A closing in a Houston subdivision and a closing in Cuero can use the same TREC contract, the same title company workflow, and the same three business day earnest money window. The paperwork looks identical. The consequences are not. In DeWitt County, one paragraph most residential agents skim without comment can quietly transfer, or quietly retain, an interest that funds a family for a generation.
That is the argument of this post. The standard One to Four Family Residential Contract conveys the mineral estate by default. In most Texas markets that default is harmless because the minerals were severed decades ago by a builder or developer. In DeWitt County, where drilling records show ongoing Eagle Ford activity and the surface owner is often still the mineral owner, the default is the transaction.
The default nobody reads
Paragraph 2E of the current One to Four Family Residential Contract (TREC 20-18) states that any reservation for oil, gas, or other minerals is made in accordance with an attached addendum. In plain English, if the addendum is not attached, nothing is reserved. Texas REALTORS confirms the Broker/Lawyer Committee's reasoning: standard residential forms are drafted to convey the fee simple estate without reservations because most residential sales do not involve minerals worth reserving.
The seller who assumes their family's minerals travel with them out of the transaction is wrong. To retain any portion of the mineral estate, a seller must attach the Addendum for Reservation of Oil, Gas, and Other Minerals, currently TREC 44-3 (TXR 1905). Without it, a warranty deed conveys the rights the seller owned, minerals included.
Why DeWitt is not a Houston suburb
The reason this default matters here is that DeWitt County continues to produce. Crossroads Today reported in February 2026 that the Eagle Ford Shale is still driving heavy oil production in the county, with County Judge Daryl Fowler noting the county has put close to $250 million into the road system to keep pace and holds roughly $22 million in reserve after current expenses. A March 2026 feature published by the Texas Association of Counties quoted Cuero Development Corporation executive director Maggie Cromeens describing the visible presence of company trucks at local hotels and framing the ongoing energy activity as the tax base funding a new county annex, broadband expansion, and school programs.
Drilling records reviewed through the Railroad Commission of Texas show operators including Pioneer Natural Resources, EOG Resources, Burlington Resources, and Devon Energy across tracts in the wet gas and condensate window that runs through the county. Communities most often affected in transactions include Hochheim, Meyersville, Nordheim, Westhoff, Pearl City, and Yorktown, along with acreage on the outskirts of Cuero and Yoakum.
Producing minerals in these areas carry ad valorem tax obligations, which means the county clerk and the DeWitt Central Appraisal District both hold records that a diligent title search should surface. If those interests are missed on the seller side, they can still be missed on the buyer side.
Residential versus Farm and Ranch handling
The mechanics of reserving or acknowledging minerals differ meaningfully depending on which TREC contract the parties use. This is where local practice diverges from the residential norm most agents outside the Crossroads region rely on.
| Situation | Contract | Where minerals are handled |
|---|---|---|
| Seller retains all or part of the mineral estate | TREC 20-18 or 25-16 | Addendum 44-3 (TXR 1905), attached |
| Third party already owns the minerals | TREC 25-16 Farm and Ranch | Paragraph 6E Exception Documents, referenced by recording data |
| No addendum attached, minerals not excepted | TREC 20-18 | Minerals convey with surface |
| Producing lease already in place | Any TREC contract | Lessee contact information required in Addendum 44-3, Paragraph D |
The Farm and Ranch Contract (TREC 25-16) is the workhorse for acreage transactions in DeWitt County for a reason. When a third party owns the minerals, Texas REALTORS guidance is to list those interests in Paragraph 6E by their specific recording data. That protects the seller from a buyer's later title objection based on the same interest the buyer already knew about.
A surface-rights trap in the addendum
The current version of the mineral reservation addendum contains a specific reversal that has caught careful agents off guard. Prior versions asked whether the seller waived surface rights. The current version asks whether the seller reserves them. As Rattikin & Rattikin has explained, a seller who intends to give up surface use, which is the common outcome in a residential closing where the buyer wants to build and live on the tract, must now check the negative response rather than the positive one.
The clause exists because the mineral estate is dominant over the surface estate in Texas. Absent a written waiver of the implied mineral easement, the holder of the reserved minerals retains an implied right of ingress, egress, and reasonable use of the surface to develop them.
Republic Ranches, in its own review of the addendum, describes exactly that clause and warns that the TREC form does not accommodate more complex arrangements such as reservations limited to specific substances or specific geological strata. In DeWitt County, where the Eagle Ford sits at a specific depth and the Austin Chalk sits above it, a seller who wants to reserve one and convey the other cannot accomplish that goal on the TREC form alone.
What sellers with inherited minerals should verify
For a seller who inherited land near Yorktown or Nordheim and has never received a royalty check, the question is not whether minerals were reserved when the family bought in. The question is what the county records say now.
- Deed history at the DeWitt County Clerk's office in Cuero, including any prior reservation or non-participating royalty interest carved out of the surface tract
- Producing status through the Texas Railroad Commission public GIS viewer, which shows well locations and operator names
- Ad valorem tax roll entries at the DeWitt Central Appraisal District, since a producing mineral interest is taxed separately from the surface
- Any existing lease, its primary term expiration, its royalty fraction, and the lessee contact required by Paragraph D of the 44-3 addendum
- Recorded language required under Texas Property Code Section 5.151 on any conveyance of a mineral interest itself, which was added to reduce past scams targeting royalty owners
Heirs should also be aware of the four year statute of limitations on royalty payment audits. The Texas Supreme Court's ruling in Shell v. Ross placed the burden on mineral owners to identify underpayment through publicly available information within that window. That is a decision issue for an attorney, not an agent, but it belongs on the checklist.
What buyers should ask before signing
Buyers of DeWitt County acreage tend to focus on fence lines, water, and access. The mineral questions matter just as much.
- Are the minerals being conveyed, reserved in full, or reserved in part? Confirm in writing, not by conversation.
- If reserved, has the seller waived surface rights, and does the box on the current 44-3 addendum reflect that intention correctly?
- If a third party owns the minerals, is that interest listed in Paragraph 6E of the Farm and Ranch Contract with recording data?
- If a producing lease exists, what does its surface use language allow: pad sites, pipelines, saltwater disposal, temporary workover activity?
- Is the tract inside a pooled unit, and if so, what percentage of the unit's production does the tract account for?
None of these are questions a title company answers automatically. They surface only when someone at the table thinks to ask.
Short FAQ
If the seller does nothing, do the minerals transfer? Yes. Under TREC 20-18 and Texas REALTORS guidance, the residential contract conveys all interests, including minerals, unless a reservation is made through an attached addendum.
Does the buyer's title policy cover mineral interests? Standard Texas title policies include an approved mineral exception. That means the policy does not insure against loss from third party ownership of minerals unless additional endorsements are negotiated. Ask the title company at the commitment stage.
Can a real estate agent draft custom mineral language into the contract? No. Texas REALTORS treats drafting of substantive mineral clauses as the unauthorized practice of law. The informational form TXR 2509 exists to explain that limitation to clients. Complex reservations require an attorney.
Does producing status show up in a standard property tax bill? Producing mineral interests are assessed and taxed separately from surface. A seller who has never seen a mineral tax statement should not assume there is nothing to assess. Check the DeWitt Central Appraisal District rolls under both the current and prior family names.
Mineral questions are one of the recurring reasons a DeWitt County closing takes longer, or falls apart later, than the parties expected. They also happen to be one of the clearest places local experience pays for itself. If you are preparing to buy, sell, or inherit land in DeWitt County, the Zaplac Group can help you sort the surface issues from the subsurface ones before the contract is signed. Contact the team to talk through your tract.
