PS PLSS and Legal Descriptions Guide
Survey Bible

Source Check
Aligned to the NCEES PS specifications for U.S. Public Land Survey System topics, controlling elements in legal descriptions, record sources, monumentation standards, and boundary survey practice.

PLSS Concepts
The Public Land Survey System is built on townships, ranges, sections, aliquot parts, government lots, meander lines, and monumented corners. PS questions commonly test restoration principles and description interpretation.

Corner Restoration
- Search for original monuments, accessories, bearing trees, record evidence, and collateral evidence.
- Restoration methods depend on the type of missing corner and available evidence.
- Single proportion, double proportion, and record measurement methods are not interchangeable.
- Do not apply a formula before identifying the legal and evidentiary problem.

Aliquot Parts
Aliquot descriptions divide sections by halves, quarters, and smaller fractional parts. Work from the largest division to the smallest, and draw the description before calculating.

Government Lots and Fractional Sections
Fractional sections often arise near township boundaries, correction lines, water bodies, or irregular survey conditions. Government lots are not always equal aliquot parts.

Legal Description Review
When reviewing a description, check:
- Point of beginning and closure.
- Senior and junior calls.
- Calls to monuments, adjoiners, roads, water, and record maps.
- Ambiguities, gaps, overlaps, and impossible geometry.
- Whether the description is sufficient to locate the parcel on the ground.

Exam Strategy
For description problems, sketch first. Mark controlling calls, identify missing information, and avoid assuming that area or distance controls over stronger evidence.