Plats, Subdivisions, and Descriptions
Plats, Subdivisions, and Descriptions
This domain tests how land is described and how plats create lots, blocks, streets, and dedications. Minnesota questions emphasize record descriptions, exceptions, abutter's rights, replats, and vacation.
Core rules
- A platted description ("Lot 5, Block 2, Smith's Addition") controls by the plat's monuments and lines; lot dimensions and bearings on the plat are evidence of the original layout.
- Metes-and-bounds descriptions run by calls: commencement, point of beginning, course and distance, and return. Monuments control over distances; a closure check is mandatory.
- Aliquot parts ("the S 1/2 of the SE 1/4") are PLSS subdivisions; they are not the same as lots on a plat.
- An exception ("except the south 10 feet") removes a strip from the grant; it is measured from the monumented lot line, not from an assumed centerline.
- A replat supersedes the original plat only for the land included; vacation requires statutory procedure, generally Minn. Stat. § 505.14, and does not automatically extinguish private easements.
Worked example
A deed conveys "Lot 5, Block 2, except the south 10 feet." Lot 5 is 50 feet wide north-south. The exception is measured from the south lot line as monumented on the plat, leaving a 40-foot strip. If the lot's south line is a meander line or a curved street line, the 10 feet is measured perpendicular to the controlling line, not along a record bearing. Reason: the plat monument fixes the line from which the exception runs.
Traps
Measuring an exception from a nearby section line; assuming a replat vacates all easements; treating a lot number as a metes-and-bounds call; ignoring abutter's rights to a vacated street; using a description that fails to close without explaining the evidence.