Original Corner Versus Long-Standing Fence in a PLSS Section
You are retracing Lot 3 of Section 14, T5N R8W, New Mexico Principal Meridian, in Socorro County. The 1885 GLO plat and field notes call the south quarter corner a sandstone 18 by 12 by 6 inches marked “1/4,” with three bearing trees, and give the distance north to the section corner as 40.00 chains. You recover the original sandstone at the south quarter corner, leaning and 0.4 ft below grade; the bearing trees are gone. No monument is found at the north section corner. Your total-station traverse, starting and closing on two published NAD83 control points, measures 39.62 chains between the quarter corner and the computed section corner. A 1998 survey and a 1968 deed use the record 40.00 chains, putting the north line 25.1 ft north of your measured position. An occupied fence runs 18 ft east of your computed east lot line for 1,200 ft. The client asks you to plat the fence as the boundary because “it has been that way forever.”
1. Which evidence controls the location of the north section corner, and how should you proceed?
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The original sandstone at the south quarter corner is the best evidence and controls that point. Record distance is subordinate to an original monument; the 0.38-chain difference is about 25.1 ft, too large to ignore but not proof that the stone is wrong. I would first search for the original north section corner, its bearing trees, and the original corners at the section’s north line; check GLO notes, topographic calls, and any later surveys that may have perpetuated the original. If no original north corner exists, I would not simply use my 39.62-chain measurement. I would re-establish the missing corner from the accepted original south corner using the record bearing and distance, unless the record itself is shown to be in error, and I would proportion only between original corners if two or more controlling original corners exist. The 1998 survey is evidence but not a controlling monument.
2. May the 1,200-ft fence line be treated as the boundary? Explain the doctrine and what must be shown.
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The fence cannot be platted as the record boundary merely because it is old. A boundary is fixed by the deed, the original survey, and the controlling monuments; a fence is evidence of possession. To move the boundary to the fence, the client would need a recorded instrument, a court determination, or proof of adverse possession or boundary by acquiescence under New Mexico law. That requires facts such as open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous use for the statutory period, and possibly payment of taxes where required. I would show the fence as an occupation line, dimension its offset from the computed record line (18 ft), and add a note that no claim of adverse possession is being made or insured. I would not certify the fence as the boundary unless the title issue is resolved and documented.
3. What should appear on the plat and in your field notes?
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The plat should show the recovered original stone with ties, its marked face and condition; the computed north section corner and the basis for it; record distance 40.00 ch versus measured 39.62 ch; the 25.1-ft discrepancy; the 1,200-ft fence with 18-ft offset; area based on the record boundary and area to fence if requested; basis of bearing and control; and a clear note that the north line is based on the 1885 GLO record because the original north corner was not found. Field notes should record search evidence, bearing-tree remnants, the leaning stone, and the decision not to use measurement alone. The client should receive a letter explaining that the fence is not the boundary and that quiet title or adverse possession is a legal remedy.