Real Property & Ownership

This lesson covers what makes Texas property law distinctly Texan — rules you won't find tested the same way on the general national portion.

The mineral estate

Texas allows the mineral estate to be severed from the surface estate — sold or reserved separately from the land itself. When severed, the mineral estate is generally considered the dominant estate, carrying an implied right to use the surface as reasonably necessary to access and produce the minerals below. That said, dominance isn't unlimited — a mineral lessee who causes unreasonable and unnecessary surface damage beyond what production actually required can still face liability to the surface owner.

The rule of capture and groundwater

Under the traditional rule of capture, a landowner generally owns the groundwater percolating beneath their land, with fairly limited liability to a neighbor for pumping it. But this isn't absolute in practice — a local groundwater conservation district generally does have authority to limit how much a landowner may pump, notwithstanding the general rule.

Homestead protection

The Texas homestead exemption provides significant protection to a qualifying primary residence — including meaningful protection from most creditors' claims, separate from and beyond the property-tax exemption the word "homestead" might first bring to mind.

Community property

As a community property state, Texas generally treats real property acquired by either spouse during the marriage as jointly owned community property, with some exceptions for property acquired by gift, inheritance, or before the marriage (separate property). This is also exactly why Texas does not recognize tenancy by the entirety, a marital ownership form used in some other states — Texas's own community property framework serves that role instead.

Water boundaries: riparian vs. littoral

A property bordering a flowing stream has riparian rights; a property bordering a lake or other large body of standing water has littoral rights — different terms for a related but distinct concept, and a favorite exam distinction.