How you know an attorney wrote a legal

I'm thinking that unless you are a deed staker, there could be significance in all that wording due to junior/senior rights and the order things were conveyed or surveyed and monumented. At a minimum, the words will probably help explain the history.

What if the 65 feet was monumented and a fence built to the monuments on its west line, but it measures 67 feet? Now the neighbor wants to expand his lot and buys a strip. Where do you put the 23 feet? Maybe not 62 ft from the east line?

I like the ones somebody wrote with such wording as "...thence N 03 deg...S; thence E 87 deg....W; thence S 42 deg....N to POB..."

A surveyor goofs up a description and is potentially sued. A lawyer/title co/realtor/homeowner/assessor goofs up a legal and it's a typo. The surveyor gets to fix it, much to many folks chagrin.

As the saying goes "...pay now or pay later...".

Or the one that states: "North 45 degrees 23 feet 15 inches East". Unfortunately I've seen the equivalent more than once. Paralegals and secretaries can make a real mess of a legal description. The that really get me are the ones where I sent a digital copy of the legal description but they "rewrite" it and leave off a call.

Andy

How about when they just use the same description from 1923 with all the obvious mistakes, missing calls and the adjoining landowner from 1923 with Now or Formerly of course.

If the neighbors tracts have been surveyed, they'll take all the adjoining calls and cobble together a description, even if they have a different basis of bearing.

Descriptions in Deeds
The countryman, who, by good fortune, political shrewdness or chicanery, has been exalted above the common people by an election to Justice of the Peace, and therefore is entitled to be dubbed “’Squire,” and authorized to sit in judgment on his neighbors, tie hymenial knots, etc., is looked upon by his fellow citizens as a truly great man; one whose opinion on all matters, from the building of a rail fence to the revision of the American tariff, is unimpeachable. He is called upon to make out a deed for a piece of property one of his neighbors has sold another; and the “’Squire,” with a full realization of his eminent fitness and ability to properly prepare papers of this and all other kinds, goes to work, and presently evolves a description something like this:
“Beginning on the bank of the creek, thence following the creek to the brush fence that burned up last spring, thence to the old black stump, about 50 yards, thence running by the fox den to the northwest corner of Jones’ tater patch, and then along the fence to near where Smith’s portable sawmill stood, then by the path leading to the foot log over the creek, and then to the place of beginning, and being the same ground used by Brown as a pasture lot.” The “’Squire” knows perfectly well that this description is all right, for he has accurately described the whole boundary, as he can prove by every person acquainted with the premises. He hands the deed to the grantor, who is well satisfied; satisfied for two reasons: First, because he has the utmost confidence in the “Squire’s” ability to draw a good deed, and the “’Squire” has assured him that it was all right; Second, he is satisfied because it only cost 50 cents, whereas it would have cost two or three dollars to have had a survey and correct description. The grantee is also satisfied, and for the same reason as the grantor’s first; and he takes the deed to the County Auditor and he sees nothing wrong. To all appearance it is perfect, and he makes the transfer. It is now taken to the Recorder, who observes it has all the legal requirements, such as consideration, wife’s signature, etc.; and he collects his fee, and soon a copy of this magnificent document, this splendid product of the “Squire’s” futile brain, has become a part of the county records. If the grantor and grantee had any misgivings about the document before, they are all removed now; and they are absolutely certain of its soundness. For had it been wrong, the Auditor or Recorder would have noticed the error, and pointed it out, but it has passed through without a single criticism, and there can be no doubt about its validity.
There is a class of persons, who, through suspicion of fraud or trickery, make it a rule to deed away property by precisely the same calls as were used in the deed to them. A case of this kind, with which we are pretty well acquainted, having had something to do with it, occurred right here at Columbus, in which the grantor declined to make a deed except with identically the same description as that contained in the deed to him. The result of this practice is easily seen; once right always right, or once wrong always wrong.
Our statutes should require, and make a part of each conveyance of real estate, a complete plat of the premises conveyed. This plat should show the connection of its lines with recorded lines; should give the course and distance of each of its boundaries where it is at all possible, and give all witnesses taken to corners.
R. S. Weitzell – Presented to the Ohio Society of Surveyors and Civil Engineers - 1885

Yep,I seen all those goof-ups, blunders and errors.

But to avoid overall generalizations and profiling, I have know a few "secretaries' who could scribe a very good description. One worked for a small surveying/engineering firm and wrote up descriptions and she also wrote from notes or took short hand of the LS dictating the description. Talk about a lost art. She went on to work at other surveyors' offices through he years where her skills were acknowledged.
Another was a college student who worked for a small law firm and could type the bejeezus of anything that was handed her (150 WPM). Sort of savant like, after she typed , she had full comprehension of what she typed. After a few weeks, she could write a very good description without having any survey knowledge except for the form of the description.
A local title assistant found a transposition of once in one of my long descriptions. It took a keen eye to catch it.
Just want to cite the contrary before we pigeon hole folks.

It sites “The Pincushion Effect: The Multiple Monument Dilemma in American Land Surveying” as a source?

When I first started (18 years ago), I became annoyed at attoneys/title companies when they didn't use my "modern" description for closing but instead used the ancient description. I asked a title attorney why, he explained that the title companies would rather insure to an ancient description that has been used for 100 years than to my "modern" description that, in a nutshell, is my interpretation and opinion. Made sense to me.

I really don't care what they use as long as I get paid.

When an surveyed piece of property is being subdivided down the middle, and the attorney uses a bearing with degrees, minutes, and seconds along the line being divided. He then calculates half the distance on this line and says "to a point". And the next call says " run thence in a southerly direction for a distance of (east and west lines averaged and stated to one one-hundredths of a foot!) feet, more or less; run thence degrees, minutes and seconds a distance of ( half the line length to nearest hundredths of a foot again).....

Grrrrrrr......and then the new owner needs a survey!

Well, at least the attorney established the intent of the deed. I will survey it and write the revised and more accurate description which has a high probability of NOT used in the next transfer of title. Maybe I will get to survey it again, and get paid for it.....again!

I have experienced "de-ja-voux" (?) on boundary surveys on several occasions. Surveying the record description, finding orange flagged pins and saying to myself, " hmmmmmm! I have been here before!" I get paid.....again! B-)

I just fixed one where the lawyer included a whole gulf front condo in the deed of what was supposed to be the transfer of title for a 60' by 100' long vacated road tract!