The other RPLS in my office asked me a question to which I have already replied, "No, that's shady", but I thought I would post it here to find out if I am just being a stick in the mud.
RPLS prepares a pipeline easement across landowner's property. Landowner dies before signing the easement deed. Landman for the pipeline company asks RPLS to revise the easement to reflect the name of the person who is supposed to take title to the estate but the guy just died and there is nothing on paper saying this third party has control of the deceased's estate. Would you reissue the easement in the name of the third party?
I said doing so would be assisting in perpetration of fraud. Even if the third party is eventually in charge of the estate or the devisee of the will, there's no knowing that on my part at this time.
To the future owner? No
Something generic like "the legal representative of the estate of Joe Blow, deceased"? Maybe
Are you somehow certifying who owns the land?
:good:
"Now or formerly", come to my mind.
If deceased, title has passed, to whom is not yet, a matter of record.
"heirs and assigns"
You're not creating the easement are you? Aren't you just creating a plan showing the easement? And you're looking for a name to put in the title block? What's the big deal as to whom the easement plan is prepared for?
I would write the easement/legal out of the current deed conveyed to ....
add a note somewhere to satisfy your Landman.
> The other RPLS in my office asked me a question to which I have already replied, "No, that's shady", but I thought I would post it here to find out if I am just being a stick in the mud.
>
> RPLS prepares a pipeline easement across landowner's property. Landowner dies before signing the easement deed. Landman for the pipeline company asks RPLS to revise the easement to reflect the name of the person who is supposed to take title to the estate but the guy just died and there is nothing on paper saying this third party has control of the deceased's estate. Would you reissue the easement in the name of the third party?
>
> I said doing so would be assisting in perpetration of fraud. Even if the third party is eventually in charge of the estate or the devisee of the will, there's no knowing that on my part at this time.
Why would you care who is possibly going to be granting the easement? Are you preparing the document that creates and grants the easement? If so, then yes you need to know who has the legal authority to grant the easement. If not, leave that to the title company and/or attorney. As for the name to place on the map, work that out with the parties/client.
Uh, no.
Now or Formerly The Dead Guy
The easement plat normally includes the current owner name and the recording information for their deed. I'm sorry, but I won't knowingly certify something that has false or incorrect information on it.
The issue has since been resolved. We received a distribution deed that had not been sent with the original title packet.
To be fair though, every pipeline easement plat I prepared and centerline description I prepared was certified to the oil & gas company (not the landowner) and the description referenced a deed, which may not be the most current (although I always tried to).
🙂
I have used something similar to this generic statement: "to monument at SWC tract surveyed for Mr Smith by Surveyor Harris on June 1, 2010 and SWC 10 acres deeded to Mr Jones as recorded in Volume xyz, Page 123, Deed Records"
I would never state that someone would own a property without being able to give reference to a deed or other document.
I had something similar happen years ago. I seem to remember I used the language similar to
"Estate of John Doe or heirs and assigns."
Forget about future ownership. We deal in the here and now.
The property has a current legal owner, it does not pass into some netherworld just because the person(s) whose name is on the deed died.
Without looking at the entire picture, "The Estate of......" seems to be the way to go here.
Slight highjack here;
Given the thousands of privacy policy issues of late, are we setting ourselves up by naming of names?
I have lately adopted referring to "that certain warranty deed recorded under reception no. _________, in the records of ________ county, Colorado."
If somebody wants or needs a name, they can look it up for their self.
It's a public record, I don't see any problem with reporting publicly available information.
I'm in a M&B state and for me, having the names recited in deeds is a huge help. In many cases over the years I've used the names and dates to chase down critical deeds where there was a typo in the book/page reference.