Legal Descriptions: Finding the Exact Parcel

The three description systems

Florida examination questions generally use three systems. Metes and bounds traces a parcel's perimeter using directions, distances, and boundary markers. Lot and block refers to a lot shown on a recorded subdivision plat. The government survey system divides land into townships, sections, and smaller fractional parts.

The method chosen depends on how the land has been surveyed and recorded. A single deed should contain a description adequate for that particular parcel. A licensee should copy legal descriptions exactly from reliable documents rather than trying to recreate them from memory.

• Metes and bounds: directions, distances, and monuments
• Lot and block: recorded subdivision plat
• Government survey: township, range, section, and fractional parts

Metes and bounds

Metes are measurements such as feet, degrees, and directions. Bounds are boundary markers or features. A metes-and-bounds description normally begins at a reference point, proceeds to the point of beginning, follows a series of calls around the property, and returns to the point of beginning.

A call is one instruction in the description, such as a direction and distance to a monument. The description must close: after following all calls, the final call should return to the point of beginning. The point of beginning is part of the parcel boundary; a point of commencement may be an outside reference used to reach it.

Monuments may be natural, such as a river, or artificial, such as an iron pin or concrete marker. Because field evidence and legal priorities can conflict, a surveyor—not a sales associate—resolves an actual boundary discrepancy.

• POC: point of commencement, an outside reference when used
• POB: point of beginning on the parcel boundary
• Call: one direction-and-distance instruction
• Monument: physical boundary reference
• Closure: ending back at the POB

Lot and block

The lot-and-block method is also called the recorded-plat method. It is common in subdivisions. Instead of narrating every boundary line, the legal description refers to a lot and block on a subdivision plat recorded in the county public records.

A description may identify Lot 8, Block C, Palm Grove Estates, according to the plat recorded in Plat Book 42, Page 17, of a named Florida county. Each part matters because multiple subdivisions can contain a Lot 8 or Block C.

The plat shows streets, lots, blocks, easements, dimensions, and other recorded details. A tax map or online parcel viewer can help research property, but it does not automatically replace the recorded plat or deed description.

• Lot number
• Block number, when applicable
• Subdivision name
• Plat-book and page reference
• County and state

Government survey system

The government survey system, also called the rectangular survey system or Public Land Survey System, uses principal meridians running north and south and base lines running east and west. Florida descriptions are referenced to the Tallahassee Principal Meridian and base line.

Township lines run parallel to the base line and create tiers north or south. Range lines run parallel to the principal meridian and create ranges east or west. Their intersection identifies a survey township, normally six miles by six miles, containing 36 square miles.

A standard township contains 36 sections. Sections are numbered in a back-and-forth pattern beginning with Section 1 in the northeast corner and ending with Section 36 in the southeast corner. A standard section is one square mile and contains 640 acres, although correction lines and irregular government lots can create exceptions.

• Township: normally 6 miles by 6 miles
• Township area: normally 36 square miles
• Sections per township: 36
• Standard section: 1 square mile or 640 acres
• Principal meridian: north-south reference
• Base line: east-west reference

Reading fractional section descriptions

Read a government-survey description from right to left, moving from the largest unit to the smallest piece. For example, the N 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of Section 12 means start with all of Section 12, take its southwest quarter, and then take the north half of that quarter.

For acreage, start with 640 acres and multiply by every fraction. Do not add the denominators. A half section contains 320 acres; a quarter section contains 160 acres; a quarter-quarter section contains 40 acres.

The federal Bureau of Land Management describes a standard township as 36 square miles, divided into 36 sections that usually contain 640 acres, and advises writing fractional section descriptions from the smallest piece toward the larger units.

• 1/2 section: 320 acres
• 1/4 section: 160 acres
• 1/2 of 1/4 section: 80 acres
• 1/4 of 1/4 section: 40 acres
• 1/2 of 1/4 of 1/4 section: 20 acres

Worked acreage and value example

A parcel is described as the N 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 18. The land sells for $18,500 per acre. Find the acreage, square footage, and total price.

Start with 640 acres. Multiply by the fractions: 640 x 1/4 x 1/4 x 1/2 = 20 acres. The order of multiplication does not change the answer, but reading right to left helps you visualize the parcel.

Convert acreage to square feet: 20 x 43,560 = 871,200 square feet. Calculate the price: 20 x $18,500 = $370,000.

• Acreage: 20 acres
• Square footage: 871,200 square feet
• Price per acre: $18,500
• Total price: $370,000