SUR 372W
Legal Aspects of Land Surveying



Catalog Data 372W. LEGAL ASPECTS OF LAND SURVEYING Legal research; rules of evidence including classification and evaluation; unwritten rights; composing land descriptions; easements; interpreting descriptions. Prerequisites: SUR 272. Concurrent: ENGL 202C
Textbooks
Brown, C.T., W.G. Robillard and D.A. Wilson. Brown's Boundary Control and Legal Principles, 4th edition. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York.

Brown, C.T., W.G. Robillard and D.A. Wilson. Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location, 3rd edition. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York.

References Wattles, G.H. (latest edition). Writing Legal Descriptions in Conjunction with Survey Boundary Control. Wattles Publications, PO Box 1706, Tustin, CA.
Coordinator Wesley Parks, Associate Professor, Surveying Engineering Program
Goals To build on the student's basic understanding of the procedures of land surveying, particularly writing and interpreting property descriptions for special situations. To introduce the student to the US deed registration system via a detailed title search. To introduce the student to legal aspects of land surveying via in depth legal research of federal and state law on a land surveying principle.
Prerequisites by Topic
  1. Understanding of theory and practice of field survey procedures, particularly traverse, to calculate courses and areas necessary to write and interpret land descriptions.
  2. Understanding of the evolution of US land survey systems.
  3. Understanding of property ownership and conveyancing.
  4. US land law, common and statute law.
  5. Rules of construction: creating and retracing boundaries.
Topics
  1. Land descriptions: PLSS
  2. Land descriptions: lot and block
  3. Land descriptions: metes and bounds
  4. Land descriptions: easements
  5. Unwritten rights
  6. Legal research: statutory law; common law, rules of evidence, the US court system
  7. Legal research: documentation of decisions; interpreting legal cases and briefing
  8. Classifying and evaluating evidence of boundary locations
  9. US land record systems
  10. Interpreting land descriptions: PLSS descriptions
  11. Interpreting land descriptions: Lot and block descriptions
  12. Interpreting land descriptions: metes and bounds descriptions
  13. Exams, student presentations
  14. Review
  1. 2 hours
  2. 1 hour
  3. 2 hours
  4. 2 hours
  5. 2 hours
  6. 2 hours
  7. 2 hours
  8. 2 hours
  9. 2 hours
  10. 2 hours
  11. 2 hours
  12. 2 hours
  13. 7 hours
  14. 2 hours
Writing Assignments
  1. Descriptions of parcels in a variety of special situations for parcels created under the PLSS and simultaneously and sequentially created parcels.
  2. Legal research: Research a topic of land surveying at County Law Library. Include results of search of Federal statutes and cases, Pennsylvania statutes and cases.
  3. Chain of title research: Trace the chain of title of an assigned parcel at the Luzerne County Court House to the creation of the parcel (in some cases pre 1850).
Computer Usage Students word-process legal descriptions and prepare a legal brief.


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Last Update: March 31, 2005