faq

Corey J. Hughes, P.S.

Professional Consulting for Riparian & Property Boundaries

In the majority of the time, the owner does have riparian rights to the adjoining bottomlands, but under several conditions they can find that the their property does not have rights to the bottomlands. The rights may have been excluded in the transfer of title, or the body of water may be man-made and the specific language to include riparian rights may not have been placed in their deed. Under either of these situations, the ownership could remain in the original land owner's, or their heirs and/or assigns,

This condition can be very troublesome in the situation of distributing oil, gas, or mineral rights royalties. If you think that you may have this situation, you should have your title and abstract checked by a land title attorney or other qualified land title expert.

Upland property owners along all of the Great Lakes of Michigan own to the Ordinary High-Water Mark (OHWM) which is an elevation established by law. It has been the long-accepted practice that the upland owner has exclusive use of the exposed bottomlands lying lake-ward of the OHWM to the waters edge as the water levels of the Great Lakes rise and fall, qualified on condition that the return of the waters to the OHWM must not be impeded.

Michigan Common Law has provided that if the public has gained lawful access to the water, they may walk along the shore provided that they remain in the water.

The public’s right to hunt, fish and navigate along the shoreline of the Great Lakes is contingent upon the water’s edge, regardless of the ordinary high water mark (OHWM.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Only a Court can set the location of the Riparian Boundary lines. The Surveyor’s layout is an interpretation of what the Court would do.

Who can tell me where my Riparian property lines are?

I live on one of the Great Lakes and wonder what Riparian Rights I have into the lake?

Can a waterfront property owner not have Riparian Rights?

Establishing the position, or physical location, of bottomlands boundaries between adjoining waterfront owners can be a relatively simple matter on truly round lakes, to a complicated series of non-scientific judgment calls and mathematical calculations.

Although there are a number of case law examples for reference when looking at bottom- lands issues, there are virtually no hard and fast rules to guide the surveyor in his task. The guiding principle for the survey is that the final distribution plan must be fair and equitable to all of the parties on the body of water. We believe that consideration must be given to the entire lake when protracting the distribution of any group or individual parcel.

How is the location of my Riparian Bottomlands established?