# Real Property & Ownership > The Texas-specific rules — mineral rights, groundwater, homestead protection, and community property — layered on top of general ownership law. **Source:** https://www.texasreprep.com/learn/texas-real-estate/texas-real-property-ownership **Published:** 2026-08-24 **Updated:** 2026-09-02 Texas RE PREP™ — independent practice for the Texas real estate license exam, National (Uniform) and Texas State portions. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) or Pearson VUE, who administer the actual exam. --- 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. Rule of capture, but regulated The rule of capture sets the common-law default; a groundwater conservation district's permitting authority is a real, separate limitation layered on top of it — both facts can be true and tested in the same question. ## Homestead protection The Texas homestead exemption is a **constitutional** protection — Texas Constitution, Article XVI, §50 — not merely a statute, which is part of why it's unusually strong. It shields a qualifying homestead from forced sale for most debts, with specific, limited exceptions: purchase-money loans, property taxes owed on the homestead itself, home-improvement liens, an owelty of partition, and refinances of an existing homestead lien. There are real size limits: an **urban homestead** is capped at 10 acres, while a **rural homestead** can reach 200 acres for a family or 100 acres for a single adult. The protection applies only to **natural persons** — it doesn't extend to property held by a corporation, LLC, or other business entity. This is legally distinct from — though related to — the separate homestead property-tax exemption, which reduces a home's taxable value rather than protecting it from creditors. ## 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. Quick Check A landowner's property sits within a local groundwater conservation district. Under the traditional rule of capture, does the landowner have unlimited authority to pump groundwater from beneath their land? Generally no — a groundwater conservation district generally has real authority to limit pumping, notwithstanding the general rule of capture Generally yes — the rule of capture generally overrides any local district's authority entirely Generally no, because the rule of capture generally does not apply anywhere in Texas Generally yes, but only for agricultural use specifically The rule of capture sets the common-law default, but a local groundwater conservation district generally has real regulatory authority to limit pumping notwithstanding that default — both the general rule and the district's limiting authority are simultaneously true.