How to find your property's legal description
A legal description is the only thing that legally identifies a piece of land. Get it wrong and your deed may transfer the wrong property, or nothing at all. Here's where to find yours and how to copy it safely.
What one looks like
There are three common forms, and yours will be one of them:
- Lot and block (subdivisions): *Lot 14, Block 3, of SUNRIDGE ESTATES, PHASE TWO, according to the plat thereof recorded in Plat Book 47, Page 118.*
- Metes and bounds (rural and irregular parcels): *Beginning at a point on the north line of Section 12... thence North 87 degrees 14 minutes East 220.50 feet...*
- Government survey (much of the Midwest and West): *The Northeast Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of Section 12, Township 4 North, Range 7 West.*
Five places to find it
- Your prior deedThe best source, full stop. Whatever conveyed the property to you contains the exact description the recorder already accepted.
- Your title insurance policySchedule A carries the legal description. If you bought with a mortgage, you almost certainly have a policy somewhere in the closing folder.
- The county recorderEvery recorded deed is a public record. Many counties have a free online search; otherwise call and request a copy by parcel number or owner name. Usually a few dollars.
- The property tax bill or assessor's siteOften carries an abbreviated version. Use it to locate the record, but never copy an abbreviated description onto a deed.
- A surveyIf you have one, it will contain the full metes-and-bounds description. Useful when the deed's description is old or ambiguous.
How to copy it correctly
Copy it character for character
Do not retype from memory, do not abbreviate, do not 'clean up' the punctuation, and do not substitute the street address. If the original says 'Twenty-Two (22)', write 'Twenty-Two (22)'. Legal descriptions are read literally.
- Work from the recorded deed, not a summary or a listing.
- Include everything from the start of the description to its end, including plat book and page references.
- Keep the abbreviations exactly as written. 'NE 1/4' is not the same as 'Northeast Quarter' to a title examiner comparing documents.
- If it is long, most states let you attach it as Exhibit A and reference it in the body of the deed.
- Read it back against the original twice. Then have someone else read it.
When to stop and get help
- The description in your deed doesn't match the assessor's records.
- You're transferring only part of a parcel. That needs a survey and, often, a subdivision approval.
- The description references a road, a fence, a tree, or a neighbour's land as a boundary marker.
- There are multiple parcels and you're not sure whether to include all of them.
- You can't find any recorded deed at all for the property.
We prompt you for the legal description at exactly the right point and explain what to check before you continue.
Common questions
No. Street addresses change, get reassigned, and do not define boundaries. A deed that identifies the property only by address risks being held void for uncertainty. Include the address as helpful extra information, but the legal description does the work.
You need a corrective deed, sometimes called a deed of correction or a scrivener's affidavit depending on the state and the error. If the mistake was in a deed you received, the original grantor usually has to sign the correction, which is why it is worth catching early.
No. A parcel or tax ID number is an administrative label the assessor uses; it can be changed by the county at any time and does not describe boundaries. Many recorders want it on the deed, but it never substitutes for the legal description.
Keep reading
Deedly is not a law firm
We provide self-help software and state-specific statutory forms; you make your own decisions about your property. Using Deedly does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation is complex or contested, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.