Entry May 20, 2024:

There is a misunderstanding that all lakes in Michigan are riparian; that they are “meandered” and therefore property lines move in and out subject to the location of the water’s edge. However, a considerable number of lakes (and rivers) in Michigan are not riparian in that, when they were originally surveyed by US government surveyors, they were not meandered, and these water covered lands were simply sold as land (albeit at a discount). This explains why property descriptions for many parcels of land (especially in Southeast Michigan) are “static” and incorporate whole portions of lakes. Many tax assessor maps reflect this reality. Nevertheless, Michigan courts have routinely held, contrary to controlling federal law (remember, Michigan was once part of federal territory), that bodies of water in Michigan that were never meandered are ‘de facto’ considered to be meandered. Unfortunately, these state court decisions (which are arguably void on their face) leave many owners of property adjacent to lakes in Michigan in a sort of legal limbo. On occasion, this legal problem will rear its ugly head and it is the job of well-informed riparian rights attorneys to advise their clients as best they can given this battle between state court decisions and federal law.