How to find the legal description of Texas property
Short answer: The legal description that counts is the one in the last deed recorded for the property in the county clerk's real property records. Your copy of the deed, a title commitment, or a recorded plat will show it. The appraisal district's website shows a short version that is meant for its own use, so do not copy it into a contract or deed. Texas descriptions come in three common forms: lot and block in a recorded subdivision plat, metes and bounds (a walk around the boundary), and a tract out of an original survey with an abstract number. If the deed description is unclear or does not match the ground, a licensed surveyor or a title company can tell you what is needed.
Sooner or later, anyone selling Texas land or a house is asked for the "legal description." A buyer's contract has a blank for it, a title company needs it, and an offer is only as good as the land it describes. The street address is not enough, and for a lot of rural land there is no street address at all. Here is where the real description lives, what the common Texas formats look like, and which copy you can trust.
What a legal description is
A legal description identifies one piece of land so precisely that it cannot be confused with any other. It is written in words, not drawn on a map, and it is part of the deed that transferred the land to the current owner. When that deed was recorded with the county clerk, its description became part of the public record.
The address on the mailbox can change, can be shared by two parcels, or may not exist. The legal description does not depend on any of that. That is why contracts, deeds, title commitments and liens all use it.
Where to find it
Start with the copy most likely to be complete and correct, and work down the list.
- Your recorded deed. The description is usually a paragraph near the top or an attached page, often called "Exhibit A."
- The county clerk's real property records. Deeds are recorded in the county where the land is. Many county clerks have an online search, for example the Harris County Clerk's real property search. Search by the owner's name, find the most recent deed into that owner, and read its description. Ask the clerk's office if you need a certified copy.
- A title commitment or owner's title policy. If you bought with title insurance, the policy describes the insured land. A title commitment for a new sale will also describe the land being sold. Our guide on how to read a title commitment shows where to look.
- A recorded plat. For a lot in a subdivision, the plat is the map the deed refers to. The deed tells you where it is recorded.
- A survey. A surveyor's drawing usually comes with a written description of the boundary. Read selling Texas land without a survey if you do not have one.
Why not just copy it from the appraisal district?
The appraisal district's website is the easiest place to look, and it is fine for finding the owner, the tax account number and a short version of the description. But that short version is written for the district's own records. It is often abbreviated and can leave out details.
The districts say so themselves. Taylor County's appraisal district, for example, tells users that information is "provided for research purposes only" and that "legal descriptions and acreage amounts are for Appraisal District use only and should be verified prior to using for legal purpose and or documents." Use it to point you to the right deed, then copy the description from the deed.
The three formats you will see in Texas
1. Lot and block
Land in a platted subdivision is usually described by lot number, block number and the name of the subdivision, with a reference to where the plat is recorded. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gives this example in its guidance on legal descriptions: "Lots 9 and 10 in Block 11, of Richey Addition, a subdivision in Harris County, Texas, according to the map or plat thereof recorded in Volume 1, Page 550, of the Deed Records of Harris County, Texas."
The state's standard contract for land is built around this format. Paragraph 2 of the Texas Real Estate Commission's Unimproved Property Contract has blanks for the lot, block, addition, city and county, "or as described on attached exhibit." TREC notes the form is generally used for platted land with a recorded lot and block description.
2. Metes and bounds
Land outside a subdivision, or part of a larger tract, is often described by "metes and bounds." The same TCEQ guidance describes it as a list of measurements that trace the perimeter of the property step by step, for example "THENCE North ... and East 519 ft to a set of 1 inch iron rods marking the northeast corner," ending back at the point of beginning. These descriptions are written by surveyors from measurements on the ground. If you are buying or selling part of a tract, expect a new one to be written for the part being sold.
3. Out of an original survey, with an abstract number
Much rural Texas land is described as a number of acres "out of" an original survey, named for the person who first received the land, followed by an abstract number and the county. For example: "being 50 acres out of the John Smith Survey, Abstract 123, Example County, Texas," usually followed by metes and bounds for the 50 acres.
The abstract number is how county records index that original survey. The numbers start over in each county, so "Abstract 123" means nothing without the county name. The Texas General Land Office keeps the original land grant files and offers a Land Grant Database you can search by county. Its surveyor resources handout notes that most of the official county maps compiled after the mid-1940s show abstract numbers on the surveys.
How to read your description in five minutes
- Find the county and the format. Is it a lot and block, a metes and bounds walk, or acres out of a named survey?
- Look for references. Plats, earlier deeds and surveys are referred to by volume and page or by instrument number. Those are where the full detail lives.
- Check the acreage. Compare the deed's acreage with the appraisal district's. If they differ a lot, ask why before you sign anything.
- Look for exceptions. "Save and except" language takes part of the land out. "Called" acreage is approximate.
- Compare with the ground. Fences, roads and old markers do not always match the paper.
When the description is a problem
Old deeds sometimes describe land by landmarks that are long gone, repeat a typing error from an earlier deed, or leave out a piece. Inherited land may have no deed into the heirs at all. If the description is unclear, does not match the land, or the deed chain has a gap, a title company will raise it, and a licensed surveyor can measure the land and write a new description. Correcting a recorded deed is legal work, so talk to a Texas real estate attorney or the title company before you sign anything. If you inherited the land, start with how to find out if you inherited land in Texas and the documents you need to sell land.
If you are selling
You do not need to be an expert in legal descriptions to sell. Bring what you have: the deed if you can find it, the tax account number, or just the county and the owner's name. A buyer and the title company will work from the recorded deed. What helps is knowing early whether the description and the ground agree, because that is what slows a closing down.
This page is general information. It is not legal advice. Talk to a Texas real estate attorney or your title company about your own situation.
Common questions
- Where do I find the legal description of my property in Texas?
- In the last deed recorded for the property. Deeds are recorded with the county clerk in the county where the land is, and many county clerks have an online search of the real property records. The description is usually a paragraph near the top of the deed or in an attached exhibit, often called Exhibit A.
- Can I use the legal description from the appraisal district website?
- Not for a contract or a deed. Appraisal districts show a short description for their own records. Taylor County's appraisal district, for example, says its legal descriptions and acreage are for appraisal district use only and should be verified before being used for legal purposes or documents. Use the description from the recorded deed or plat.
- What is an abstract number in a Texas legal description?
- It is the number a county's records give to an original land survey or grant, such as 'out of the John Smith Survey, Abstract 123'. Numbers repeat from county to county, so the county name is always part of the description. The Texas General Land Office keeps the original land grant files and county maps, and its current county maps compiled after the mid-1940s mostly show abstract numbers.
- What if my deed's legal description is wrong or unclear?
- Talk to a title company or a Texas real estate attorney before you sign anything. A licensed surveyor can measure the land and write a new metes and bounds description. Fixing a recorded deed is legal work; this page is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: Legal Property Descriptions for VCP Certificates of Completion (PDF)
- Texas Real Estate Commission: Unimproved Property Contract (TREC No. 9-18), Paragraph 2
- Taylor Central Appraisal District: property search disclaimer
- Texas General Land Office: Land Grant Database
- Texas General Land Office: Surveyor resources handout (PDF)
- Harris County Clerk: Real Property records search
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