When Life Gives You Lemons — Call an Attorney

One of the most basic questions a court may have about a property when there is a possible dispute is whether the two parties are talking about the right piece of real estate. To this end, a real estate law firm will typically encourage a client to include what's called a legal description with all documents they provide. This includes situations where nothing is in dispute, such as adding a property to the county register or concluding a land deal. Ultimately, the purpose of the legal description is to simply make sure everyone is on the same page if there ends up being a problem.

Expectedly, this means the legal description of a property has to be tight. Here are some of the basic elements every legal description should include.

Top-Level Descriptions

Each description needs to include the name of both the county and the state where the property is located. Unsurprisingly, it's also a good idea to include whatever the current postal address is at the time of registration. However, a street address does not satisfy the requirements. You will need to provide more data.

Clearly Identifying Features

If there are any distinguishing physical features on the property, these should go in the legal description, too. Generally, these include things like hills, streams, and rivers. If a feature has a recognized name, you're welcome to include it. The goal is to provide a robust enough description of the site that a licensed surveyor can visit and begin their work with relatively little effort.

Rectangular System Data

Most states in the U.S. assign designations to lots in their county registries based on a set of rectangular shapes. It's not uncommon for the designation to start with the county's name, and then it will include whichever meridian is the closest. Moving north and west based on the meridian, the coordinate system will then target a specific rectangle. Sometimes sections within the rectangle are assigned numbers, too.

It's a good idea to consult with an attorney from a real estate law firm before feeding this information into the system. You should always clarify how the coordinate system works in your area to maximize precision in dictating the data and reusing it in the future.

Metes and Bounds

Upon completion of a survey, you can also enter what are called metes and bounds into the description. Working from a beginning point based on the rectangular system, the surveyor's description will describe the shape of the property in terms of latitude-longitude coordinates, angular degrees, and distance in feet.