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Desk Focus 05 · Reservations & Overconveyances

Duhig Rule & Overconveyance Problem Review.

When Grantor B owns 1/2 of the minerals and signs a general warranty deed reserving 1/2 of the minerals without excepting the prior 1/2 reservation in the chain, who owns what? Bring your real reservation and overconveyance problems to a mentor and work the exact deed language line by line.

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Sample runsheet excerpt · Warranty vs. "subject to" exception. Tract 4, 160 ac. Generic parties, not a real tract.

White chalk: the worksheet as built. Yellow chalk: a mentor's notes.

No. Instr. Grantor Grantee Dated / Filed Bk/Pg Land and remarks Mentor's notes
1 WD ellis, A. R. Barton, C. L. Dated 03/10/1948Filed 03/18/1948 Bk/Pg 42/19 All of Tract 4, 160 ac. Reserving an undivided 1/2 MI.

Ellis keeps 1/2 MI; Barton receives surface + 1/2 MI.
2 WD Barton, C. L. cole, D. M. Dated 07/22/1961Filed 08/01/1961 Bk/Pg 98/310 All of Tract 4. Reserves 1/2 MI; no mention of Vol. 42, Pg. 19.

Under Duhig, Barton warranted 1/2 MI to Cole and cannot both keep 1/2 and breach the warranty. Cole = 1/2 MI, Ellis = 1/2 MI, Barton = 0 MI.
3 SWD Cole, D. M. Reed, T. S. Dated 05/14/1979Filed 05/21/1979 Bk/Pg 184/77 All of Tract 4, subject to prior reservations of record, and reserving 1/4 MI.

Because the deed explicitly makes the grant subject to Ellis's prior 1/2 MI, Cole conveys 1/4 MI to Reed and retains 1/4 MI.

What we work through on reservation and overconveyance problems

  1. When Duhig applies and when it does not.

    Comparing general and special warranty deeds (where estoppel by deed shifts the grantor's reserved fraction to make the grantee whole) against quitclaim deeds, mineral deeds conveying only "my right, title and interest," and oil and gas leases.

  2. Two-step reservation drafting ("subject to" + additional reservation).

    Reading whether a deed excepts prior mineral severances from the warranty before reserving a new fractional interest for the grantor, and how missing either clause changes the carry-forward table.

  3. Double fractions and "of" vs. "out of" wording.

    Identifying whether a reservation of "1/2 of the 1/8 royalty" or "1/16 royalty out of all oil and gas produced" creates a fixed fraction or a floating share of the lease royalty, and how to flag both readings cleanly for the examining attorney.

  4. Carry-forward balance tables on the runsheet.

    Setting up a running grantor/grantee fraction ledger after every severance so an overconveyance is caught on the exact instrument where it happens rather than 40 years later.

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