That's tough, clearly if one landowner is not on board then there can't be a boundary agreement. But.........I'm not a lawyer, if you lived just across the border I could recommend a few bulldogs that are well versed in these disputes. But Montana is not an AP state so it seems the judge used something else.
@jitterboogiein 2006 we enhanced the LOA statutes so that county people were no longer confused. I know of only one county that corrected its lack of jurisdiction over this law but that's at least something
By the way, counties have NO jurisdiction to regulate an LOA. When they often interject themselves into CRS 38-44-112 the outcome is illegal.
Brown's Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location
So we've nailed down the definition of a BLagreement, but how about the real question:
When do you throw up your hands in defeat and tell the owner that any line you draw is simply a best guess?
One of the authors of Brown's told me that a surveyor must keep searching for evidence, "No matter what the cost".?ÿ I find this to be a silly statement unless perhaps you spend most of your time working on federal or state boundaries.?ÿ
I use money/time to help me find the point where I need to stop.?ÿ A great deal of ancillary research can be completed in a day if you keep on task.?ÿ The last time I performed a BLAgreement, I had scoured the line in question, interviewed several land owners, reviewed family photos and aerials, spoke to other PLSs that had worked near the area, and many little things like looking at old tax maps etc..?ÿ After that I felt as if I was just burning money without producing anything of value so I went to the client and suggested a BLAgreement.?ÿ I've learned not to mention BLAs until I feel they are necessary as clients will usually attach themselves to the idea early and view my ancillary research as a waste.?ÿ They may be correct because a good ole fence chaser would have just slapped down an iron, charged $500 and left the scene in greater harmony than me.
Below is an excerpt from Brown's 42 year old paper. Doesn't seem like we adopted his advise very fast.?ÿ
A practice that would save the land surveyor harmless is the practice of drafting ??Property Line
Agreements.? This is supported by the policy of the American Congress on Surveying and
Mapping that all written deeds should be brought into conformance with the possession of the land.
This is accomplished by causing the client and all adjoiners to sign a map stating that they agree
that the lines shown thereon are their common property lines. This is a good way to resolve the
problem under discussion and all land surveyors should attempt to settle their boundary disputes
in this way.
Paper was presented at the NMACSM Legal Seminar in Jan. 1979. Mr. Brown, past president
of ACSM and well-known author of a number of books and numerous papers relative to the
surveying profession
The fence chaser would have left a timebomb to be discovered later, probably long after the evidence you chased down was more difficult (if not impossible) to recover. Harmony with no stability is no harmony at all...
