Boundary Surveys and Retracement
This domain tests retracement: recovering the location of an existing boundary from record evidence and physical evidence, rather than creating a new boundary. New Hampshire's exam expects you to know the hierarchy of evidence and to explain why a found monument can outweigh a deed distance.
Core rules
- The retracement surveyor follows in the footsteps of the original surveyor, using the best available evidence of the original location.
- The usual hierarchy is natural monuments, artificial monuments, courses and distances, then area, unless a specific call or the surrounding deed language shows a different intent.
- New Hampshire is not a Public Land Survey System state; early town grants, proprietor lots, charters, and individual deeds make record research and local history important.
- Occupied lines, fences, and acquiescence can corroborate location, but they do not automatically override record calls.
Worked example
A deed runs 'to a granite post at the northeasterly corner, thence S 42° E 200.0 feet.' The computed corner from the bearing and distance falls 3.2 feet from an old granite post with a drilled hole, at a fence intersection consistent with the deed's general calls. The post is the called artificial monument. If the evidence shows it is the original corner, hold the post and treat the 3.2-foot difference as evidence of the original surveyor's work or of the deed's general geometry. Do not move the corner to the calculated position merely because the distance is precise.
Traps
Holding a precise distance over a called monument; treating today's magnetic bearing as the deed bearing; using a tax map as a controlling survey; and accepting a monument without proving it is the one called for. Also watch for 'more or less' area calls and for deeds that call to an adjoining line or corner, which can control over a distance.