Alluvial is a legal term for land formed by natural sediment deposits on a shoreline. Accretion refers to the gradual addition of land, while avulsion is sudden. Land titles transfer with accretion, as gradual accumulation is key to the transfer of ownership.
Alluvial is a legal term that describes an area of land that arises from the gradual increase of sediments deposited on the shoreline by a body of water due to natural causes. Under real estate law, the law by which a person establishes rights and holds ownership of a parcel of land, property that borders a body of water, has its own rules of title that takes into account the effects of nature on the border that it serves as a shoreline. Establishing real land title between competing parties has a history dating back to Roman law.
Alluvial is often used in legal matters in conjunction with accretion, the legal term for additional land gained through the operation of natural forces. Many people use the terms interchangeably, but this is incorrect. Accretion refers to the act of creating addition and alluvium refers to the physical deposits of sediment.
An early example of a land grant within the legal definition of flood development is a stream flowing between two properties. When property owners first make a land purchase, the title lines are drawn based on the location of the stream and appear fixed. Over time, however, the flow can gradually change its course, causing the levee of one property to expand and the other to contract. Property lines change with the course of the flow, and one owner loses what the other owner gains.
Any land gained by accretion automatically becomes the property of the owner of the existing land the flood attaches to. The additional property must meet certain tests to be considered alluvial. It must have formed by natural causes, especially by gradual and imperceptible quantities that it is not possible to judge exactly how much earth has been added at any given time. Sudden and perceptible additions of earth are called avulsion. Unlike the flood, the land created by the avulsion remains the property of the owner whose land was taken away by the forces of nature.
The perceptible differences between accretion and avulsion demonstrate why land titles transfer with accretion and not with avulsion. With accretion, the redistribution is so gradual that the original owner can no longer identify his ownership. Gradual accumulation is the key to the transfer of title, not just the fact that new land has been acquired through accretion.
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