Chapter 10 - Legal Descriptions Flashcards
Acre
A measure of land area equal to 43,560 square feet.
Base lines
Imaginary lines running east and west and crossing a principal meridian at a definite point; used by surveyors for reference in locating and describing land under the government survey system.
Check
Formed when two guide meridians and two correction lines intersect to form a 24-by-24-mile square.
Government survey system
A type of land description, developed by the federal government for subdividing lands utilizing surveying lines.
Legal description
A series of boundary lines on the earth’s surface to identify the boundaries of a parcel of land.
Lot and block
A type of legal description used to identify lots within a recorded subdivision plat map.
Metes-and-bounds description
The most accurate method of land description that is used to describe both regular and irregular shaped parcels.
Monument
A fixed object (marker) used to identify the POB and the corners of a parcel.
Patent
A certificate issued by the federal or state government that transfers land to a private individual.
Point of beginning (POB)
The starting reference point in the metes-and-bounds method of property description.
Principal meridians
Imaginary lines running north and south and crossing a base line at a definite point; used by surveyors for reference in locating and describing land under the government survey system.
Range
A six-mile-wide vertical (north/south) strip of land enclosed between two range lines.
Section
A section is one mile square and contains 640 acres.
Survey
A drawing of a parcel of land showing the boundary lines and including a legal description of the property.
Township (or tier)
An east/west strip of land on either side of a base line (think of a tiered wedding cake); township also refers to the square formed by the intersection of two range lines and two township lines.
