Have any of the Southern Atlantic Coastal States (South of Maryland)
established Standards (guidelines or statutory requirements) for the
Legal Descriptions which are integral parts of Deeds?  (It has been
reported that discussion is/has been circulated concerning
establisment of such state-wide standards.)

Among these states without such standards, is there as much variation
county-to-county as there is state-to-state in defining what is
acceptable as an adequate Legal Description?

Hi again,
I have tried to find state standards and have found a few explanations
of the "legal description" in real estate deeds that all agree in
principle with this, from Wisconsin (but not from a law):

LEGAL DESCRIPTION: A description of a specific parcel of real estate
complete enough for an independent surveyor to locate and identify it.
The description is by subdivision name, lot and block in a platted
subdivision, by certified survey map and lot number, or in unplatted
lands, it is identified according to the town, range, section and
quarter section and metes and bounds associated with the Public Land
Survey System or Private Claims or Government Lots.
LOT-AND-BLOCK DESCRIPTION: A description of real property that
identifies a parcel of land by reference to lot and block numbers
within a subdivision, as specified on a plat of subdivision duly
recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds.
METES-AND-BOUNDS DESCRIPTION: A legal description of a parcel of land
that begins at a well-marked point and follows the boundaries, using
directions and distances around the tract back to the place of
beginning. Wisconsin statutes now require that the point of beginning
be referenced to at least one Public Land Survey System monument.

My personal opinion is that conveyance/selling of property is such an
old practice that it is covered by Common Law rather than codified law
that results from acts of state congresses.  There is now in Florida
and some other states a Uniform Land Sale Practices Act.  "Uniform"
acts are state acts that implement laws with the same text in
many/most/all states to eliminate discrepancies between the prior
existing laws in different states.  But this law deals with the
"practice" of selling, what real estate agents do, and does not lay
down requirements for the legal description in deeds.

But this is not necessary, as the correct application of the above
definition from Wisconsin is adequate.
As I remember from your earlier questions, one was a "lot and block"
description from a registered plat, which should adequately describe
the parcel, despite discrepancies about the owners' names on adjacent
parcels.
The other example seemed to be an inaccurate "metes and bounds" description.
"Let the buyer beware."  That is why properties are re-surveyed before
being sold and why title insurance is used.

As you know, this is not professional or legal advice, see the disclaimer below.

I hope this is some help.

Thanks for the thoughtful comment from myoarin-ga.  I feel that your
thinking is on the right track and commend you for sharing it.

As a matter of general interest, not specific to my question, I am
passing along the following findings which are not within the
indicated geographical area.  My perusals have turned up an example of
a genuine set of standards for conveyences:  "Transfer and Conveyance
Standards of the Ottawa County Auditor and the Ottawa County
Engineer".  Ottawa County is in Ohio.  A description is given at
www.thompsonhine.com/ practicegroups/realestate/ottawa.htm
The description concludes as follows:  "This review process DOES NOT
insure clear title to a certain piece of property, but does assure
that the legal description meets the "Minimum Standard for Boundary
Surveys in the State of Ohio", as described in Chapter 4733-37 of the
Administrative Code."

By these standards, the descriptions referred to in my previous
questions fall pitifully short, being totally inadequate.  But then,
let us hope that the whole world does not become involved in such
byzantine procedures.

Hi,
That site is really thorough!  I understand your asking about
different standards in diff. counties now, and it is sort of
surprising that one county  - or rather - at the county level such a
thorough system has been established.  That suggests that in Ohio the
state has nothing similar.  (Must be a bunch of Germans in Ottawa Co.
is my first thought, living among 80 million of them.  (-; Sound like
their kind of thinking.)

Thanks and good luck.