squares six miles square called townships
Township contains 36 square miles (6 miles on each side)
Identified by the township tier and range
T2S, R3E is located in second tier of townships south of base line and third range east of principal meridian

10. Principal Meridian, Baseline, Townships

11. Sections Each township contains 36 sections
Section is one square mile or 640 acres
Numbered in an S-pattern beginning in NE (upper right) corner with section 1
Section, township and range
Section 36, T1S, R1W
Locating sections
Subdividing sections

12. Sections

13. Measures and Terms Check Township Section
Square 24 miles on each side created by intersecting guide meridians and correction lines
Township
Square 6 miles on each side containing 36 square miles (36 sections); also east-west strip of land north and south of a base line
Section
Square 1 mile on each side (1 mile square) containing 1 square mile (640 acres)

14. Measures and Terms Government lot Quarter section = 160 acres
Fractional pieces of land (less than a full quarter section) located along the banks of lakes and streams
Quarter section = 160 acres

15. Calculating Size
To find the number of acres in a tract take 640 (acres in one section) and divide by the denominator of each fraction in legal description
Example:
SW¼, NE¼, SE¼, NW¼ of Section 12, T3S, R4E
640 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 = 2.5 acres

16. And in a Legal Description
If and is in middle of description calculate acres on either side of and separately then add to find total acres
Example:
SE¼ of the NW¼ of the NE¼ and N½ of the NW¼ of the NE¼ of Sec 21, T4N, R5W
640 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 = 10
640 ÷ 2 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 = 20
= 30 acres

17. Additional Survey Measures
Acre
43,560 square feet
Benchmark
Permanent reference mark affixed to an iron post or brass marker used to establish elevations
Mile
5,280 feet in length

18. Description by Lot and Block Numbers
Used only where plat maps have been recorded
Platted subdivision divided into large areas called blocks
Blocks divided into lots
Lots are numbered
Blocks are either numbered or lettered

19. Plat Map Engineer’s plan for land use on map of land
Provides for dedication of streets, parks, and school sites
Shows dimensions for lots, streets, planned improvements
Recorded under subdivision name by book and page number

20. Tax Maps
Each parcel of land within a tax district is assessed for tax purposes
Each parcel is assigned a Parcel ID (PID) or assessor’s parcel number
PIDs used to prepare tax maps
Information used to prepare tax roll
PIDs sometimes used to identify a parcel