What’s the maximally abbreviated format for describing a property in preparing a deed? For example, what’s the shortest legally valid way of writing “NW/4 SE/4 of section 5 of 9N-5E in Seminole County?” What are the limits on abbreviations for each of the components? Should single-digit sections, townships, and ranges be preceded by a zero? Must there be a “T” or “Twn” or “Township” preceding the township number; same for “Range” and “Section”?
That probably works, also NW/4 SE/4 Sec. 5 T9N R5E
Be weary of warrantying title, accepting drafts for deeds, etc.
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“NW/4 SE/4 Sec. 5 T9N R5E”: would “5-09N-05E” be acceptable? I.e. is it essential to have “Sec.”? Are the “T” and “R” essential? Are spaces better than hyphens as separators?
“NW/4 SE/4 Sec. 5 T9N R5E”: is the simplest. When Sec. T & $ are left out there could be some confusion.
The absolute proper way would be to spell out every word.
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There’s a lot of ways to abbreviate a property. The main point is that the property must be identifiable no matter how you abbreviate it. When in doubt, include an abstract number. You will definitely want to make sure you have the state name in the description though. I like including acreage for the sake of consistency, but it’s not required.
If I were writing that description it would look more like this: NW/4 SE/4 of Sec 5, T9N, R5E, Seminole County, STATE ABBREVIATION, containing xx.xx acres, more or less.
If you want an abstract number in it, it would look similar to this: NW/4 SE/4 of Sec 5, T9N, R5E, A - #, Seminole County, STATE ABBREVIATION, containing xx.xx acres, more or less.
There’s no real “set” place for an Abstract number in a legal description. I usually see it after the section number or before the county name.
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Why are you anxious to abbreviate a legal description in a deed? For clarity it is preferable to have a detailed description.
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