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The defecatory material will be impacting the propulsion device soon.
Neighbors are not especially cordial. Called for survey to locate the north line of the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of the section. Field guy calls to ask me to double check my coordinates for the center of said southeast quarter. They are correct. He is standing next to a corner post with fences and trees headed east and south. He says, “That point is 43 feet east and 15 feet south of where I am right now.”
Oh, joy! The fellow who wants no trees injured is going to come unglued when he sees the two lines of lath.
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4 Replies
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From whence do said quarter section center coordinates originate? Evidence trumps math. Be careful.
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That is a worthy question. This neighborhood was surveyed by Government contractors in the 1850’s with most corners set being a stake and pits arrangement. Nearly all section lines have dirt/gravel County roads running along them. There is no record of the County Surveyor ever being called on to locate the center corner or any of the corners on the outside of the section. There are no records of private surveys. The standard in this area is to acccept road center lines and physical evidence of fences constructed to determine the center corner of the section. After that, it is pretty much by mathematical breakdown as opposed to fences of convenience. The agricultural uses for this land is mainly pasture, followed by hay and crop land. Little crop land due to the shallow depth to rock. Fences tend to get built, even today, where it is easiest to set posts. In the 1850’s this land was all wide-open grassland with very few trees, even along significant water courses. The settlers could largely see their entire quarter section from at least one spot, if not several.
The quarter-quarter split came much more recent. The adjacent landowners may want to come to some sort of agreement as to the extra 0.9 acres inside the weaving fenceline. Or, they may agree to let sleeping dogs keep sleeping. Or, they may spend far more than the land is worth today with attorneys and a judge involved. It is not responsible, on my part, to act as judge in this case.
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Sounds like an opportunity to let client and adjoiners decide how to proceed. I would be inclined to present 2 options: 1. New corners based on the mathematic lines, and 2. Written agreement among adjoiners accepting existing occupation (with a plat showing accepted lines). Option 1 would create problems for the client, and option 2 could potentially resolve the issue. Either way, a recorded plat would be essential. Even with option 2, there may be future benefit in setting the computed center of quarter section (buried deeply). By presenting the two options, you place the decision in the client’s hands.
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This reply was modified 9 months ago by Todd Horton.
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This reply was modified 9 months ago by
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Explanations similar to your comments will be in my cover letter to the client along with the plat. I am not an attorney. I’ve never played one on TV. But, I believe in presenting the options to the client.
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