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Desk Focus 01 · Runsheets & Chains of Title

Runsheet & Chain of Title Mentorship.

Bring a patent-to-present runsheet or a multi-branch mineral chain you built from public records. A mentor walks through every line with you: where a fraction slipped, where a probate gap hides in the grantor index, and how to write remarks an examining attorney can read on the first pass.

Apply for runsheet mentorship

An application is a request, not a seat. Format, schedule, and any fee are agreed in writing only after a match.

Sample runsheet excerpt · Reservation & Duhig trap. Section 14, Block A-2, 320 ac. Generic parties, not a real tract.

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

No. Instr. Grantor Grantee Dated / Filed Bk/Pg Land and remarks Mentor's notes
1 WD Holt, W. C. et ux Mercer, J. D. Dated 04/12/1951Filed 04/19/1951 Bk/Pg 64/112 N/2 of Sec. 14, 320 ac. Reserving 1/2 MI.

Holt keeps 1/2 MI; Mercer takes surface + 1/2 MI. Put both columns in your running balance right here.
2 WD Mercer, J. D. et ux Vance, R. T. Dated 09/03/1964Filed 09/15/1964 Bk/Pg 118/404 N/2, 320 ac. Reserves 1/2 MI, no mention of Bk 64/112.

Stop here. General warranty deed reserves 1/2 without excepting Holt's prior 1/2. Under Duhig, Vance takes 1/2 MI and Mercer keeps 0 MI.
3 ASN Plains Prod. Mesa Oper. Dated 11/01/2014Filed 12/04/2014 Bk/Pg 812/90 Assigns OGL (Bk 601/18) to base of Wolfcamp.

Quote the exact stratigraphic depth reference (log, API, and measured depth) from Exhibit A.

What we go through on a runsheet

  1. Grantee back, grantor forward.

    How to verify the sovereign patent, build a clean grantor-grantee index search window for each owner, and catch conveyances recorded years after execution or after an owner's death.

  2. Mineral vs. royalty language.

    Reading the granting and reservation clauses ("in and under" vs. "produced and saved", "of royalty" vs. "of minerals") and noting double-fraction ambiguities without guessing what a court would hold.

  3. Tract splits and metes-and-bounds calls.

    Following partial-tract deeds (N/2 vs. S/2, river boundaries, highway strips, and railroad rights-of-way) so you never drop a 10-acre strip out of your chain.

  4. Leasehold & HBP vertical/horizontal severances.

    Tracing base leases through assignments, retained overriding royalties (ORRIs), pooling designations, and vertical or horizontal Pugh releases.

Apply to be matched with a mentor

Runsheets is pre-selected below. Add any other areas you want to work on.

Applying doesn't reserve a place, set a start date or commit you to a fee. Those come after a match, and only if you agree.

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Your role and the kind of work. For example: contract courthouse landman, abstractor, in-house land tech.

However you’d put it: “1,” “about 4,” “2 in surface title, moving to mineral chains.”

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