When you receive your first oil and gas royalty check, one number matters most: your Net Revenue Interest (NRI), the percentage that determines what you actually get paid. For many mineral owners this number can feel confusing, but it’s based on a straightforward formula. In this post, we’ll break down how to calculate your NRI step by step so you can confidently understand and verify your payments. Plus, we’re offering a free NRI and Royalty Check Estimator Worksheet to help

For many people, real estate is one of the most valuable assets they own. Whether it is a family home, farmland, or a ranch that has been in the family for decades, deciding how that property will transfer at death is an important part of estate planning. One tool that can help make that transition simpler is a Transfer on Death Deed (TODD). Understanding how a TODD works, what it accomplishes, and what its limitations are can help you decide whether it fits into your overall

Like many important things in life, your estate plan works best when it gets periodic attention. Think of it as a preventive check-up. It is generally recommended that you review your plan every three to five years, even if life feels steady and unchanged. That said, certain major life events can make a review especially important. Here are some of the key life events that signal it may be time to review your estate plan. Marriage Marriage means new ways of sharing and managi

When most folks hear the words estate plan, they picture billionaires, sprawling mansions, or complicated trusts meant only for the ultra‑wealthy. But an estate plan isn’t about how much money or property you have. It’s about protecting what, and who, matters most to you. Whether you own land that’s been in the family for generations, or simply a home and a few hard‑earned assets, an estate plan is how you keep your story from being decided by strangers and courtrooms. It’s a

There is something about summer that makes people want to get away for a while. Maybe it is a long-planned trip overseas, a week at the coast, or simply time spent away from home with family. But before you leave, it is worth pausing for a moment to consider how your family and property will be protected if something does not go according to plan. Despite most people knowing that they should have a written Will, estate planning is often put on the back burner and thought of a

For many families, land is more than just a piece of dirt, it’s history and heritage. You may have worked hard for years to acquire the land yourself, or maybe you inherited it from ancestors before you. Either way, you won't have it forever. So a common question arises: Can you leave the surface to one child and the minerals to another? The answer is yes, but that doesn’t mean there won't be conflict down the line. For example, maybe one child lives on the property and wants

It happens more often than people expect. A piece of family land passes down to multiple siblings or cousins. For years, everyone is content to “just leave it like it is.” Maybe someone lives there. Maybe someone grazes cattle. Maybe no one uses it at all. Then one co-owner decides they want out. They need the money. They live out of state. They don’t want the responsibility anymore. Or maybe they simply see it as an investment that should be liquidated. When multiple people

Most people don’t think about probate until someone close to them passes away. And even then, the focus is usually on cost or delay. But there’s another aspect of probate that surprises many families: probate is a very public process. When a will is filed for probate, it becomes part of the public record. That means anyone can access it. The inventory of assets filed with the court may also become public. In some cases, the details of debts, property, and beneficiaries can be

It usually starts with good intentions. A parent owns a home, some land, or family property. They want to make things easier one day. They’ve heard probate can be expensive and complicated. Someone suggests, “Why don’t you just put your child’s name on the deed?” However, that seemingly small decision can carry consequences that many families don’t see coming. When you add your adult child's name to your deed, you are often doing more than planning for the future, you may be

When buying or selling real estate, most people focus on the purchase price, closing date, and financing terms. But one of the most important, and often overlooked, parts of a real estate contract is the legal description of the property. In Texas, a real estate contract must contain a sufficient property description to satisfy the Statute of Frauds. If the description is inaccurate, incomplete, or too vague, the contract is considered to be voidable and, in some cases, unenf

When someone dies without a will in Texas, many families assume the assets will simply “go to the spouse” or “be divided equally among the children.” Unfortunately, that’s not always how it works. If there is no valid will, Texas law determines who inherits the property, not the family. This is called dying intestate, and the rules are set out in the Texas Estates Code. The court does not ask what the family believes the person would have wanted. Instead, it follows a statuto

Many Texas landowners are surprised to learn they don’t actually own everything beneath their feet. In Texas, you can own land and still not own what’s underneath it. That sentence surprises a lot of people, especially folks who grew up on family land, inherited property, or bought a house assuming ownership meant everything from the grass down to the center of the earth. But in Texas, surface ownership and mineral ownership are legally separate, and confusing the two can le

One of the most common questions families ask after a death is simple: “Do I really have to go through probate to inherit this land?” The short answer is: maybe, but not always. Texas law offers several ways to transfer inherited property, and probate is only one of them. Whether probate is required depends on how the property is titled, who the heirs are, and what records already exist. In Texas, when a property owner dies, their land does not automatically transfer to their