CST CST Legal Descriptions & Boundary Surveys 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the legal doctrine that allows a party to gain ownership of land through long-term, open, and continuous use without the owner's permission?
- Riparian rights
- Adverse possession (Correct answer)
- Prescriptive easement
- Eminent domain
Correct answer: Adverse possession
Adverse possession allows a party to claim title to land they have occupied openly and continuously for the period specified by state statute.
Question 2: What does the term 'senior rights' mean in boundary law?
- Rights held by the oldest property owner
- The earlier deed or survey takes precedence over later ones (Correct answer)
- Government rights supersede private rights
- Rights of surveyors to access all property
Correct answer: The earlier deed or survey takes precedence over later ones
Senior rights means the earlier (senior) deed, survey, or grant controls when there is a conflict with a later (junior) deed or grant.
Question 3: A 'gap' in boundary surveying refers to which condition?
- A missed traverse station
- An unowned strip of land between two adjoining parcels (Correct answer)
- An error in angular measurement
- A missing section corner monument
Correct answer: An unowned strip of land between two adjoining parcels
A gap is an unintentional strip of land left between two adjoining parcels that was not included in either deed description.
Question 4: What is an easement in the context of land surveying?
- A type of legal description method
- A right to use another's land for a specific purpose (Correct answer)
- A survey monument set at a boundary corner
- A government right-of-way acquisition
Correct answer: A right to use another's land for a specific purpose
An easement grants the right to use a portion of another owner's land for a specific, limited purpose such as access, utilities, or drainage.
Question 5: In riparian law, what right does a landowner typically have regarding a stream bordering their property?
- Ownership to the centerline of the stream (Correct answer)
- No rights to the stream whatsoever
- Ownership of the entire stream bed
- Rights only above the ordinary high-water mark
Correct answer: Ownership to the centerline of the stream
In most US jurisdictions, a riparian landowner owns to the centerline (thread) of a non-navigable stream bordering their property.
Question 6: What is a 'chain of title' in land survey practice?
- The physical chain used in early distance measurement
- The sequence of historical ownership transfers for a parcel (Correct answer)
- A list of survey control monuments
- The record of instrument calibrations
Correct answer: The sequence of historical ownership transfers for a parcel
A chain of title is the chronological sequence of deeds, wills, and transfers documenting all past ownerships of a parcel from its original grant to the present.
CST CST Legal Descriptions & Boundary Surveys 2
What is the legal doctrine that allows a party to gain ownership of land through long-term, open, and continuous use without the owner's permission?