Can undivided surface rights be sold separately?

Law & Legal
1

My family owns all of Section 36, Block 61, Township 2, T&P RR Co. Survey in Culberson County, TX We have currently had an offer to sell the Land. Our shares are owned by 5 different families who each own 1/5 share of the undivided land (surface rights only) . We have had no offers to lease recently. My questions are:

  1. is anything going on in that area( it is my understanding that it is on the fringe)?
  2. if one family member wants to keep their share, can the other family members still sell?
2

Answer to no. 2. Real property can be sliced, diced, etc. For example, one can keep an estate for life, and then have the remainder in her children. Further, one can separate or sever the surface estate from the mineral estate. so, yes, if you find a willing buyer, one can sell a 1/5 share in the surface.

3

Thank you!

4

It might be hard to find a willing buyer for 4/5 undivided surface only. If you improve it, you are giving up 1/5 of your improvements to the other partial owner. If you only own surface, you probably won't have offers to lease- the mineral owner will get them. You would still have the possibility of someone crossing with a pipeline or building a location that would pay damages.