Short cut? Since when does gathering all evidence necessary to determine 1) what happened in the chain of title, 2) what happened on the ground by the surveyors, and 3) what happened by the landowners in reliance upon the record and/or surveys, equate to a "short-cut"? In my opinion, showing the "problems" discovered, handing the documentation to a client who can't understand it, with the advice of seeking an attorney who won't do anything but require the name and address of the neighbor so they can file the lawsuit, is the "short-cut." Documenting problems in lieu of determining the boundary location is taking a "short-cut." Showing the "deed line" and the "occupation line" is taking a short-cut. Showing the "survey marker" and the "deed line" is a short-cut. Showing the "gap" or the "overlap" is taking a short-cut. Discovering any "problem" (no matter how ancient), and setting off the alarm bells without first resolving the "problem" is a short-cut.
Surveyors are given the directions by the courts to guide us in every boundary determination. We are told what evidence is necessary, how to gather the evidence, how to analyze the evidence, how to determine the facts, and how to apply legal principles designed to resolve conflicts in the evidence we discover. Once the conflicts have been properly resolved in accordance with the rules of law, we can then, and only then, approach the subject of the boundary location.
We do this by applying a legal principle which supports the boundary location. In order to do this, we must understand the legal principles and their application to a given fact set. We must be comfortable determining boundary locations in accordance with the law. When surveyors are willing to take these necessary steps to complete their duty by resolving boundary locations, then they'll be able to express their professional opinion regarding the boundary location and will be more confident in their opinion. The resolution may require any number of solutions ranging from documenting the evidence to mediating a resolution by the landowners and documenting the resolution.
Documenting conflicts in evidence is the "short-cut" in my opinion.
JBS
