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
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
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
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
Ambiguity is handy for office-seekers intending to walk back “promises” they later say they really didn’t make. It doesn’t work so well for the stability of land titles. In Thagard Mineral Partnership, LP v. Cass v. RIM, LLP, a Texas court of appeals resolved a dispute over whether vague exhibits in
Defendants – five oil and gas operators – challenged a venue selection clause requiring that suits be filed in Nueces County for disputes over La Salle County acreage. In In re INEOS USA Oil & Gas LLC, (disclosure and shout out: Gray Reed lawyers Justin Lipe, Bill Drabble and David Pruitt
It seems to be fairly well settled that you can’t use trespass-to-try-title to recover a nonpossessory royalty interest in Texas. What if you call the interest a “mineral interest stripped of every attribute except the right to receive royalty”? The result is the same; you can’t.
State of Texas. V. Reimer et al. studied lawyer-nerdy questions of standing to bring a lawsuit and statutes of limitations as applied to inverse condemnation suits. Spoiler alert: To the chagrin of the landowners, waiting over 30 years to assert your takings claim is not the best course of action.
The facts
In 1965
In a word, the surface estate owner. If that’s all the learning you are up for today, proceed directly to the musical interludes. If you want to know why the Supreme Court of Texas had to say this again, read on.
In a 1947 mineral deed Myers retained the surface estate in a 160-acre tract.