Cadastral and Land Records Systems
This domain tests the public land survey system, the mechanics of land descriptions, and how deeds, plats, and survey records interact. Expect questions on section numbering and subdivision, aliquot part interpretation, recording statutes, and the difference between a deed and title.
Public land survey system
- A township is nominally 6 miles square and contains 36 sections of about 640 acres each. Section 1 sits in the northeast corner of the township, and numbering proceeds west, then south, then east and so on in a boustrophedon pattern, ending with section 36 in the southeast corner.
- Aliquot parts (N 1/2, SE 1/4, and similar calls) divide by halving and quartering. Fractional lots along the north and west tiers absorb the closing error of the township.
- Corner types include standard corners, quarter corners, closing corners, and meander corners. Dependent resurveys re-establish corners from original evidence and proportion; independent resurveys are restricted by statute and administrative rule.
- Primary evidence is the original plat and field notes, followed by corner monuments and accessories such as bearing trees and mounds.
Descriptions and records
- Description types are metes and bounds, aliquot part, lot and block, and strip or centerline descriptions for rights of way.
- Recording statutes are race, notice, and race-notice; recording protects against later purchasers, not against those who already hold rights.
- A deed is evidence of a transaction; title is the ownership right itself. A surveyor locates the boundary described; the attorney determines title.
- Records of survey and corner records may be mandatory when a survey establishes or re-establishes a boundary monument, depending on state minimum standards.
Worked example
Interpret: the south half of the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 8. Start with 640 acres; the northeast quarter is 160; the southwest quarter of that is 40; the south half is 20 acres. Now suppose the deed states 18.6 acres. The acreage is the lowest call in the hierarchy and does not control; the aliquot calls define the parcel, and the shortfall is explained by the actual government survey and the fractional closing lots, not by shrinking the described quarter quarters.
Traps that cost marks
Numbering sections clockwise from section 1; assuming every section is exactly 640 acres; letting a stated acreage control the aliquot calls; treating a recorded deed as conclusive proof of title; confusing an easement description with a fee parcel; failing to file a record of survey when the state requires it.