gaps and overlaps—This condition arises when portions of property are described from two directions; the scrivener should always avoid using calls from two directions. When there is a gap and two parcels do not meet, neither parcel has title to the surplus since the original grantor did not sell it. When there is an overlap between parcels, normally the senior deed holder will get what is coming to him and the junior deed holder will get the remainder. Descriptions of the form “the west 100 feet and the east 100 feet of a 200 foot lot” or “the north 10 acres and the south 30 acres of an original 40 acre government subdivision” are virtually guaranteed to gap or overlap. A similar condition exists when metes-and-bounds descriptions of two parcels intended to be contiguous are described from two directions; i.e., “Beginning at the northwest corner of the Southeast Quarter of said Section; thence southerly along the west line of said Southeast Quarter a distance of 1300 feet; thence easterly;” or “Beginning at the southwest corner of the Southeast Quarter of said Section; thence northerly along the west line of said Southeast Quarter a distance of 1340 feet; thence easterly.”

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Source: NSPS “Definitions of Surveying and Related Terms“, used with permission.

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