Legal Definitions - abstracter

An abstracter is a professional who systematically gathers, examines, and condenses information from various sources, typically public records, to create a comprehensive summary or record. Their primary role is to ensure the accuracy and completeness of data for specific purposes, often related to property ownership or legal documentation.

Here are some examples of how an abstracter's work applies in different contexts:

• Real Estate Transaction: When someone is purchasing a piece of land or a home, their attorney or title company will often hire an abstracter. This abstracter will meticulously research all historical documents related to that specific property, including past deeds, mortgages, liens, easements, and court judgments, going back many decades. They then compile a detailed summary of this information, known as an "abstract of title," which outlines the property's ownership history and any existing claims or encumbrances. This process ensures the buyer receives clear ownership.

  This illustrates the term because the abstracter collects and summarizes extensive historical property information to create a comprehensive record (the abstract of title) that maintains accurate data about ownership and potential liabilities.

• Legal Case Preparation: In a complex litigation case, a law firm might engage an abstracter to review and summarize vast quantities of discovery documents, such as emails, contracts, financial statements, and deposition transcripts. The abstracter's task would be to identify key facts, relevant dates, and critical statements, then condense this voluminous material into concise reports or chronologies for the legal team. This allows attorneys to quickly grasp essential details without sifting through thousands of pages.

  Here, the abstracter researches and summarizes extensive legal documentation to maintain organized data and records that are crucial for the law firm's case strategy.

• Historical or Genealogical Research: A historical society or a professional genealogist might employ an abstracter to compile information from old public records, such as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, census data, and local newspaper archives. The abstracter would extract pertinent details about individuals or families, organizing this raw data into structured summaries or databases. This work helps in tracing family lineages or documenting the history of a community.

  This example shows an abstracter collecting and summarizing historical information from various sources to maintain detailed records for genealogical or historical research purposes.