CSLB Professional Challenge: Cadastral Law cheat sheet

A principal meridian runs north-south and a base line runs east-west; their intersection is the initial point for the survey system.

A standard township contains 36 sections, each nominally 1 mile square and 640 acres; the township totals 23,040 acres.

Section numbering begins at the northeast corner with Section 1 and proceeds west to Section 6, then east to Section 7, alternating boustrophedon through Section 36.

Aliquot parts divide a section by halves and quarters: 1/2 = 320 acres, 1/4 = 160 acres, 1/4 1/4 = 40 acres; descriptions list the smallest part first.

Meander corners are set where survey lines intersect a bank, shore, or water body; meander lines are run to compute water area and are not legal boundaries.

Lost corner restoration uses proportionate measurement between the nearest existing original corners; single proportionate measurement applies to a corner on one line, double proportionate to an interior corner.

Closing corners are established on standard parallels and are not moved to conform to later surveys; fractional lots commonly occur along north and west township lines.

Original government corners are the best evidence of the PLSS; retracement surveys must not create new original corners.

The general hierarchy for conflicting calls is natural monuments, artificial monuments, adjoiners, courses and distances, and area.

A call for a monument generally controls a conflicting distance, course, or area call.

Original survey evidence prevails over subsequent survey evidence when both exist and conflict.

Courses and distances control area; area is the weakest call and yields to monuments, adjoiners, courses, and distances.

A latent ambiguity is not apparent on the face of the document and may be explained by extrinsic evidence.

An original monument found in place is presumed correct; an obliterated corner may be restored from record and physical evidence.

A subsequent survey is a retracement and cannot alter the location of an original boundary.

A call for an adjoiner may control over a distance call when the adjoiner's boundary is certain.

Riparian rights attach to land bordering a watercourse; littoral rights attach to land bordering a lake, sea, or ocean.

Accretion is gradual and imperceptible addition of land by water action; title to the added land belongs to the upland owner.

Reliction is the gradual withdrawal of water exposing new land; the upland owner gains title to the exposed land.

Erosion is gradual loss of land by water action; the boundary follows the receding water line.

Avulsion is a sudden or perceptible change in a watercourse or shoreline; the boundary remains at its pre-avulsion location.

For navigable waters, the upland boundary is generally the ordinary high water mark, and the state owns the submerged bed.

For non-navigable streams, the boundary is typically the thread or middle of the stream unless the deed states otherwise.

Meander lines are not legal boundaries; they are used to compute the area of water and adjoining fractional lots.

A valid deed requires a grantor, grantee, words of grant, legal description, signature, delivery, and acceptance.

A description is sufficient if it identifies the land with reasonable certainty or can be made certain by extrinsic evidence.

Specific descriptions control general descriptions; monuments control courses, distances, and area.

An exception excludes land from the grant; a reservation retains a right or interest in the grantor.

A latent ambiguity is not apparent on the face of the deed and may be resolved by extrinsic evidence.

Reformation corrects a written instrument to reflect the parties' original agreement, usually for mutual mistake.

A metes-and-bounds description begins at a point of commencement and runs to a point of beginning; the point of beginning should be monumented.

Recording a deed does not cure a void legal description.

An easement appurtenant benefits a dominant parcel and burdens a servient parcel; an easement in gross benefits a person or entity.

Express easements are created by writing; implied easements arise from prior use or necessity; prescriptive easements arise from adverse use.

An easement by necessity requires unity of title and strict necessity for access.

The scope of an easement is fixed by the grant and the reasonable needs of the dominant estate at the time of creation.

An encroachment is a physical intrusion onto another's land; remedies include injunction, damages, or removal.

An encumbrance includes easements, liens, covenants, conditions, restrictions, and encroachments.

Easements terminate by merger, release, abandonment, prescription, or estoppel.

A right-of-way is an easement for passage; its width is set by the document or by the established use.

Adverse possession requires actual, open and notorious, exclusive, continuous, and hostile possession for the statutory period.

Color of title allows constructive possession of the entire described parcel, not just the portion actually occupied.

Tacking joins successive adverse possessors' periods when privity exists between them.

Prescription acquires an easement, not fee title, through adverse use for the statutory period.

A boundary line agreement requires an uncertain or disputed boundary, an agreement, and performance or acquiescence.

Quiet title is a court action to adjudicate competing claims and confirm title.

Possession must be hostile; permission or co-tenancy generally defeats adversity.

Statutory periods for adverse possession and prescription vary by state and by claim type.

A record of survey maps evidence of boundary location; a subdivision plat creates lots and may include dedications.

A lot line adjustment relocates a boundary between existing parcels without creating additional lots.

Subdivision approval typically requires a tentative map, final map, and local government approval.

Monuments set during a survey must be shown on the record map with ties to existing control.

A corner record perpetuates evidence of a corner that is not shown on a recorded map.

Plats and surveys are filed with the county recorder or surveyor as required by state statute.

An ALTA/NSPS survey follows national standards for title and lending purposes.

Record maps must show bearings, distances, curves, and areas consistent with the survey.

The surveyor locates and reports boundary evidence; courts decide legal title and boundary disputes.

A surveyor may interpret deeds and maps as part of the survey but may not give legal advice.

Professional ethics require disclosure of conflicts of interest and avoidance of contingent fees in boundary opinions.

Surveyors must maintain objectivity and not favor the client's desired boundary over the evidence.

Errors or omissions affecting the public or client should be disclosed and corrected.

Expert testimony must be based on accepted surveying principles and complete evidence.

Records and field notes should be retained according to state statute and professional standards.

A surveyor should not certify a boundary location without sufficient evidence.