Land description
Encyclopedia
A Land description consists of the written words which delineate a specific piece of real property
. Also known as a "Legal Description". In the written transfer of real property, it is universally required that the instrument of conveyance (deed
) include a written description of the property.
Real property
In English Common Law, real property, real estate, realty, or immovable property is any subset of land that has been legally defined and the improvements to it made by human efforts: any buildings, machinery, wells, dams, ponds, mines, canals, roads, various property rights, and so forth...
. Also known as a "Legal Description". In the written transfer of real property, it is universally required that the instrument of conveyance (deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
) include a written description of the property.
Canada
- In many parts of Canada the original subdivision of crown land was done by townshipTownship (Canada)The term township generally means the district or area associated with a town. However in some systems no town needs to be involved. The specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country, usually to describe a local rural or semi-rural government within the county...
surveys. Different sizes of townships have been used (eg, Québec's irregularly shaped cantons and Ontario's concession townships), but all were designed to provide rectangular farm lots within a defined rural community. The survey of a township was essentially a subdivision survey, because the plan of the township was registered and the lots (sometimes called sections) were numbered. The description of a whole lot for legal purposes is complete in the identification of the township and the lot within the township. - A legal land description in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta would be defined by the Dominion Land SurveyDominion Land SurveyThe Dominion Land Survey is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United States, but has several differences...
. For example the village of Yarbo, SaskatchewanSaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
is located at the legal land description of SE-12-20-33-W1, which would be the South East quarterDominion Land SurveyThe Dominion Land Survey is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United States, but has several differences...
of SectionDominion Land SurveyThe Dominion Land Survey is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United States, but has several differences...
12, TownshipTownship (Canada)The term township generally means the district or area associated with a town. However in some systems no town needs to be involved. The specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country, usually to describe a local rural or semi-rural government within the county...
20, RangeDominion Land SurveyThe Dominion Land Survey is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United States, but has several differences...
33, West of the first meridianMeridian (geography)A meridian is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface from the North Pole to the South Pole that connects all locations along it with a given longitude. The position of a point along the meridian is given by its latitude. Each meridian is perpendicular to all circles of latitude...
. - A legal land description in British Columbia Fraser Valley Lower Mainland (Metro Vancouver) is defined by land surveys based out of New Westminster. Land in New Westminster Townsite corresponding to present day New Westminster is labelled as such while land outside the townsite is labelled as being in New Westminster District. The Main subdivisions are District Lots that represent parcel sales to settlers mostly in the time from 1860-1890. District lots are numbered from DL1 to over DL3,000. These District Lots are still represented on the cadastral maps of British Columbia. Later these lots would be subdivided to form blocks and residential lots. A typical address would thus indicate a lot number, a block range, and the original District Lot from which it was subdivided.
United States
Land descriptions within the United States can generally be classified as one of these basic types:- Metes and boundsMetes and boundsMetes and bounds is a system or method of describing land, real property or real estate. The system has been used in England for many centuries, and is still used there in the definition of general boundaries...
- "Bounded By" description
- An aliquot part of the US Public Land Survey SystemPublic Land Survey SystemThe Public Land Survey System is a method used in the United States to survey and identify land parcels, particularly for titles and deeds of rural, wild or undeveloped land. Its basic units of area are the township and section. It is sometimes referred to as the rectangular survey system,...
: The legal description of a tract of land under the PLSS includes the name of the state, name of the county, township number, range number, section number, and portion of a section. - Lot and Block survey systemLot and Block survey systemThe Lot and Block Survey System is a method used in the United States and Canada to locate and identify land, particularly for lots in densely populated metropolitan areas, suburban areas and exurbs...
or lot shown on a similar subdivisionSubdivision (land)Subdivision is the act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat. The former single piece as a whole is then known in the United States as a subdivision...
map - A strip description
- sectionsSection (United States land surveying)In U.S. land surveying under the Public Land Survey System , a section is an area nominally one square mile, containing , with 36 sections making up one survey township on a rectangular grid....
- The proper method of constructing a description of a parcel of rural land for a deed, easement or other legal document varies. However, it is important that basic principles be consistent no matter whether the land description is constructed longhand or in the commonly accepted shorthand method. It is important that there be no commas in the description; it should read as a continuous string and the primary words should be capitalized. A correct longhand description reads as follows: The Southeast Quarter of Section 31 Township-125-North Range-87-West of the Fifth Principal Meridian. The same description in shorthand looks like this: SE¼ of Sec. 31 T125N R87W of the 5th P.M. or, still shorter, like this: SE¼ 31 T125N R87W. An improperly constructed land description might look like this: The south east quarter, of section 31, township 125 North, range 87 west, of the fifth principal meridian. Or: se ¼, of sec. 31, t 125 N, r 87 w, of the 5th pm.