Writing Legal Descriptions

Overview#

Writing a legal description is one of the most consequential tasks a land surveyor performs. A description that is clear, complete, and correct secures the conveyance it supports. A description that is ambiguous, incomplete, or erroneous invites disputes, delays, and potentially costly litigation. Unlike a survey map -- which communicates graphically and can be read at a glance -- a legal description must communicate the same boundary information entirely in words, with the precision and certainty that the law demands.

"A good draftsman should avoid placing his client in the position of a supplicant for mercy." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 11, p. 11.1

Writing descriptions is not merely a clerical task appended to the end of a survey. It requires a thorough understanding of boundary law, the rules of construction, the hierarchy of evidence, the conventions of description language, and the records of the jurisdiction where the land is located. The surveyor who writes a description is exercising professional judgment at every line.

"It has been said that descriptions which must leave interpretation to 'construction' leave some uncertainty. Rules of Construction are needed and used when the wording is not clearly stated." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 11, p. 11.1

The goal, always, is to produce a description that needs no construction -- one whose meaning is self-evident to any competent surveyor who reads it.

When a Surveyor Writes Descriptions#

Surveyors create legal descriptions in a variety of professional contexts:

In each case, the description must be sufficient for a competent surveyor to locate the described parcel on the ground -- the fundamental test of legal adequacy.

Essential Elements#

Every metes-and-bounds description has three essential parts: the caption, the body, and any qualifications (exceptions, reservations, or encumbrances).

"The parts of a description are essentially the caption, the body and qualifications. Their use is analogous to the use of a camera. You first point it in the general direction of the subject -- this is comparable to the caption which embraces the general but limiting area of the description. Next you focus the lens onto the specific subject and take the picture -- this is comparable to the body of the description which defines the details of the outline." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 11, p. 11.2

Caption

The caption locates the parcel in its general context. It identifies the recorded subdivision, section, rancho, or other recognized tract of which the parcel is a part, along with the city, county, state, and map recording reference. The caption limits the area within which the body of the description operates.

Body

The body describes the specific boundaries of the parcel. For a metes-and-bounds description, this includes the point of beginning, each course (bearing and distance), calls to monuments and adjoiners, curve data, and closure to the point of beginning.

Qualifications

Qualifications add to, subtract from, or encumber the described area. Exceptions remove a portion ("EXCEPT the south 30 feet thereof"). Reservations retain a right over the conveyed area. Encumbrances note existing burdens ("subject to an easement for ingress and egress over the east 12 feet thereof").

The Step-by-Step Process#

Step 1: Research the Records

Before writing a single word, the surveyor must assemble all relevant record information: the client's deed, the deeds of all adjoiners, recorded maps, filed survey documents, and any other documents that establish the framework of ownership in the area.

"Much of the foregoing is concerned with paper information. Weaving this in with facts obtained by field survey work forms the pattern from which the properly worded final description should emerge as a clear and comprehensive document." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 1, p. 1.10

Step 2: Complete the Field Survey

The description must be based on the facts as they exist on the ground. Field measurements, monument recovery, monument setting, and boundary determination must all be complete before the description is drafted. A description written from a map or from calculations alone, without field verification, risks incorporating errors that the field survey would have revealed.

Step 3: Organize the Calls

Before writing the description, list the calls that will control the boundary. Identify which boundaries are defined by adjoiners, which by monuments, and which by survey measurements alone.

"A good way to organize the writing of a description, after setting up the caption, is to list the calls that will control." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 11, p. 11.15

This pre-writing step ensures that the description will incorporate all controlling elements and that the sequence of courses will present them clearly.

Step 4: Draft the Description

Write the caption first, establishing the limiting area. Then write the body, proceeding course by course from the point of beginning around the perimeter and back. Include all ties to monuments, adjoiners, and recorded features. Add curve data where needed. Close to the point of beginning.

Step 5: Review and Verify

Read the completed description critically. Plot it independently from the text alone -- without reference to the survey map -- to verify that it closes and that it describes the intended parcel. Check every recording reference, every bearing, every distance. Ask: "Would a surveyor reading this description 50 years from now be able to locate this parcel?"

Rules for Writing#

Specific to General

The description should proceed from the specific (the detailed boundary) to the general (the overall context). The caption provides the general context; the body provides the specific detail.

Always Close

Every metes-and-bounds description must close -- the final course must return to the point of beginning. A description that does not close is defective.

Reference Monuments

Include calls to physical and legal monuments wherever they exist along the boundary. Monuments strengthen the description by providing durable, identifiable evidence of boundary location.

Use Deed Language

The description must use the conventional language of conveyancing: "thence," "along," "to the point of beginning," "said," "thereof." While this language may seem archaic, it has centuries of legal interpretation behind it. Each word has a settled meaning.

"Your slogan should be, 'Concise Clarity Without Ambiguity.' Do not use time or space for superfluous words, but, on the other hand, do not omit words or phrases that are necessary." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 11, p. 11.2

State the Basis of Bearings

Every description should establish the angular reference for its bearings. If the description references a recorded map, the bearings shown on the map may serve as the basis. Otherwise, the basis should be stated explicitly.

"It is advisable that following the 'Point of Beginning,' there should be established, by recitation of a bearing, the basis upon which subsequent bearings will depend for orientation." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 11, p. 11.11

Put Distance and Direction Together

The juxtaposition of numbers and words matters. Ambiguity can arise from poor placement:

"West along the north line of Lot 3201.74 feet -- does it mean west along the north line of Lot 3, 201.74 feet, or does it mean west along the north line of Lot 3,201.74 feet? It is far safer to say, 'West 201.74 feet along the north line of Lot 3.'" -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 3, p. 3.14

Do Not Change Recorded Descriptions

When a boundary line has been established by a recorded description, do not alter the recorded calls. If field measurements differ from the recorded dimensions, the description should reflect the field facts for new lines while preserving the recorded data for existing boundaries.

"Make sure also that you do not change those items which are already on record." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 7, p. 7.19

Common Pitfalls#

Ambiguity

The greatest enemy of a legal description is ambiguity -- language that admits more than one interpretation. Ambiguity can be patent (obvious on the face of the instrument) or latent (arising only when extrinsic evidence is considered).

"Latent ambiguity is an uncertainty which does not appear upon the face of an instrument but arises from evidence aliunde of the words themselves. This is in contrast with patent ambiguity which is obvious from the words expressed." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 3, p. 3.5

Ambiguity arises from imprecise word choice ("adjacent" vs. "adjoining"), conflicting calls (a distance that does not reach the cited monument), and insufficient reference (a tie to "the grantor's land" when the grantor owns multiple parcels).

Gaps and Overlaps

When multiple parcels are described from the same parent tract, the descriptions must fit together without leaving gaps (uncovered strips between parcels) or creating overlaps (strips claimed by two descriptions). The dividing-line method is the safest approach for avoiding this problem.

Insufficient Reference

Every tie in a description must lead to something that can be found. A call to "the south line of the grantor's land" is insufficient if the grantor owns multiple parcels. A call to "an iron pipe at the northwest corner" is insufficient if the pipe cannot be found and no other evidence establishes its position.

Conflicting Conditions

Multiple ties to the same point can create conflict if the ties do not agree. A description that ties a corner to both a monument and a specific bearing-and-distance from another corner invites trouble if the two do not coincide.

"Always reflect on that particular statement held by the courts, 'facts that a correct survey will show.' Multiple ties are acceptable within limits when their certainty is verifiable." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 11, p. 11.14

Easement Descriptions#

Easement descriptions require special care because they must define not only the physical extent of the easement but also its purpose and limitations.

"An easement, being non-possessory, does not have the protection afforded to a possessory interest such as a tenant under lease. The easement holder has only such control as may enable him to use it as specified in the grant thereof." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 12, p. 12.1

Key considerations for easement descriptions:

1. State the purpose. "An easement for ingress and egress" or "an easement for public utility purposes" -- the purpose limits the use.

2. Describe the physical extent. Strip easements are commonly described by their width and a centerline or side-line course: "a 12-foot easement, the northerly line of which is coincident with the southerly line of said land."

3. Identify the estates. The dominant tenement (the land benefited) and the servient tenement (the land burdened) should both be identifiable from the description or the instrument creating the easement.

4. Use precise contact language. When an easement must adjoin a parcel, use "adjoining" or "coincident with" rather than "adjacent to" (which merely means "near").

"If the following form were used, you would have no argument whatsoever that the easement is joined at all points along the line: 'together with a 12-foot easement, the northerly line of which is coincident with the southerly line of said land.' The phrase, 'coincident with,' assures the conveyance of the meaning of constant and continuous contact along the line." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 3, p. 3.7

5. Distinguish new creation from existing encumbrance. A newly created reservation appears at the end of the description. A previously existing reservation is referenced as "subject to."

The Do's and Don'ts#

Wattles provides a definitive checklist for the description writer:

Do:

• Check the veracity of all information
• Have sufficient sufficiency
• Use correct references to recorded documents
• Determine whether the problem is governed by public land or private land law
• Acknowledge all ties
• Consider marketability of title
• Question conflicting elements
• Analyze mistakes
• Capitalize cardinal directions (North, East, South, West)
• End a caption with a colon when the body follows
• Use a semicolon at the end of each course except the last

Do Not:

• Put exceptions in the caption
• Use "either" when describing a strip ("each side" is correct)
• Use "that part" for multiple portions or "those portions" for a single part
• Prorate in a metes-and-bounds description
• Use "adjacent" for the relationship of an easement to the parcel it serves
• Use the word "due" (use "true" when an astronomic direction is intended)
• Use "front" and "rear" (use compass directions instead)

-- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Appendix, pp. A.1--A.2

The Relationship Between the Survey and the Description#

The relationship between the survey and the description is reciprocal: sometimes the survey controls the description, and sometimes the description controls the survey.

"Positioning of the boundary of a parcel of land is the result of applying a set of record conditions created for that boundary to the circumstances existing in the field." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 3, p. 3.16

The survey controls the description when boundaries are being established for the first time: subdivisions, new conveyances from a larger parcel, right-of-way acquisitions. The monuments set by the surveyor define the boundary, and the description is written to reflect those monuments.

The description controls the survey when boundaries are being retraced: following a recorded deed, locating an established boundary, resurveying an existing parcel. The surveyor must follow the description, locating the monuments and features it calls for.

"When the record is properly written or mapped, it becomes the controlling factor in any location or restoration of a boundary." -- Wattles, Writing Legal Descriptions (1976), Ch. 3, p. 3.16

Key Takeaways#

• Writing a legal description is a professional act requiring knowledge of boundary law, records, field conditions, and description conventions. It is not a clerical appendage to the survey.
• Every description has three parts: caption (general context and limiting area), body (specific boundary detail), and qualifications (exceptions, reservations, encumbrances).
• Research the records and complete the field survey before writing. Do not write from calculations or maps alone.
• Organize the calls before drafting. List the controlling elements -- monuments, adjoiners, recorded features -- and build the description around them.
• Follow the rules: always close, reference monuments, state the basis of bearings, keep distance and direction together, and do not alter recorded descriptions.
• The guiding standard is "concise clarity without ambiguity" -- use enough words to be complete, but not so many as to create confusion.
• Easement descriptions must state purpose, define physical extent, identify estates, and use precise contact language.
• Review before delivery. Plot the description from the text alone. Verify every recording reference, bearing, and distance. A description that cannot be independently plotted and closed is not ready for use.
• The survey controls the description when boundaries are being created. The description controls the survey when boundaries are being retraced.

References#

1. Wattles, G.H. Writing Legal Descriptions (1st Ed.). Rancho Cordova, CA: Landmark Enterprises, 1976. Chapters 3, 5, 11, and 12; Appendix.
2. Robillard, W.G. & Wilson, D.A. Brown's Boundary Control and Legal Principles (7th Ed.). Hoboken: Wiley, 2014. Chapters 3--7.
3. Robillard, W.G. & Wilson, D.A. Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location (6th Ed.). New York: Wiley, 2011. Chapters 4--6.
4. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Manual of Surveying Instructions (2009).
5. Black, H.C. Black's Law Dictionary (11th Ed.). Thomson Reuters, 2019.