Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
14.4 The Order of Importance of Evidence
A surveyor's duty is to locate a written description on the ground. But how should
a surveyor proceed, when there are conflicting elements in the deed, when the
physical evidence does not agree with the record information or when possession
does not agree with the record location of the lines? Such problems are relatively
common in boundary surveying and in retracement surveying in particular. The
relative importance of title elements is well established by law. There are jurisdic-
tional differences but they are generally as follows:
1. Unwritten Title
2. Senior Rights
3. Intentions of the parties to the conveyance
4. Calls for monuments
5. Distance
6. Direction
7. Area
8. Coordinates
Each of these will be considered in the following paragraphs.
How should a surveyor proceed, when there are conflicting elements in the
deed, when the physical evidence does not agree with the record information
or when possession does not agree with the record location of the lines?
14.5 Unwritten Title
Unwritten title
to land is what is commonly referred to as title acquired by
adverse possession. It is acquiring title to land belonging to another by occupy-
ing the land in a manner that excludes the rightful owner. The requirements for
adverse possession are commonly established by statute and these will be dis-
cussed in another chapter. For our purposes here, suffice it to say that title to the
land is transferred with no written instrument to evidence the transfer and that title
so gained will take precedence over the written description.
14.6 Junior and Senior Rights
Junior and Senior Rights are rights which are acquired as a result of a sequence of
conveyances made by a common grantor. The concept of junior and senior rights
