Dawkins v. Hysaw

450 S.W.3d 147, 2014 WL 3734205, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 8204
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 30, 2014
DocketNo. 04-13-00539-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 450 S.W.3d 147 (Dawkins v. Hysaw) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dawkins v. Hysaw, 450 S.W.3d 147, 2014 WL 3734205, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 8204 (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by:

PATRICIA 0. ALVAREZ, Justice.

This case involves the construction of a will executed in 1947 by Ethel Nichols Hysaw. Ethel devised to each of her-three children (i.e., Inez, Howard, and Dorothy) specific parcels of land in fee simple, subject to a royalty interest for all the lands to be shared by each child. After a dispute arose over the amount of royalty each was entitled to receive, some of Ethel’s descendants petitioned the court to construe Ethel’s will. Inez’s descendants contended the will granted Ethel’s children a fractional royalty; Howard’s and Dorothy’s descendants argue the will requires Ethel’s children to share all royalties equally. The trial court rejected Inez’s descendants’ reasoning, and Inez’s descendants appeal.

We conclude Ethel’s will clearly and unambiguously devised all her rights in the surface and mineral estates to the specified surface estate devisee subject to a fractional royalty — a fixed fraction of 1/24 of production — to each of the other two siblings. Therefore, we reverse the trial court’s judgment and render judgment as described below.

BACKGROUND

To begin, we describe the will, identify the specific parties, and outline the lawsuit.

A. Ethel’s Will

Ethel Nichols Hysaw had three children, Inez Hysaw Foote, Howard Caldwell Hy-saw Jr., and Dorothy Frances Hysaw Burris. In 1947, Ethel executed her last will and testament. At the time, she owned three tracts of land in Karnes County: a tract of 1,065 acres, a tract of 200 acres, and a tract of 150 acres. She devised fee simple title to each of her children as follows: to Inez, 600 acres out of the 1,065 acre tract; to Dorothy, 465 acres out of the 1,065 acre tract; and to Howard, the 200 and 150 acre tracts.1 In a separate paragraph, Ethel reiterated that the executive, bonus, and delay rental rights belonged to the child to whom she devised the surface estate, and subjected the devised mineral estates to the royalty inter[150]*150ests in all the tracts to be shared by Inez, Howard, and Dorothy.

B. The Parties

When this suit began, each of Ethel’s children had already passed away. The parties in this case are either direct descendants of, or devisees of, Ethel’s three children.

Plaintiffs Madelon Hysaw and Kathryn Hysaw Weafer are devisees under Howard’s will; Madelon is Howard’s widow, and Kathryn is Howard’s daughter. Ma-' delon and Kathryn own whatever royalty interests were devised to Howard by Ethel’s will.

Defendants Bretton Guy Dawkins, Bradley Ken Dawkins, Jerry Howard Oxford, and Sharon Ann Oxford are descendants of Ethel’s daughter Inez. They own whatever royalty interests were devised to Inez by Ethel’s will.

Intervenors Michael and Cindy Burris Family Partnership III, Ltd., Byron M. Burris, and Judith Ann Burris Dziuk now own whatever royalty interests were devised to Dorothy Francis Hysaw Burris by Ethel’s will.

For simplicity, we refer to the parties (whether descendants or other successors) as descendants of the person from whom they obtained their interest, i.e., Inez, Howard, or Dorothy. We also use Appellants to refer to Inez’s descendants, and Appellees to refer to Howard’s and Dorothy’s descendants.

C. The Lawsuit

Ethel’s will conveyed specific surface estates in “fee simple title” to her children subject to “an undivided one-third (1/3) of an undivided one-eighth (1/8) of all oil, gas or other minerals in or under or that may be produced from any [of the 1,065,150, or 200 acre tracts.]” In 2008, Appellants executed a lease that provided for a royalty of one-fifth of the oil and gas produced on the 600 acres Ethel devised to Inez, and that lease has resulted in production. Thereafter, Dorothy’s descendants also executed a lease for her 465 acres that provides for a royalty in excess of one-eighth. Because the lessors’ royalties exceed 1/8 of production, and Inez’s descendants proposed a will construction that yields unequal sharing of royalties, Howard’s descendants sought a declaratory judgment to determine the royalty interest each of Ethel’s children was entitled to receive. Dorothy’s descendants intervened and supported Howard’s descendants’ view.

Appellants argue the will devises to Howard’s and Dorothy’s descendants a fractional royalty — a fixed fraction of production — from leases on Appellants’ land, and Appellants are entitled to the rest of the royalty.

Appellees contend the will devises to each of Ethel’s children a one-third fraction of royalty — one-third of any and all royalty interest obtained from all the tracts.

The parties filed competing traditional motions for summary judgment. The trial court denied Inez’s descendants’ motion and granted Howard’s and Dorothy’s descendants’ motion. Inez’s descendants appeal the trial court’s judgment.

Standard of Review

To prevail on a traditional motion for summary judgment, the movant must show “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the [movant] is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(c); accord Nixon v. Mr. Prop. Mgmt. Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548 (Tex.1985). When presented with stipulated facts, we review de novo the questions of law to determine whether the trial court properly determined that the movant was entitled [151]*151to judgment. See Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(c); Nixon, 690 S.W.2d at 548; Coleman v. Coleman, 350 S.W.3d 201, 202-03 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2011, no pet.). “When both sides move for summary judgment and the trial court grants one motion and denies the other, [we] review both sides’ summary judgment evidence^] ... determine all questions presented[,] ... [and] render the judgment that the trial court should have rendered.” FM Props. Operating Co. v. City of Austin, 22 S.W.3d 868, 872 (Tex.2000) (citations omitted); accord Mann Frankfort Stein & Lipp Advisors, Inc. v. Fielding, 289 S.W.3d 844, 848 (Tex.2009); Coleman, 350 S.W.3d at 202.

“Construction of an unambiguous will is a matter of law, which we review de novo.” Coleman, 350 S.W.3d at 203; see Luckel v. White, 819 S.W.2d 459, 461 (Tex.1991) (addressing an oil and gas royalty deed construction).

Will Construction

A.Testator’s Intent

Our foremost inquiry in construing a testator’s will is to determine the testator’s intent. San Antonio Area Found. v. Lang, 35 S.W.3d 636, 639 (Tex.2000); Coleman, 350 S.W.3d at 203; Luckel, 819 S.W.2d at 461; cf. Coker v. Coker, 650 S.W.2d 391, 393 (Tex.1983) (addressing contract construction). We ascertain the testator’s intent by searching within the four corners of the will. Lang, 35 S.W.3d at 639; Luckel, 819 S.W.2d at 461.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
450 S.W.3d 147, 2014 WL 3734205, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 8204, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dawkins-v-hysaw-texapp-2014.