2014 Issue

65 2. Accuracy of the legal description of the deed. The purpose of a legal description in a deed is to provide sufficient enough information to the public and interested parties to be able to correctly identify the location of the property on the ground. The fact is, some deeds are written better than others. Legal descriptions in deeds can be and often are constructed by individuals who have received little or no training in the writing of legal descriptions. This has resulted in pat- ent and latent ambiguities and other critical errors which result misunderstandings as to the location of the given property boundary. Admittedly, some legal descriptions written by licensed surveyors have incorporated errors in measurement or judgment as to the best manner in which to represent the location of a given parcel in writing. These factors andmore have resulted in inaccurate and/or incorrect legal descriptions. 3. There are many factors which determine the location of property boundaries. One of many key questions in boundary law is; What have the property owners been using or occupying as boundary line(s) between them and how long have they been in use. (i.e. driveways, fences, hedges, trees, walls, etc.)? The evidences support- ing such lines of occupation are many and varied but the governing principles are the same regardless of the property. There are many professional books dedicated to the explanation of boundary laws, legal descriptions, procedures for investigation, etc., not the least of which are Black’s Law Dictionary (Garner, et.al .), Elementary Sur- veying (Ghilani), Brown’s Boundary Control and Legal Principles (Robillard), Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location (Robillard), Professional Surveyors and Real Property Descriptions (Estopinal), Forensic Procedures for Boundary and Title Inves- tigation (Wilson), and Interpreting Land Records (Wilson). There are also hundreds of appellate and Supreme Court cases related to boundaries and their determina- tion, I don’t have time to explain or even review these volumes as they pertain to the subject property so suffice it to say this is what licensed surveyors are expected to know and understand proficiently so that they can properly advise the general public as the need arises. One must always keep in mind that any given boundary line rep- resents not only the “clients” property but also all adjoining properties. 4. A survey is NOT always required in order to convey property. The purpose of a property survey is to correctly define or redefine the location of a parcel of land relative to current and ac- ceptedmonuments which are usedby other surveyors and which physically exist on the ground. Thesemonuments are often a part of the United States Public Land Survey System (PLSS) such as section or quarter cornersmaintained by the county surveyor’s office. Ultimately, a survey and the resultant plats, records, maps, legal descriptions, and drawings of property lines represents the professional and competent opinion of the licensed land surveyor who has employed professional experience as well as physical/ site evidence and many other factors to determine a particular boundary. Regard- less, multiple and sequential conveyances of many parcels of land in the United States and Utah have been fully executed without the aid of a land survey regardless of how helpful and essential they are in assisting owners in resolvingdisputed and conflicting boundaries. Dan Perry is a tenured Associate Professor and Geomatics Program Coordinator in the Engineering Graphics & Design Technology department at Utah Valley University (UVU) and has been teaching surveying, drafting, and design classes since 2005. He holds an MBA and is a licensed Professional Land Surveyor in the State of Utah. Dan also operates his own surveying firm called GeoSymMetrics. Before joining UVU he was a civil design and survey technician for several civil engineering and surveying firms including co-owner of two firms in Idaho and Oregon and has accumulated over 25 years’ experience in the field of engineering and surveying. now with o ces in Utah and Colorado: (801) 255-0529 (801) 547-1100 (435) 843-3590 (435) 865-1453 (435) 590-0187 (719) 536-9514 Sandy Layton Tooele Cedar City Rich eld Colorado Springs CIVIL ENGINEERING MUNICIPAL LAND SURVEYING URBAN DESIGN TRANSPORTATION STRUCTURAL www.ensignutah.com RE+A recently won the ACEC Grand Conceptor Award for Ogden High School Renovation & Historic Preservation HISTORICALLY SPEAKING Contact us at 801.486.3883 or www.reaveley.com For additional information and answers to other fre- quently asked questions please take a few minutes to learn more about land surveying at the following websites: Salt Lake County Surveyor http://www.surveyor.slco.org/information/faqs/sur- veyingfaq.html#fifth Utah County Surveyor http://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/Surveyor/FAQ.asp Utah Council of Land Surveyors (UCLS) http://www.ucls.org/ National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) http://www.nsps.us.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page. viewPage&pageId=673&parentID=525&nodeID=2 Authors Contact Information Danial L. Perry, MBA, PLS is a Professional Land Sur- veyor (PLS), and an Associate Professor of Geomatics (surveying andmapping) at Utah Valley University, 800 University Parkway, MS148, Orem, UT 84058, email perrydl@uvu.edu. Copyright © 2013 Unauthorized copying or modifying of this work is prohibited without express permission of the author.