All posts by Jeff Lucas
Rules of Construction
Legal Boundaries What are the Rules of Construction, and why do we need to know about them? The Rules of Construction are court-made rules that have been developed over the centuries for the interpretation of legal documents. The courts use them when the interpretation of a document is confusing, uncertain, ambiguous, or in conflict. The...
Legal Boundaries: Monuments and Corners
Is there a difference between a monument and a corner? Many surveyors use these two terms interchangeably as if they were synonymous. Technically speaking they are not the same, but in many instances a monument will be the physical manifestation of the true corner location. This is the ultimate surveying question, is that monument actually...
Legal Boundaries: Where to Put the Excess
This month’s question comes from a reader. “What is the customary solution to discovery of extra block length when all except the end lot status quo ante are equal 50-foot-wide lots and the extra space is within the parking area of the end lot?” In my experience, an excess in the block is rarely challenged....
Surveyors and Appellate Court Opinions
Why should we care about appellate court opinions? I have had this question posed to me on numerous occasions. I suppose it has its roots in the old surveyor’s saw: “We don’t need to read court decisions, because you can never know what the judge is going to do.” While this may have a grain...
Legal Boundaries: The Ultimate Issue
What is the “Ultimate Issue Rule” in civil litigation? The Ultimate Issue Rule refers to Rule 704 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Federal Rules of Evidence (the Rules) were submitted to Congress by the Supreme Court in 1973, approved and enacted in 1975. They were intended to bring uniformity across all federal courts...
Rewriting Legal Descriptions
What’s up with rewriting legal descriptions? There seems to be a growing push from the title companies to have legal descriptions rewritten for little or no good reason. In my 38 years as a licensed surveyor I can remember but a few instances when rewriting a metes and bounds description was truly warranted and recommended,...
