Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Texas

Re: Landowner Authorized Agent

Well, first of all, Texas law will apply, as you seem to recognize, and you will have to get an answer from an attorney licensed in Texas, eith on LawGuru or by going out and hiring one yourself.

However, maybe I can be a little bit helpful by saying what the law would be in California, and that Texas law may be similar.

First, when someone dies and leaves an estate that is of significant value, there should be a formal legal process of some kind, usually a probate, to make it official and final who has inherited what and to get the official records corrected to show the heirs' ownership. When there is no will, state law has rules for who inherits; these are called the laws of intestate succession. It is usual but not necessarily "automatic" that children inherit in equal shares in all states. Look up, for example, the concept of "primogeniture" on Google.

My answer exceed 3,000 characters so I'll finish in a second reply!

Re: Landowner Authorized Agent

So, here's the rest of the story...

When two or more heirs get partial ownership in a single property, like a ranch, they can become either tenants in common or joint tenants. Not much difference except that joint tenants have a so-call right of survivorship; that's a big difference. I would think at some point in the probate process, the administrator would have asked the heirs whether they wanted to be joint tenants. Tenancy in common is usually the fallback or default way to take title.

Now, once the heirs are "on title," what are their rights? Generally speaking, they are identical and overlapping. Each of them can live on the property and possess every square foot of it, without a rent obligation, but if all co-owners want to live there and possess every square foot, they must share possession. They are, in effect, involuntary roommates.

If one of the co-owners gets there first and tries to exclude the others, this is basically unlawful (it is called an "ouster"), but there is no right of self-help by the ousted co-owner against the co-owner in possession - you have to go to court rather than create a fracas or try to get the sheriff involved.

Legal remedies of an ousted co-owner include an action against the ouster for restoration of co-possession, and if things get bad enough, a co-owner can sue for partition, i.e. a court-ordered split of the property or sale and split of the net proceeds of sale. The court can and will adjust the amounts received in a partition to recompense a co-owner for having paid more than her fair share of costs such as taxes and insurance, or to divvy up rents one owner may have collected from third-party tenants.

Finally, a co-owner in possession can (probably) make certain decisions about the property such as when to rotate the crops or whether to repair the leaky roof. However, a co-owner absolutely CANNOT sell more than his or her fractional interest, nor can he or she encumber the other owners' interests with mortgages - only her own - following the maxim that "He who sells what isn't his'n, must buy it back or go to prison."

Now, get a Texas lawyer and see how much of this holds true there!

Re: Landowner Authorized Agent

The estate of grandfather has to be probated and the title to the property coveyed.