More Precise Legal Description Controls Over More General One.

At issue were conflicting deeds involving 202 acres.  A 1945 deed used a metes and bounds description to convey title to the 202 acres which included the 34.28-acre tract at issue.  A 1973 deed conveyed almost 5,000 acres in three tracts and the metes and bounds description did not contain the 34.28-acre tract, but a general description that referred to a previous deed did.  The issue was whether the 1973 deed subsequently conveyed the same 34.28-acre tract that was included in the 1945 deed and, consequently, who the present owner of the tract is.  The trial court determined that the metes and bounds description in the 1973 deed controlled, but the appellate court reversed.  On further review, the Supreme Court reversed the appellate court.  The court noted that the metes and bounds description was not defective or doubtful and was not ambiguous.  The court also determined that the metes and bounds description, which was more specific, better evidenced the parties' true intention and controlled over the more general description.  Stribling, et al. v. Millican DPC Partners, et al., No. 14-0500, 2015 Tex. LEXIS 270 (Tex. Sup. Ct. Mar. 20, 2015).