Advanced Boundary Determination: Resolving Complex Evidence Conflicts

Course Description:

This course provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing and resolving complex boundary conflicts encountered in professional land surveying practice. Participants will examine the hierarchy of boundary evidence, including natural and artificial monuments, record descriptions, measurements, and occupation indicators, with emphasis on determining evidentiary reliability and correlation with historical conditions. The course explores senior and junior rights relationships arising from sequential conveyances, overlapping deed descriptions, and excess or deficiency distribution, providing tools for resolving ownership conflicts when record measurements alone are insufficient.

Learning Objectives:

1. Apply the hierarchy of boundary evidence, including monuments, record descriptions, measurements, and occupation indicators, to evaluate and resolve conflicting boundary information consistent with original survey intent.
2. Analyze sequential conveyances, senior and junior rights relationships, overlapping descriptions, and excess or deficiency conditions to determine defensible boundary positions when record measurements conflict.
3. Classify and restore lost or obliterated corners by evaluating collateral evidence, surrounding control monuments, and applying appropriate proportionate measurement methodologies.
4. Interpret ambiguous record descriptions and occupation evidence, including fences, improvements, and long-standing land use patterns, while recognizing their relationship to legal doctrines affecting boundaries.
5. Integrate professional judgment, standard of care principles, and risk-management practices to document analytical reasoning, communicate limitations, and produce defensible boundary opinions under conditions of uncertainty.