In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, a split estate is an estate where the property rights to the surface and the underground are split between two parties. It is the result of

Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of Federal lands, government land or the American frontier, public domain, typically called a Homestead (buildings), homestead. In all, mo ...

s such as the

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by U.S. President, President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting what is still the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to reso ...

(1971) or the

Stock-Raising Homestead Act The Stock-Raising Homestead Act of 1916 provided settlers of public land—a full section or its equivalent—for ranching purposes. Unlike the Homestead Act of 1862 or the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909, land homesteaded under the 1 ...

(1916). A split estate is similar to the Broad Form Deed, a type of legal document created in the United States in the early 1900s. These documents were used to sever property into mineral and surface rights, just like a split estate today. In the 49 United States practicing British

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

(the 50th,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, derived its law from French and

Napoleonic Code The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since i ...

), a split estate is created when the original

fee simple In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" is real property held without limit of time (i.e., pe ...

owner sells or otherwise loses ownership of the subsurface, often called the

mineral estate Mineral rights are property rights to exploit an area for the minerals it harbors. Mineral rights can be separate from property ownership (see Split estate). Mineral rights can refer to sedentary minerals that do not move below the Earth's surfa ...

. Executor rights transfer in whole, unless otherwise reserved, and administration of the estate carries the same rights, liabilities, and privileges the surface estate does. In the Louisiana, severability of estate is legal and common, however a particular law practice similar to

easements in English law Easements in English law are certain rights in English land law that a person has over another's land. Rights recognised as easements range from very widespread forms of rights of way, most rights to use service conduits such as telecommunication ...

allows the reversion of the mineral estate to the current surface owner if the mineral estate is not actively engaged in productive activity. This is similar to

squatter's rights ''Squatter's Rights'' is a 1946 animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions. The cartoon is about a confrontation between Pluto and Chip and Dale who have taken up residence in Mickey Mouse's hunting shack. It was ...

in other states; however other states do not allow this for the mineral property. Who owns the right to exploit the underground is important in case it contains

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): M ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

, or

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

. It is currently the object of controversies because some landowners are concerned about the nuisance and environmental impact.18 April 2023

Notes

Property law in the United States Eminent domain {{US-law-stub The Flyover Nation: Energy's Role in a Troubled Heartland