How to Find Your Idaho Legal Description
Filling out an Idaho quitclaim deed means providing the property's legal description — and this is often the one field that stops people cold. It's not the same thing as a street address or mailing address; it's the formal, surveyed description (a metes-and-bounds description, a government survey reference, or a platted lot and block) that a county uses to uniquely identify a parcel in its own records.
The best source is a document you may already have. Check the closing papers or deed from when you acquired the property — the legal description is almost always printed there, and you can generally copy it over directly.
If you don't have that paperwork handy, most Idaho counties offer a way to look it up without a trip to the courthouse. Many county recorder or clerk offices provide an online records search, and many counties also run a separate property lookup tool through the assessor's office — usually an interactive map where you click on a parcel to see its details, including the legal description on file.
Find Your County's Property Search
Every Idaho county's page on this site includes that county's official website — from there, look for a "property search," "records search," or parcel map link. Select your county to get started:
FAQs About Legal Descriptions
What is a legal description?
A legal description is the formal, surveyed description of a property's exact boundaries and location — such as a lot, block, and subdivision name, or a metes-and-bounds description — used to uniquely identify the parcel on recorded documents like a quitclaim deed. It is not the same as the property's mailing address.
Can I find my legal description online?
In most cases, yes. Many Idaho county recorder or assessor offices provide a free online property search by owner name, address, or parcel number, which will display the recorded legal description for that property.
What if my county doesn't offer online records?
Check a prior recorded document you may already have, such as your closing or settlement papers, since the legal description is usually printed there. Otherwise, contact the county recorder's or assessor's office directly by phone or in person and they can look it up for you.
Do I need a surveyor to write a new legal description?
Generally no. For a quitclaim deed you're copying the description that's already on file, not creating a new one. A new survey is typically only needed if you're dividing a parcel into multiple lots.