Sample / Demonstration Illustrative example of a Headright Abstracts runsheet. Fictional names and data; not a real chain of title and describes no actual property or persons.

Chain of Title · Sample / Illustrative Example

Sample Ranch

A made-up 167-year surface chain — illustrative State patent (1854) to a present trust — built only to demonstrate the runsheet format, with a sample mineral severance and sample curative items flagged.

±320 ac in chain (south ½ of the ±640-ac Example Survey No. 287, Abstract A-412) · Texas Hill Country Fictional property — no real parcel or CAD record All names, dates & instruments invented
What this is. A fictional sample built only to demonstrate the runsheet format — a research runsheet illustration assembled for review by a licensed Texas attorney. It is not a real chain of title, a title commitment, title insurance, or a legal opinion of title, and makes no determination of ownership, marketability, or insurability of any property. Every name, date, instrument, and the property itself is invented; each link carries an illustrative evidence grade, and open items are shown as sample factual flags, not adjudications.

At a glance (illustrative)

An illustrative homestead and adjoining acreage on a made-up 1854 State headright. The sample surface chain is shown end-to-end; a sample mineral estate is severed in the 1970s and tracked separately. Everything below is invented for demonstration.

Present record owner (sample)

Sample Family Trust

Vesting (sample)

2021 Warranty Deed · Inst. No. 2021-04410, OPR

Sovereignty root (sample)

State of Texas → A.B. Settler, Patent from the State of Texas (1854)

Acreage (sample)

±320 ac (south ½ of the ±640-ac Example Survey No. 287)

Minerals (sample)

½ conveyed 1973 → R.S. Mineral Co. (one severance of record)

Flags (sample)

1 heirship (1902 AOH) · 1 unreleased lien (1962) · 1 mineral severance (1973, ½ conveyed)

The surface chain

Illustrative only. Tap any conveyance to open the sample detail and its evidence grade. ⛏ severance⚑ curative item

IMG — instrument image read (sample) IDX — located in the grantor/grantee index; image not available (sample) REC — known only from a later recital (sample) AOH — heirship / passage not by recorded deed (sample)

The mineral estate

Sample severance in 1973 — ½ of the minerals conveyed out (illustrative)

In this invented example, minerals run with the land — unreserved — from the 1854 patent down to L.M. Field. In 1973, L.M. Field executes a Mineral Deed conveying one-half (½) of the minerals to R.S. Mineral Co., keeping the surface and the remaining ½ minerals. That conveyance is the load-bearing illustrative exception on this sample title; the surface and the un-conveyed ½ pass forward in 1989.

  • 1973 — L.M. Field → R.S. Mineral Co.: a Mineral Deed conveying ½ of the mineral estate, severing it from the surface (sample Deed Records, Vol 139 / Pg 112 — illustrative)
  • 1989 — L.M. Field → N.O. Keeper: the surface together with the un-conveyed ½ of the minerals (sample Deed Records, Vol 168 / Pg 405 — illustrative)
  • Of record (sample) — the mineral estate shows one severance: the 1973 conveyance of ½ the minerals (sample Deed Records, Vol 139 / Pg 112). The net present mineral interest of the Sample Family Trust is for the examining attorney to determine; this runsheet states the recorded instruments only and does not compute or opine on current mineral ownership.

Illustrative example only. No real mineral estate, county, or instrument is described; the instrument citations are invented for format demonstration.

Items flagged for attorney review — shown as sample facts

Heirship passage documented by Affidavit of Heirship (illustrative)

In this sample chain, title moves once by death rather than by a recorded deed. It is shown documented by a disinterested-witness Affidavit of Heirship — flagged for the attorney's review:

  • Estate of E.F. Rancher (sample, d. 1902). Title passes by intestacy to the Rancher heirs; an Affidavit of Heirship of record (sample Deed Records, Vol 34 / Pg 210) identifies the heirs-at-law of E.F. Rancher, who then convey as a group in 1925.
  • Abstractor flag (sample). Confirm the 1925 conveyance is joined by all heirs identified in the AOH (or their successors in interest). Whether the AOH satisfies marketability is for the attorney.

Illustrative example only. The decedent, heirs, dates, and instrument are invented to demonstrate how an heirship passage and its open question would be flagged.

Vendor’s lien — no release of record in this sample (illustrative)

The 1962 conveyance in this sample chain is a Warranty Deed with Vendor’s Lien, with no satisfaction or release shown of record:

  • 1962 — J.K. Holder → L.M. Field (south ½, ±320 ac): Warranty Deed with Vendor’s Lien; no release located in this sample (sample Deed Records, Vol 121 / Pg 118; dated 1962, recorded 1963 — illustrative)

Shown as a sample recorded fact. Whether such a lien would remain enforceable is a question of limitations for an attorney — and here it is purely illustrative, as no real lien or instrument exists.