USA – TEXAS Law and Practice Contributed by: Taylor Cooksey, Philip Kinkaid, Serena Kramer and David Brooks, Cokinos | Young
• Fee simple conditional is similar to fee simple absolute but comes with specific conditions. If these conditions are violated, the property may revert to the original grantor or pass to a third party. • Life estate: this interest lasts for the lifetime of a specified individual. Upon his or her death, the property typically passes to another designated person or reverts to the original grantor. • Future interests: these are rights to property ownership and possession that will begin in the future, such as reversionary interests. Leases, Easements and Similar Interests • A leasehold estate is a temporary right to occupy and use property, typically estab - lished through a lease agreement. The dura - tion and terms are defined within the lease contract. • Easements are exclusive or non-exclusive rights to use or access someone else’s prop - erty for specific purposes, such as utilities, access or drainage. Easements are typically established through easement agreements, but in some circumstances they may arise by operation of law. • Licences are similar to easements, and grant permission to use another person’s property for a specific purpose, but often on a revoca - ble or short-term basis. They are considered contractual rather than property interests. Minerals, Water and Similar Rights • Mineral rights pertain to the ownership of oil, gas or other minerals beneath the surface of the property. In Texas, such rights typically involve oil and gas. • Geothermal energy resources rights relate to steam, heat and other underground products of geothermal processes.
• Pore space rights: Texas law is currently unclear as to whether underground spaces, such as pores within rocks (which may be used for carbon sequestration), are owned by the surface (fee) owner or by the mineral estate owner. • Water rights: Texas law recognises ownership rights in two types of water resources. (a) Groundwater – ie, water underneath a tract of land. The landowner may extract such groundwater, subject to possible local regulation. (b) Surface water – ie, water in rivers, streams, lakes and other surface bod - ies, which is owned by the state. Permits to use such water are granted to private parties, with priority based on the age of the permits (subject to rights of adjacent landowners to use surface water for do - mestic and livestock purposes). • Air rights allow the owner to use the space above the property, often for construction or airspace leasing. Concurrent Estates Ownership is shared by two or more individuals, including: • a Tenancy in Common where each owner holds an undivided interest in the property, which can be passed to heirs; and • a Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship where owners have equal shares – upon the death of one owner, the surviving owners automatically acquire the deceased’s interest. 2.2 Laws Applicable to Transfer of Title The transfer of real estate title is governed pri - marily by the Texas Property Code and other state law.
1331 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook