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The Legacy Of The 1/8th Landowner's Royalty And The Texas Supreme Court: Has Hysaw V. Dawkins Resolved The Double Fraction Dilemma, Laura H. Burney

Faculty Articles

Lawyers, landmen, landowners, and producers face a long list of perennial problems when interpreting or drafting documents that affect mineral estates. I have written extensively about these problems, including the "fixed or floating" non-participating royalty issue addressed in a recent Texas Supreme Court case, Hysaw v. Dawkins. In that case, three siblings, who were beneficiaries of their mother's will, disputed the appellate court's holding that the double fraction 1/3 of 1/8 created a "fixed" 1/24th non-participating royalty interest (NPRi), rather than a "floating" 1/3 NPRi. The dispute arose when one sibling leased her land and negotiated a 1/5th landowner's lease …