PS Boundary Law & Riparian Rights 5

Question 1

Under the Public Trust Doctrine, the state holds tidal and navigable waters in trust for the public. This doctrine most directly affects surveyors when:

Accepted Answer

Establishing boundaries adjacent to tidal or navigable waters

Answer

The Public Trust Doctrine means the boundary between private upland and publicly held tidelands/navigable riverbeds must be carefully established, often at the ordinary high-water mark.

Question 2

A meander line in the PLSS was originally run along a lake shore. If the lake has since partially dried up, the meander line:

Accepted Answer

Was never the legal boundary; the actual shoreline is the boundary

Answer

PLSS meander lines were surveying approximations of the shore, not legal boundaries; the actual water's edge (legal shoreline) is always the true boundary.

Question 3

The rule in Shepard v. Denton (and similar cases) on ambiguous deed descriptions holds that ambiguities are construed:

Accepted Answer

Against the grantor (construed against the drafter)

Answer

Ambiguous deed language is construed against the grantor (drafter) under the contra proferentem principle — the drafter who created the ambiguity bears the risk.

Question 4

A deed conveys a parcel to the 'edge of the highway.' Under most state interpretations, where does the boundary lie?

Accepted Answer

The centerline of the highway, unless the grantor owned only to the right-of-way line

Answer

Courts generally interpret 'edge of highway' or 'along the highway' as extending to the centerline if the grantor owned the fee under the road, applying the strip-and-gore presumption.

Question 5

Estoppel by deed prevents a grantor from later claiming title to land they previously conveyed. This doctrine most directly protects:

Accepted Answer

A grantee and their successors against the grantor's later claim

Answer

Estoppel by deed bars a grantor (and their heirs/assigns) from asserting any title interest that conflicts with a prior conveyance they made.

(PS) Professional Licensed Surveyor Practice Test

(PS) Professional Licensed Surveyor Practice Test

PS Boundary Law & Riparian Rights 5