What is metes and bounds

In legal documents, such as a lien, deed, trust deed, mortgage, and sales contract, courts require an exact description of where a piece of land is located. This is not merely the address of the property but is a legal description. There is more than one type of legal description you must know for your exam. The metes-and-bounds legal land description method is the subject of this article.

Metes distance and bounds direction is the oldest method for creating land descriptions. This legal land description is primarily used to describe the location of land in states on the east coast of the US.

A metes-and-bounds land description always begins and ends at a point of beginning POB. Skip auxiliary navigation Press Enter. Skip main navigation Press Enter. Toggle navigation. Search Options. Print Share. By Mr. Alex Clark posted AM. Bring Legal Descriptions to Life The metes and bounds system is nearly as old as land ownership itself, with evidence of it existing from as far back as Ptolemaic Egypt and the Roman Republic.

In the United States, the fingerprints for this method of surveying property can be most easily found in the states that were once the 13 original colonies. Back in the day, when surveyors lacked sophisticated measuring systems and mapping tools, metes and bounds was a reliable option.

They used points such as trees, boulders, streams, roads, buildings and anything else that may have been near them as a reference for property boundaries. The problem, of course, is that trees can die, streams can dry up, roads can be moved and man made structures can fall down. What was a dependable reference point in one era may not be helpful to someone today. There are more modern, standardized systems for land boundaries today, but the metes and bounds plotter system continues to hang on in the form of old land surveys, deeds and other documents.

The challenge now is figuring out how to translate the information from then to the parcel mapping needs of now. The Importance of Metes and Bounds The metes and bounds system allowed for more customized property practices that utilized localized knowledge and facilitated community development.

Whenever America was still being settled by immigrants to the continent, there was no standard for measuring and recording land plots. Bearings should be to true north. The legal description should be a single perimeter description of the entire claim. The sides of the claim should be described by stating each course distance and bearing. Metes and Bounds Examples 1. See Illustration One below.

See Illustration Two and Three below. URL Name. Requires Expert Review. Mining Claim.