Chapter A. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

• Jurisdiction: Washington

A. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. Definition. Real estate or real property includes land and anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, fences, and those things attached to the buildings (light, heating, plumbing fixtures), as well as rights in real property such as leasehold interests, easements, and other rights to land or to real property improvements. Real property may also include interests in cooperatives and time-share arrangements for use of real estate improvements.

2. Legal Description. The legal description is the exact location of real property. Whatever type of description is used"lot, block and tract" or "metes and bounds"it is by its legal description that any piece of land is referred to in public records. While a street address helps locate a house for visitors and is adequate for the delivery of mail, only the legal description will suffice for the Inventory and Appraisement (see Chapter 3) or for documents affecting legal interests in real property. Descriptions on tax statements are often abbreviated or shortened and are not sufficient descriptions for documents affecting legal interests in real property.

The customer service department of a title insurance company can be very helpful in providing information on the ownership, legal description, or easements on a particular parcel of real property. If there is a question regarding ownership or the proper legal description, it may be prudent to order a title insurance policy.

3. Inventory and Appraisement Description. In describing real property interests on the Inventory and Appraisement, the following items should be included:

(a) Type of Property and Improvements. Describe the improvements by type and construction, e.g., brick residence house, frame office building, warehouse, wood frame barn. Describe unimproved property by its use, e.g., vacant lot, residence building lot; if unimproved property is farm land, include number of acres under cultivation and acres unsuitable for cultivation, etc.

(b) Legal Description. The legal description should be obtained from the original instrument of transfer of the real property interest to the decedent, assuming that nothing has occurred since the date of the instrument that would affect the legal description. The instrument could be any of the following:

Statutory Warranty Deed

Quitclaim Deed

Real Estate Contract

Purchaser's Assignment of Real

Estate Contract

The legal...