Glossary

Probate & mineral title — plain English.

Working definitions of every term that shows up in a runsheet, DOTO, or probate file.

Common abbreviation for Affidavit of Heirship.

The sequence of recorded conveyances tracing ownership from sovereignty to the present.

A defect in the chain of title that calls marketability into question.

A marital-property regime where most assets acquired during marriage are jointly owned.

A deceased person whose estate is being administered.

The fractional interest expressed as a decimal, used in division-order pay decks.

A person who takes property under a will.

Property reverting to the state when no heirs can be found.

Executor administers a testate estate; administrator administers an intestate one.

A partial undivided ownership in a tract of land or minerals.

The party receiving an interest in property by deed.

The party transferring an interest in property by deed.

A person entitled to inherit from a decedent under intestacy.

Dying without a valid will.

Title clean enough to sell, lease, or borrow against without reasonable objection.

A method of distributing an inheritance equally among living takers at the same generation.

A method of distributing an inheritance by branch of family.

The person appointed by the court to administer the estate.

A chronological summary of every document affecting title to a tract.

Property owned by a spouse before marriage or acquired by gift or inheritance.

Dying with a valid will.

A mineral fraction not subject to a current oil and gas lease.