Lands B The Title To Property example essay topic

Chapter 1 - History and Concepts of Boundaries Principal 2: A surveyor creates land boundary lines. These created lines, which are separate and distinct from property lines, are determined by legal principals and law. Boundaries: The line that separates two adjoining land parcels as determined by legal descriptions. Land boundaries can be marked by hedges, fences, monument, or not at allA. The law determines what boundaries are; facts determine where boundaries are located. B. A boundary exists because the law permits it to exist. Boundary lines are invisible, yet once created, they have legal authority. C. Boundaries of a parcel are created by the original surveyor through measurements and writings.

1. A closed boundary describes a claim of right to a property interest for which any person can make a claim of possession. 2. Once the original boundary is created and described, legally, that description remains in effect forever. 3.

According to the federal statutes, as well as common case law, those lines remain fixed in perpetuity from the time the first property rights are conveyed. 4. Usually, to have a boundary created that boundary must have terminal points or corners. a) Corners and monuments are not the same. 1) Corner: Is a calculated point (theory). 2) Monument: Is a physical object on the ground that marks a corner (physical). 3) Corners carry the same legal dignity as monuments. D. A resurvey should do the following: 1.

Identify the existing conditions of the boundary lines at conveyance. 2. Identify the condition of the original corner monuments. 3.

Redefine the definition of the courses (bearing / distance ) in more modern terms. The Role of the Surveyor and the Law. The role of the surveyor should include the following: 1. Create original boundaries of a parcel through measurements and writings.

2. The surveyor is also the person who retraces the boundaries created originally and creates new evidence for future surveyors to search for and for courts to use. a) The evidence is used by: 1) Lawyers, to create legal documents of ownership. 2) Juries, to solve disputes. 3) Courts, to create case law. b) Retrace ment is where disputes pop-up because two people never measure the same. 3. Locate limits of possession.

4. Locate limits of the claim of ownership. 5. Locate improvements. 6. Locate and describe rights of interest.

Principal 4: A person or land owner can legally convey only the quality and quantity of interest to which he has title. Title: A written document, which is the means or vehicle by which one acquires an estate. A. A title can be considered as originating from the following sources: 1. Conquest. 2. Royal grant from a foreign source. 3.

Grants of the original crown lands from one of the original states. 4. Grants or patents from the United States Government from land being in the public domain. 5. Lands in the form of newly created lands. B. The title to property is the exclusive domain of attorneys. C. Title to land does not constitute real property.

Title in real property law is the right or means by which one can claim just or legal possession of a parcel of land. Property: May be considered some right that describes a tangible element (ex: house, tree, fence) A. Real property: Property that is fixed, immovable, and permanent. 1. Basically, refers to the material of the earth. 2. Has four dimensions a) Length) Width) Depth - Subsurface and air rights. d) Time - Duration of legal rights.

3. Includes plants where roots enter the ground. 4. Includes fixtures and permanent improvements (ex: house, shed, garage) B. Personal property: Property that is consumable, can be destroyed, or moved at will. C. There are fuzzy areas as shown: 1.

Real property. a) Standing timber. b) Perennial shrubs. c) Tree seedlings planted. 2. Personal property. a) Cut logs. b) Nursery stock. c) Tree seedlings planted. Right / Interest to Real Property: Give a person, whether or not a land owner, certain legal rights that can be addressed in court. A. In most instances, there are no federal laws that describe real property rights. B. Certain common law rights are recognized.

1. Right to dispose of property. 2. Right to have land free from interference. 3. Right to support property.

4. Right to control waters flowing through property. 5. Right to use water lying within boundary. 6.

Right to space above and below. C. To own a parcel means to have a certain "bundle of rights" in that parcel such as: timber rights, mineral rights, right of possession, water rights, and the right to ingress, egress, and regress. a) Each right may be independent to the exterior boundaries of the parcel and may have boundary lines that are separate, distinct, and independent of the boundaries of the parent parcel. b) A person who owns a parcel may convey parts of his "bundle of rights", or even all his rights except the right to pay taxes) The original surveyor creates the boundaries between individual rights. Once these rights are created, and the owner relies on these boundaries, no one other than those who are beneficiaries can change these boundaries. 2. Estate: The degree, quality, extent, and nature of the interest that a person has in real property. May be comprised of real property, personal property, or both. a) Non freehold Estate: possession of real property without having title.

Basically, it includes all types of estates except fee simple, fee tail, or life estate. 1) Estate at Will: May be terminated at any time as described by law or contract 2) Estate for Years: A lease between two parties whose relationship is that of landlord and tenant. b) Freehold Estate: Possession of real property by having title. 1) Estate in Fee: An inheritable interest in land, constituting maximal interest in land. A) Fee Tail: An estate that must be inherited by a specific person (opposite of fee simple) B) Fee Simple: An estate that does not have to be inherited by a specific person (opposite of fee tail)...

Fee Simple Absolute: There are no conditions or limitations, so far as time is concerned, on the estate... Fee Simple Defeasible: An estate that ends either because there are no more heirs of the person to whom it is granted or because a special limitation takes effect before the line of heirs runs out... Fee Simple Determinable: An estate that will automatically end and revert to the grant or if some specific event occurs. (ex: to Albert and his heirs while the property is used for charitable purposes)... Fee Simple Upon Condition: An estate subject to the grant or's power to end the estate if some specific event occurs (ex: to Albert and his heirs, upon condition that no alcohol is sold on the pr emesis).

2) Life Estate: An Estate held only for the duration of a specified person's life. Usually created by words in a deed or will. 3. Easement: Is one of the "bundles of rights". It is a type of interest that one person has in another's. a) An easement may be on the surface of the ground, below the ground, or in the air. b) Easements are usually limited to the use cited. c) The land that benefits is called the dominant estate, and the land on which the easement is attached is the servant estate. d) An easement has five characteristics: 1) It is an interest in land and must be created by grant or agreement, expressed or implied.

2) The interest must be in the land of another. 3) The easement is non possessory because the owner can only prevent interference with his interest. 4) The privilege to use the an easement must be of creation (eg: the right of a ticket holder to view an event cannot be an easement.) 5) The easement should be described. e) Some of the different types of easements are: 1) Positive (Affirmative) Easement: Permits the possessor of the easement to do some physical act on, under, or over the lands of another. 2) Negative Easement: An easement in which the holder of the dominant estate can prevent the servant estate holder from some use of property. 3) Appurtenant Easement: Benefits the dominant or its holder and attaches to the parcel of land, not the holder. (ex: An easement acquired by the owner of a land locked parcel for the purpose of gaining access to a road is appurtenant to the land. The easement passes automatically with the sale of the land, whether or not mentioned in the conveyance.

4) Easement in Gross: Attaches to a person, not a particular parcel of land. f) Creating an easement. 1) Express conveyance through a deed or will. A) Most popular way to create a deed. B) Easement Deeds: Those deeds that describe and convey an easement strictly without deeding a tract of land.

C) The deed must describe correctly interest conveyed and must comply with all formalities required for the transfer of land. 2) Implication (implied easements) A) According to the general rule of law, when an owner of a tract of land conveys part of it to another, the owner is said to grant with it, by implication, all easements that apparent and obvious and that are reasonably necessary for the fair enjoyment of the land granted. B) Implied easements are often sought in litigation when there is no apparent right-of-way to a land locked parcel. 3).