Hysaw v. Dawkins

Mineral deeds employing double fractions give rise to disputes about whether the instrument creates a fixed (“fractional”) royalty or a floating (“fraction off) royalty; The double-fraction problem emerges when an instrument expresses a royalty interest as the product of two fractions, such as “1/2 of the usual 1/8.” When viewed against a historical backdrop in which the standard royalty' was 1/8 and many landowners erroneously believed the landowner’s royalty could be no greater than 1/8, the quantum of the interest conveyed or reserved by double-fraction language is subject to disagreement.…