At the risk of having a 'cast of thousands' involved in what one hopes is a simple procedure, consider all of the following potential parties. Beware of informal or implied agreements as they may not be legally enforceable. Develop, with assistance from an experienced attorney, a document that may be recorded in the public real estate records. Depending on the state, court action requires that one file a title lawsuit or perhaps a declaratory judgment action to determine the boundary.Īn out-of-court boundary determination may be possible. Making an unrecognized and unenforced demand merely reinforces the adverse nature of the possession. However, do not have an attorney write a demand letter to the occupier without being prepared to sue. A simple signed permission document may also typically be adequate. Rental and lease agreements acknowledge superior ownership. If one wants adverse possession not to occur, some evidence of permissive use by the occupant that acknowledges another superior title is required. This is frequently the case when old fences are involved. The time is determined by state law and may be as short as three years or as long as thirty years. Adverse Possession transfers ownership of non-public land by open occupancy and continuous use under a claim of ownership for a statutorily specified period of years. When the Occupation Line varies from the Deed Line, there may be a transfer of title by adverse possession. An Investigative Survey considers the main features of an area or, in contrast, examines the stress characteristics, subsidence, etc. It might be needed in lake and dam construction. A Vertical Control Survey creates a master system of elevation control points referenced to an imaginary surface such as sea level. A Horizontal Control Survey creates a master coordinate system to which other surveys refer. This may sometimes be accomplished by sophisticated aerial photography techniques. A Topographic Survey considers elevations and the big-picture to design drainage systems and flood control, for example. A Construction Survey controls positions, elevations, dimensions, and configurations of work in progress. A Location Survey (called a 'lay-out') establishes the position on the ground of proposed construction. A Route Survey describes a center line and related widths and distances. A Standard Land Survey is only concerned with boundary lines. Sometimes there is a separate Mortgage Loan Survey that inspects the parcel for uses and obvious superior encumbrances. Land Title Surveys focus on insuring title to a parcel and reference all encumbrances such as easements or improvements. In the entire land survey system there were instances of fraud or sloppy surveying that created numerous legal issues and boundary disputes. The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 granted railroads public lands in exchange for construction. Ground markers (monumentation) provided the precise locations of points and lines. In some states there are references to other units such as varas, labors, leagues, rods, poles, perchs, chains, and links. A mile is 5,280 feet and an acre is 43,560 square feet. 36 sections (six miles square) equal a Township further located with additional descriptors omitted here in the interest of brevity.

The Public Land Survey System in shorthand fashion created numbered rectangular grids of one square mile each (a 'section' of 640 acres) from a Base Line (a parallel of latitude) and Principal Meridian (a north-south line). Of course natural makers disappeared (for example, 'a large Hickory tree') and various difficulties caused the development of the more precise Public Land Survey System.

It used natural landmarks and distances with simple compass headings of north, south, east, and west. Many earliest land surveys followed a metes-and-bounds system adapted from England.

Metes and bounds vs lot and block