We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Attempting to reconnect
Title Disputes
Eastland Court Reverses Title Judgment Where Trespass-to-Try-Title Pleadings Failed to Support Award of Nonpossessory Royalty Interests
Joel Reese | Jul 20, 2026
Devon Energy's interpleader action to resolve competing royalty claims stemming from two deeds executed in one order but recorded in reverse order resulted in a final judgment that the Eastland Court of Appeals reversed for failure to support the judgment with proper pleadings. The Court held that the trial court's award of title to nonpossessory royalty interests was not supported by the successors' pleadings, which primarily relied on trespass-to-try-title claims rather than declaratory relief.
Alpine Summit: Bankruptcy Court Applies § 544(a)(3) Strong-Arm Powers to Unrecorded Nominee Agreement Over Webb and Fayette County Oil and Gas Interests
Joel Reese | Jul 20, 2026
A Texas partnership claiming economic benefits from a 16.3446% working interest in Webb County and Fayette County wells through a nominee agreement lost critical ground when the bankruptcy court ruled that even if the nominee agreement created an express trust granting an equitable interest in the subject properties, that interest is avoidable under 11 U.S.C. § 544(a)(3). The court's ruling turned on the undisputed fact that no assignment of the subject properties to the partnership was recorded in real property records, allowing the GUC Trustee to exercise strong-arm powers as a hypothetical bona fide purchaser.
Texas Fourth Court Resolves Century-Old Deed Ambiguity: Fixed NPRI vs. Floating Mineral Interest in Webb County Ranch
Joel Reese | Jul 20, 2026
The Fourth Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment construing a 1937 Webb County ranch deed reservation as a 1/32 non-executive mineral interest with floating royalty (1/32 of the 1/6 lease royalty), rejecting the Esperanza Successors' claim to a fixed 1/32 NPRI despite decades of operator payment practices treating it as fixed royalty. The court rejected presumed-grant doctrine arguments and equitable defenses including laches and quasi-estoppel, holding that the deed's express language—reserving "an undivided One-Thirty-second (1/32) of all oil, gas and other minerals"—unambiguously created a mineral interest rather than a non-participating royalty interest.
Beaumont Court Affirms Rule 91a Dismissal of Pro Se Plaintiff's Claims Based on Expired 1950 Oil and Gas Lease
Joel Reese | Jul 20, 2026
The Beaumont Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 91a of a pro se plaintiff's fourteen causes of action—including trespass to try title, conversion, theft, and breach of implied covenants—all premised on claimed rights under an oil and gas lease that expired in 1955. McQueen had previously litigated similar claims against the operators in 2017, resulting in summary judgment against him, and had been subject to a permanent injunction since 2014 prohibiting him from approaching within ten yards of any well.
Sixth Court Reverses Summary Judgment in Tax Foreclosure Dispute Over Sheriff's Deed Ambiguity in Harrison County Mineral Interests
Joel Reese | Jul 20, 2026
The Texarkana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's summary judgment that barred claims under the Texas Tax Code statute of limitations, finding genuine issues of material fact regarding whether a Sheriff's Deed following a $4,500 tax foreclosure sale conveyed only wellbore-specific royalty interests in three pooled units or broader mineral interests across seven Harrison County tracts. Appellants Obra J. Moore, III and affiliated entities argued the deed conveyed interests limited to specific API-numbered wells in the Minnie Bell Gas Unit, A.G. Birdwell Gas Unit, and J. Johnson A-1 Unit, while appellee 1789 Minerals Fund I, LP claimed broader mineral estate ownership through its chain of title from tax sale purchaser Regina Roberts.
Beaumont Court Affirms Private Ownership of Subsidence-Submerged Land Over State's Presumptive Title Claim
Joel Reese | Jul 20, 2026
The Texas Ninth Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court's determination that Edwin Arnaud, Inc. retained title to land submerged by oil and gas production at the Rose City Oil Field, rejecting the General Land Office's claim of presumptive state ownership based on expert testimony establishing six-and-a-half feet of subsidence caused solely by hydrocarbon withdrawal. The decision turned on whether subsidence from mineral production constituted an exception to Texas's presumptive ownership of submerged lands, with the court crediting expert geological and surveying testimony that excluded erosion, sea level rise, and tectonic movement as substantial contributing factors.
Texas Supreme Court Defines Unauthorized Practice of Law for Title Companies: Hexter Title Establishes Boundaries for Abstract and Title Insurance Services
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Texas Supreme Court held that a title and abstract company engaged in unauthorized practice of law when it drew deeds, notes, mortgages and releases, furnished opinions on titles to real estate, and advised interested persons on legal effect of instruments for consideration. The Court rejected defenses that the company acted as agent for a title insurer, employed licensed attorneys, or made no direct charge for legal services.
Eastland Court Reverses Title Judgment Based on Trespass-to-Try-Title Pleading Defects for Nonpossessory Mineral Interests
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Eastland Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a trial court's final judgment in a complex royalty interest dispute, holding that the judgment was not supported by the pleadings of the successors to a later-recorded deed who had asserted only trespass-to-try-title claims. The decision arose from an interpleader action involving competing claims to royalty interests in Glasscock County property, all tracing back to a common predecessor-in-interest who executed two deeds conveying overlapping interests but recorded them in the opposite order.
Texas Appellate Court Affirms Partition in Kind Under Uniform Partition of Heirs' Property Act Despite Unclean Hands and Easement Claims
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Texarkana Court of Appeals affirmed a partition in kind of 162.44 acres in Panola County after co-tenants Evans and Rossi acquired undivided one-third interests from the appellant's sisters and sought partition under the Uniform Partition of Heirs' Property Act, with the property valued at $605,619.00 based on a $570,000.00 land appraisal and $35,619.00 timber valuation. Atkinson, appearing pro se after three counsel withdrew, challenged the partition on unclean hands grounds related to an alleged unauthorized $37,000 Silver Hill Energy Partners pipeline easement, but failed to preserve the issue or introduce alternate valuation evidence.
Texas Supreme Court Overrules Mapco, Holds Surface Estate Owns Salt Cavern Storage Rights Absent Express Agreement
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Texas Supreme Court overruled Mapco, Inc. v. Carter and held that the surface estate owner, not the mineral estate owner, owns possessory rights to subsurface cavern space created by salt extraction, rejecting the mineral owner's claim to use salt caverns for hydrocarbon storage produced off-site. The Court also ruled as a matter of first impression that the deed reserved an in-kind royalty, entitling the surface owner to receive one-eighth of the salt brine produced rather than monetary payment.
Corporate Practice of Law Doctrine Applied to Title Companies Preparing Conveyancing Documents
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Jefferson County Bar sought to enjoin Stewart Abstract Company and Stewart Title Guaranty Company from preparing mortgages, mechanic's liens, and notes in connection with FHA loans and from furnishing title opinions to third parties for compensation. The Beaumont appellate court held that these activities constituted the unauthorized practice of law, establishing that corporations cannot engage in such practices even when supervised by the state board of insurance commissioners.
Post-Execution Mineral Reservation Invalidated: O'Neal v. Ball and the Limits of Deed Alteration
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
Church trustees successfully challenged a mineral reservation that the grantor inserted into a deed after the notarial certificate showed he had already executed and acknowledged the instrument on April 20, 1953. The Court of Civil Appeals held that the grantor could not validly add the reservation post-execution and that the trustees' failure to discover the fraudulent insertion for six years was excused under the four-year statute of limitations where the deed was never physically delivered but remained with the abstract company.
Rattikin Title Co. and the Unauthorized Practice of Law: Limits on Title Company Document Preparation in Oil & Gas Transactions
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Fort Worth Court of Civil Appeals affirmed a temporary injunction against Rattikin Title Company, holding that when the title company prepared legal instruments for third parties in transactions where it had no interest and gave advice regarding the purpose and effect of legal instruments to non-principals, it engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. The court distinguished permissible activities performed for the title company's principal, Kansas City Title Insurance Company, from impermissible legal services provided to third parties for consideration.
Eastland Court Reverses Enforcement of Mediated Settlement Agreement Over Ambiguous JOA Terms
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Eastland Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment enforcing a mediated settlement agreement in a mineral interest title dispute, holding that ambiguities in the MSA precluded enforcement where the parties disputed whether one party could unilaterally populate unresolved terms in model form joint operating agreements. The court further held that Rustic Natural Resources was not bound by specific JOA terms tendered by DE Midland and Endeavor Energy because the MSA did not include specific JOA terms and did not authorize either party to unilaterally complete or select options in the model JOA form.
Seventh Court Bars Riparian Landowners' Inverse Condemnation Claims on Statute of Limitations Grounds in Canadian River Reliction Dispute
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Amarillo Court of Appeals reversed a trial court judgment awarding damages to riparian landowners who alleged the State of Texas unconstitutionally took their oil and gas interests beneath a six-mile stretch of Canadian River riverbed exposed by reliction following the 1965 Sanford Dam construction. The court held that landowners could not aggregate their combined acreage to avoid the ten-year adverse possession statute of limitations applied by analogy to inverse condemnation claims, and that no individual landowner presented evidence of a taking exceeding 160 acres.
Austin Court of Appeals Affirms TCPA Dismissal of Operator's Claims Against Competitor Seeking Top Leases in Bastrop County
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Austin Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal under the Texas Citizens Participation Act of Trivista Oil Company's tortious interference, trespass to try title, and declaratory judgment claims against Fort Apache Energy, which had contacted landowners holding existing bottom leases with Trivista to convince them to sign top leases or terminate their existing agreements. The court held that Fort Apache's communications with landowners were in connection with a matter of public concern under the TCPA, and that the commercial-speech exemption did not apply to preclude dismissal.
Eastland Court Affirms TCPA Dismissal of Slander-of-Title Claim Based on Railroad Commission Drilling Permit Applications
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Eastland Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal under the Texas Citizens Participation Act of Horizontal Development Partners' slander-of-title claim against Endeavor Energy Resources, holding that statements in drilling permit applications to the Texas Railroad Commission constituted protected petitioning activity. The court found Horizontal failed to produce clear and specific evidence that Endeavor falsely claimed ownership of deep rights or acted with malice when completing permit applications.
Beaumont Court Affirms Denial of Anti-SLAPP Motion in TUFTA-Based Fraudulent Transfer Litigation
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Beaumont Court of Appeals affirmed denial of a TCPA motion to dismiss in litigation arising from a 2022 TUFTA petition alleging over $4 million in fraudulent intercompany transfers by Short OG III, Ltd. and its affiliates to render the entity insolvent. The appellants argued their TUFTA petition constituted protected communications in judicial proceedings, but the court found the subsequent 2024 claims for tortious interference, abuse of process, and civil conspiracy were not subject to anti-SLAPP dismissal.
Eighth Court Holds Post-Closing Corrective Assignments Unenforceable Against BFP in Reeves County Overriding Royalty Dispute
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
In a Reeves County dispute involving 24 oil and gas leases, the El Paso Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment for KWF Enterprises, holding that corrected overriding royalty interest assignments executed in November 2017—which increased KWF's interest from 65% to 100% of KEW Drilling's extra up-to-5% interest—were unenforceable against Callon. The corrected assignments, executed after Callon recorded its interest in August 2017, purported to remedy "scrivener's error and inadvertence" by replacing the 65% allocation in the original pre-closing assignments with 100%, directly impacting Callon's net revenue interest under purchase agreements requiring a "Designated NRI" of 75%.
Eastland Court Holds Deed of Trust Excluded Mineral Estate Based on Partition Deed and Express Reservation Language
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Eastland Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment that a deed of trust securing a loan unambiguously excluded the mineral estate where the legal description stated "surface rights only" and was subject to "all outstanding oil, gas, and other minerals." The court applied the rule that specific provisions control over general boilerplate language, holding that Exhibit A's express limitations prevailed over the preprinted form's broad conveyance language.
Eastland Court Clarifies Property Description Requirements and Depth Limitation Construction in ORRI Assignment Dispute
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Eastland Court of Appeals affirmed partial summary judgment in a multi-party dispute over overriding royalty interests, holding that an assignment's property description exhibit satisfied statute of frauds requirements despite omitting explicit lease listings and that depth limitations in the "leases covering" section applied only to specifically identified leases listed there. The court rejected arguments that missing instruments or property description exhibits rendered the ORRI assignment incomplete or unenforceable, finding that the exhibit did not narrow or limit the broad granting language contained in the assignment itself.
El Paso Court of Appeals Construes 1950 Mineral Deed Reservation: Non-Participating Royalty Interest vs. Stripped Mineral Interest
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The El Paso Court of Appeals resolved competing summary judgment motions concerning a 1950 Brazos County mineral deed containing internally inconsistent reservation language—expressly reserving a 1/32 interest in minerals to each grantor while excluding bonus and rentals, yet concluding with language reserving "a one-fourth non-participating interest in the customary one-eighth royalty." The court held that each grantor reserved a 1/4 mineral interest stripped of all rights except the right to royalty payments equal to 1/4 of the lease royalty, harmonizing the deed's contradictory provisions through application of the four-corners rule.
Texas Supreme Court Rebuts Double-Fraction Presumption in 1951 Mineral Deed, Holds 1/128 Interest Fixed Despite Van Dyke Framework
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Texas Supreme Court reversed the El Paso Court of Appeals, holding that a 1951 deed's language "1/128 (1/16 of the usual 1/8 royalty)" conveyed a fixed 1/128 mineral interest rather than a floating 1/16 royalty interest, finding the deed's text rebutted the Van Dyke presumption that "⅛" in a double fraction refers to the entire mineral estate. The Court emphasized that the granting clause, present-lease clause, and future-lease clause all consistently referenced 1/128, with the parenthetical merely explaining the arithmetic calculation rather than creating an independent floating interest.
Alcott v. 1893 Oil and Gas: Statute of Frauds Bars Mineral Interest Claim Based on Ambiguous 1922 Deed Description
Joel Reese | Jul 06, 2026
The Corpus Christi Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment against heirs claiming mineral interests in Live Oak County acreage under a 1922 deed that purported to convey mineral rights across 2,092.08 acres, where the grantor never held title to the entire tract. The appellants challenged both the denial of their summary judgment motion and the grant of summary judgment to the mineral interest holders who acquired rights through subsequent special warranty deeds.
Texas Supreme Court Overturns Decades of Precedent on Subject Matter Jurisdiction Over Foreign Mineral Rights
Joel Reese | Jun 02, 2026
The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Fort Worth Court of Appeals and disapproved six prior decisions, holding that Texas courts have subject matter jurisdiction over in personam claims involving West Virginia mineral rights where the defendant is subject to personal jurisdiction in Texas. The Court rejected the 'gist of the action' test that had barred Texas courts from adjudicating disputes where title to foreign property was central to the claims.