Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 503: Listen and Learn -- Present and Future Estates (Part 2)
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 501: Listen and Learn -- Present and Future Estates (Part 1)
Family Owned Real Estate: Managing Lack of Planning in Family Business Transitions
Family Owned Real Estate: Impacts of the Current Real Estate Market on Transition Planning
Family Owned Real Estate: Avoiding Pitfalls When Transitioning Family Real Estate
Family Owned Real Estate: Common Real Estate & Asset Management Issues
Family Owned Real Estate: Legal Challenges & Opportunities
Once Removed Episode 21: Passing Down the “Family Cottage” or Other Legacy Property
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 392: Listen and Learn -- Recording Statutes (Real Property)
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...more
In a significant decision for Texas property and energy law, the Texas Supreme Court has affirmed the Eighth Court of Appeals’ ruling in Cactus Water Services, LLC v. COG Operating, LLC, holding that produced water — a...more
Texas has been the leader in American energy independence for more than a century. Decades of industry innovation have provided Texas real property owners with new ways to extract value from minerals, water, and more...more
On May 16, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court issued a decision ruling that, absent specific contractual language, surface owners retain ownership of the caverns created by salt mining operations. The issue of ownership of salt...more
The Texas Supreme Court has settled the issue of who owns the voids, known as salt caverns, created in subsurface salt formations (whether naturally occurring or caused as a result of salt mining operations). In...more
The Supreme Court of Texas has provided helpful guidance as to ownership of subsurface storage rights and pore space. In the recent holding in Myers-Woodward, LLC v. Underground Services Markham, LLC, the court held that "the...more
In a closely watched opinion issued on May 16, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court in Myers-Woodward, LLC v. Undergrounds Services Markham, LLC, — S.W.3d —, No. 22-0878, 2025 WL 1415892 (Tex. May 16, 2025) resolved a long-uncertain...more
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....more
In Senterra Ltd. v. Winland, 2019-Ohio-4387, Ohio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals held that an examiner, after identifying the root of title and finding that an exception to marketable record title applies, should review...more
Let’s assume you inherited a 150 acre farm in Lycoming County that has been owned by your family since 1909. In 2020, you are approached by ABC Drilling about a new oil and gas lease for the farm. You retain counsel and...more
Davis v. COG Operating, LLC, in construing a Warranty Deed with a reservation of minerals, applied the estate-misconception doctrine and denied the presumed grant doctrine. At issue were three instruments...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can file a lien and levy on any and all of a taxpayer's property (and rights to property) regardless of how the property is held or titled. 26 U.S.C. § 6321. Whether the item is a taxpayer's...more
Bell v. Midway Petroleum Grp., L.P., 9th Dist.] Mar. 18, 2021 was a trespass to try title action, suit to quiet title for possession of a land, and a counterclaim for title by adverse possession. ...more
The Montana Supreme Court has accepted a certified question from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concerning whether, under Montana law, dinosaur fossils constitute “minerals” for the purpose of a mineral reservation. Who...more
Cases like Hahn v. Gips et al are like eating your broccoli – not so tasty but lots of fiber. The “fiber” here is the effect of a partition deed in which not all the cotenants join....more
Square Mile Energy LLC v. Pommier considered this language in a Louisiana partition agreement: “N.B: Included in this transfer are any and all mineral rights, when available, to Roxanne and all surface rights.” Did this...more