Way back in 2023 it was predicted that the Supreme Court of Texas’ decision in Van Dyke v. Navigator would spawn years of litigation. How right the predictions were!
Double-Fraction Royalty Disputes – the Continuing Saga Continues …
Husband’s Mineral Interest Deemed Separate Property
“Gambit”: A calculated move, a stratagem. An example might be to buy a mineral interest with a long and complicated title history from the incarcerated son of a deceased parent and to bet on a court favoring your characterization of the property. In Griffin Energy Law, PLLC v. Billingsley et al. the gambit failed.
The
Bare Bones Sheriff’s Deed Survives… For Now
Co-author Taylor Hall
Moore et al v. 1789 Minerals Fund I, LP, et al is another Texas decision addressing the effect of a Sheriff’s Deed after a tax foreclosure. Was the deed void for want of a sufficient property description? No, but the trial court will have to construe the document.
The facts
In
Another Double-Fraction Mineral Deed: Rebutting the Presumption and the Presumed-Grant Doctrine
Several weeks ago the Supreme Court of Texas addressed the double-fraction mineral conveyance, reinforcing the “Van Dyke presumption” but not addressing how the presumption could be rebutted or the presumed-grant doctrine. Last week’s Clifton v. Johnson addresses both.
The deed and the suit
The typewritten title to a “Mineral Deed” was crossed out and “Royalty Deed”
Texas Supreme Court Justice Throws a Lifeline to Mineral Rights Owners
In Ageron Energy LLC v. ETC Texas Pipeline, LTD Justice Busby authored a concurring opinion in the denial of a petition for review to the Supreme Court in which he criticized the majority opinion of the Court of Appeals saying it undermines important protections afforded mineral rights owners. To understand this case, see the COA’s
Condition Precedent Stymies Seismic Operation
Co-author Kamal Omar
In Endeavor Natural Gas III, LLC v. Comanche Maverick Ranch Investments, L.P., a Texas court held that operator Endeavor could not conduct seismic operations on lessee/surface owner Commanche’s ranch because the parties’ surface-use agreement allowed such operations ” … only after first entering into a mutually agreed-upon seismic surface use permit
Statute of Frauds Scuttles Another Claim to Minerals
Co-author Taylor Hall
In Alcott v. 1893 Oil and Gas, Ltd., a Texas court of appeals applied the scourge of inaccurate, incomplete or careless (sometimes all three!) deed drafting – the statute of frauds – to reject a claim to ownership of minerals.
The facts
In 1917, the owner of 2,092-acres in Live Oak
Beware When Buying Minerals After a Tax Suit Foreclosure
White Star Energy Inc. v. Ridgefield Permian Minerals, LLC is yet another title dispute reiterating that buying minerals that were once the subject of a tax suit foreclosure is fraught with uncertainty regardless of who you buy from.
Anne Mounts Bradford owned minerals in Reagan County. Apparently abandoning the dream of mailbox money without having
Not the Same Property Means Not the Same Subject Matter – Res Judicata Defense Denied
Lula Eades once owned minerals in Loving County, Texas. In 2000, in a single lawsuit the Wink-Loving ISD and Loving County foreclosed on the mineral and royalty interests of more than 80 owners, including Lula. In Ridgefield Permian Minerals et al v. DOH Oil Company, plaintiff Ridgefield alleged that it acquired Lula’s interests in 2022
Passage of Time and Lack of Commissioners’ Authority Bar Road-Access Claims
Co-author Gunner West
Once again, a Texas court has barred a lawsuit because the plaintiff waited too long to file. And once again, perhaps, the suit was a Hail Mary after alternatives failed.
In Hobson v. Commissioners Court of Palo Pinto County, a court of appeals affirmed a judgment against a landowner because his