The first court you run into that understands the power of a Land Patent may be a U.S. Circuit court of Appeals, and in the history of this nation there has never been an appellate case where a properly set Land Patent has ever lost there.
If you ever have the occasion to have to defend your right to your land in court, and someone else presents a proof of land patent on your land, you’ll loose your land. If you haven’t brought your land patent up in your name, you may be abandoning your right to your land and any prior owner with lawful right to the land patent could bring the land patent up and evict you off from the land you thought was yours, and you’ll have to leave.
Now, let’s suppose you have your Land Patent properly secured and, for some reason, you have to defend your right to the land. If you understand the patent and how it works, you’ll defend it successfully.
So again, here’s how it works: What do you do?
The Land came to the nation by treaty or war prize. The government only had limited ability to own land as before mentioned. All of the remainder of the land was held in the sole disposition of the United States until it was granted under act of Congress by the hand and seal of the President to some person. Then, in that same act, the President makes the Grant Patent which means that the Land came to the nation by treaty and the patent assigns a specific part of that treaty to you and your heirs and assigns forever.
So your land comes to you from the treaty through your Land Patent. This is critical. The Land Patent secures the treaty to you.
The Court is bound by the supremacy clause of the Constitution to uphold the treaty making your Patent a statutory limitation throughout the land. Wineman v. Gastrell 54 FED 819, 2 U.S. App. 581.
If you ever have to defend your right to the Patent, here’s how.
Get a full abstract on your land. The Abstract will show the assignment on the land and patent from the patent to you. Each record of the Abstract is a matter of public record well established over time. If your right to the land was well secured (Warranty Deed) and you have properly brought up your Land Patent, you’ll win – if you’re prepared .
Land Patents – Understanding how they work
There’s been much talked about in relation to Land Patents lately. As far as most of that talk goes, I’m glad people are talking about them. It’s about time. The problem with patents is – ignorance.
Some say, “The only bad news is no news.”
It seems that most of the people in our nation today either have no idea what a Land Patent is, or they think it’s a good way to swindle or otherwise avoid paying a bank or the IRS out of some amount of funds. And, they think that they own their land because ‘they paid for it’ and ‘they have a Warranty Deed.’
Though its true, “Land, protected by Land Patent, can’t lawfully be seized for debt or taxes.” Therefore, no mortgage or tax liability can stand against a Land Patent. It’s still wrong to make an agreement or obligation and then hide from that agreement or obligation by any means. An honorable person just plain won’t do it.
We live in a nation that hasn’t had elections in its central government since before 1944. The States individually stopped electing government officials at least by 1968. The main cause of that was electors were either ignorant of their responsibilities or part of the national takeover. The main cause of that was the people forgot about their abstracts and Land Patents and accepted Title Insurance instead. (An abstract is a document that contains all of the transfer documents used to assign Title to Land from the Patent to the present.)
Some people will tell you that land patents don’t work. What that means is they don’t know how land ownership works. They speak from ignorance. For those who have tried land patents unsuccessfully, the cause of their lack of success is - ignorance. It’s time to put that ignorance to rest.
Think about it. Where did the land within the United States of America come from?
It came from: England, France, Spain, Mexico, Russia, Hawaii,and from the Native American Indians.
How did the United States acquire the land?
By purchase, like with Manhattan Island, the Louisiana Purchase and Alaska;
By war power, like with Hawaii and much of the Native American Indian lands;
By Treaty, like The Northwest Territories Treaty, The Guadeloupe Hidalgo Treaty, and
By treaty as the end result of war like the original war for independence from England.
The end result – regardless of how the land was acquired – a Treaty was ultimately designed whereby the land was resolved and reserved for the proper possession and individual ownership of the people of the United States of America. Security in land rights was, and is, found within the Treaty.
Once land was acquired in the nation, it was held by the United States until someone proved their claim to it. Once the land was properly claimed and filed, the General Land Office certified that the surveys were paid for. According to the various land acts of Congress, the land was then made patent under the signature and seal of the President of the United States of America.
When a State enters the Union of the United States of America, an Enabling Act is agreed to. The Enabling Act requires that all of the unappropriated (unpatented) lands be forever granted to the Union for disposition. For example, here is a segment from Colorados Enabling Act:
“That the people inhabiting said territory do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within said territory, and that the same shall be and remain at the sole and entire disposition of the United States”. Enabling Act of Colorado
Without such transfer of control over the right and title to the land, there would be no effective authority in a land patent sealed under the signature of the President. For example, with few exceptions, U. S. of A. land patents have no authority in the Republic of Texas because Texas never ceded its lands to the United States.
Notice the net effect of these Enabling Acts in relation to state taxes and state statutes:
After exclusive jurisdiction over lands within a State have been ceded to the United States, private property located thereon is not subject to taxation by the State, nor can state statutes enacted subsequent to the transfer have any operation therein. Surplus Trading Company v. Cook, 281 U.S. 647; Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Chiles, 214 U.S. 274;
Arlington Hotel v. Fant, 278 U.S. 439; Pacific Coast Dairy v. Department of Agriculture, 318 U.S. 285
Every State within the Union of States (with the exception of the Republic of Texas) granted their unappropriated lands to the United States as a condition of statehood. Then as people acquired land, under various acts of Congress the President signed the patents securing the patented rights to the patent holders and their heirs and assigns forever.
There are many more cases where the United States Supreme Court has supported the fact that the Land Patent certifies absolute and supreme title to land. There are no cases where the courts ever ruled against the properly obtained Land Patent.
Summa Corp. v. California (466 U.S. 198), is not listed above, yet it is one of the best cites describing how land patents work. In that 1980s case the court noted that they had ruled and ruled and ruled and they were not going to rule again, the Land Patent is supreme title to land. The case was one where California was granted the tidewater lands in the California Republic Constitution and therefore California went after a family’s land, which land was secured under patent on an old Spanish Land Grant. The case doesn’t talk much about land patents. It talks about the Guadeloupe Hidalgo Treaty. Imagine that, a land patent case that speaks mostly about the supremacy clause of the Constitution, which clause states that Treaties are supreme law.
Here’s how land patents work:
The Land was originally acquired within the United States of America by some Treaty.
Your Land Patent secures the rights of the Treaty upon which the land was originally acquired within the territories of the United States from the Treaty to the individual person named on the patent.
The patent specifically grants the described lands to the party named on the patent and to their heirs and their assigns forever.
The party named on the patent then passes the inheritance, grants, or assigns the patented lands to someone else, which assignee is now named on the patent by that assignment. The documents that demonstrate such an assignment are often called, “Deeds”.
Because the granter can not compel you to accept the assignment it is necessary for you to take some action to signify your acceptance of the assignment. For this reason we use the “Declaration of Land Patent”.
Once you have accepted the proper assignment of the Land Patent and you bring it forward by your authoritative declaration, you are named on the physical Land Patent where it says, “and to his heir and assigns forever”.
It doesn’t matter how many times the land is reassigned. The patent by its own creation lasts “forever” and belongs to the named party “and to their heirs and assigns forever”.
Steps To Secure A Land Patent Claim
To prevent someone from evicting you off from the land you thought you owned, you need to create documents to declare and secure your Land Patent. The following instructions are the steps to create the Land Patent Claim. We do not give legal advice, so we present these instructions for your edification as educational materials only in hope that you will prepare yourself to stand, as our forefathers did, and as the founding fathers of this nation did, with your land, liberty, and rights intact. Now, because you can, lets do it:
1 You must have a true right to the land, i.e.: Warranty Deed, a well supported Quitclaim Deed, documented Assignment, Inheritance, etc..
2 Find the land description on your right to the land and get it into land patent format. Land descriptions on Land Patents are almost all recorded in Section, Township, and Range format (hereafter “STRf”). If the legal description of your land on your right to the land documents (hereafter “Warranty Deed”) is not in STRf, then you need to get it into that format for your Land Patent Claim documents. To do that you need to trace the legal description on your Warranty Deed back to STRf. For example, if your Deed says, “Lot 3 of the Bryerton Subdivision as recorded in the Dexter County Land Records”, then you go to the Dexter County Clerk and Recorders office and find the Subdivisions plat map. Find your lot and locate the Section, Township, and Range that includes your lot. Get a copy of the County plat map of the subdivision your land is located in; youll especially need the part that legally describes the land. That part is called: “the legal”, and it almost always lists the Land description in STRf. While you’re there it wont hurt to get a couple certified copies of your Warranty Deed from their records.
3 With the description of your Land in STRf, you’re ready to go acquire a copy of the appropriate Land Patent for your Land. This is done by taking the legal description of your Land, in STRf, to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and asking them (in their Land Patent records office) for a Certified copy of the Land Patent for the land represented by your Land description including, Section, Township, and Range. It’s a good idea to get at least two certified copies of the appropriate Patent and a copy of the “Patent Plat map” for the particular Township your land is in.
4 Now that you have certified copies of your Land Patent and certified copies and or originals of your Warranty Deed you’re ready to prepare two very important documents to complete your Patent Claim. The new documents are the “Quitclaim Deed” and the “Declaration of Land Patent”. When those documents are finished, you’ll be ready to compile your completed Land Patent Claim in the form of what we call a “Land Patent Sandwich.” The Land Patent sandwich is a single document compiled of several documents listed top to bottom:
On top, the “Quitclaim Deed”
Your right to the land, i.e. Warranty Deed, Grant Deed, Quitclaim Deed, etc.
a) This document will not be a Trust Deed. If you have, a Trust Deed, and you’ve decided to follow these instructions, you may contact AWARE for additional help, (864) 246-1303.
b) If this document is a Quitclaim Deed, you’ll need to place the underlying authority (Warranty Deed) that passed the authority of the land to you under your Quitclaim Deed.
The “Declaration of Land Patent”
The Land Patent itself goes on the bottom.
The bottom to top order is very important! So start on an empty table and set the Land Patent down on the bottom of what will become the Land Patent Sandwich. Next comes “Declaration of Land patent”, which needs some preparation work done first so move on to the next step.
Take one of the forms “Declaration of Land Patent” and complete it as follows:
First, generate the proper legal land description for your land by merging any lot/subdivision descriptions with the Section, Township, and Range descriptions from the County plat maps of your subdivision and enter the properly merged land description into the space provided for it on the “Declaration of Land Patent”.
Next, complete the remainder of the “Declaration of Land Patent” by filling in the blanks from the top: fill in your name as the person requesting the recording (use proper name format) fill in your name in the “Name & Address” space, fill in your mailing location, fill in the city, state and the Post Offices zip code in the blanks, fill in the Patent number in the space provided on the first line after “That,” fill in your name, you may cross out the inappropriate personal pronoun from “I/we”, and the “(s)”, if necessary, the proper merged legal land description should already be entered from the previous instruction.
Do this step later, after you have compiled your Land Patent Sandwich: go to a Notary Public, and fill out the remainder of the document there, just fill in the blanks as suggested on the guide sheet.
Now, place your “Declaration of Land Patent” on top of the Certified Land Patent as a part of the Land Patent Sandwich.
Place your Warranty Deed on top of the finished copyrighted “Declaration of Land Patent” as a part of the Land Patent Sandwich.
Take one of the forms “Quitclaim Deed” and complete it as follows:
First, place the land description you generated for the “Declaration of Land Patent” into the space provided for it on the “Quitclaim Deed”.
Next, complete the remainder of the “Quitclaim Deed” by filling in the blanks from the top:
· fill in your name as the person requesting the recording (use proper name format);
· fill in your name in the space just below, “AND WHEN RECORDED MAIL TO:”;
· fill in your mailing location, city, state and the Post Offices zip code blanks;
· fill in your name on the second line of the Deed after, “I/We,” and again on the fifth line after, “and forever quitclaim to:” you may cross out the inappropriate personal pronoun from “I/We”, if necessary
· from your certified copy of your Land Patent, find the name of the person to whom it was originally issued and enter that persons name after “as assignees of” on the second line;
· fill in the patent number in the space provided after “Number” on the third line;
· fill in the county and state names on the ninth line;
· the proper merged legal land description should already be entered from the previous instruction;
· fill in the date you are filling out this form in the next to last line after, “Done and dated:”;
· fill in the date the Warranty Deed was issued on;
· wait to sign the “Quitclaim Deed” in front of a Notary Public; and, enter your name as “owner” in the blank before the word “Owner.
Do this step later, after you have compiled your Land Patent Sandwich: go to a Notary Public, and fill out the remainder of the document there, just fill in the blanks as suggested on the guide sheet.
Now, place your “Quitclaim Deed” on top of your Warranty Deed as a part of the Land Patent Sandwich. With that, your Land Patent Sandwich is completed.
Make sure that all four key elements of your Land Patent Sandwich are in their proper place. The order is critical! The documents are in order of authority.
Understanding how the sandwich works: On the bottom of the sandwich, you have the highest authority of land title, the certified copy of your Land Patent. Its own words declare that the land belongs (fee simple) to the party named on the patent and to their heirs and assigns forever. The patent is yours by right of assignment or inheritance so the next document is your Declaration of Land Patent.
Your right to claim the land by declaration is your assignment on the land, which assignment is found within your Warranty Deed (where the deed says “grants” and/or “assigns”). Therefore, a certified copy of your Warranty Deed is the third document on the pile.
The top document is your Quitclaim Deed, which moves your land out of equity (fairness to the contract) and into law (fact in fee simple). This Quitclaim Deed is likely the most important part of the entire sandwich-it completes the move out of the statutory and contract control and into the law of the Land. The Land Patent Sandwich is one inseparable document.
Staple a copy of the Land Patent Sandwich together and you’re done. Making two copies is better, one for filing and one to keep secure for yourself.
Go to the Notary Public with both copies and complete the signatures, dates, etc..
You need not publicly file any records of your Land Patent; however, most people prefer to protect themselves with public filing. There are several methods of public filing you may use. They are as follows:
File it in the Clerk and Recorders office with the land records of the county.
Make public notice that you brought the patent up in your name in the legal notices in a local newspaper.
Post the Land Patent Sandwich on the County’s public notice bulletin board (usually found at either the County (district) Courthouse or at the Sheriffs office). Post Office bulletin boards would also be sufficient.
As stated before in these instructions, once a Land Patent is the operating authority on the land, the Land cannot be taken for debt or taxes. For this reason some people don’t want to record the patent in the county records (no one can lawfully seize patented lands to secure a debt). They are concerned that anyone wanting to obtain a loan wont be able to find a bank that will loan them money. Others want to file the patent in the county records because they are going to be fighting off a foreclosure or a tax seizure and they want the solid public record. Land Patent
In the history of this county, no Land Patent has ever lost an appellate review in the courts. As a matter of fact, in Summa Corp. v California (466 U.S. 198 ) the Supreme Court ruled forever that the Land Patent would always win over any other form of title. In that case the land in question was tidewater land and California’s claim was based on California’s constitutional right to all tidewater lands. The patent stood supreme even against California’s Constitution.
Land cannot be taken for debt or taxes, but Real Estate can be taken.
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References to assist you in learning about and obtaining a land patent:
DO YOU OWN YOUR LAND? REALLY? 
