In this video, Attorney Philip Hundl talks about an agreement to choose tracts in a Texas land partition case. Call or text 800-266-4870 for an appointment with Mr. Hundl. Appointments can be in-person, online or by phone.
Summary of an Agreement to Choose Tracts
Hi, I’m Philip Hundl. I’m an attorney in Texas. My practice area focuses on representing landowners facing condemnation and land partition matters. In this video, I’d like to briefly talk about what happens if an agreement to partition cannot be reached. What’s the next step?
And of course, when you’re attempting to reach an agreement on a partition there’s oftentimes offers and counteroffers, and initial suggestions and other suggestions. But maybe you reach a point where you cannot reach an agreed format by which to partition the property.
An Agreement to Choose Tracts by Rolling Dice or Flipping a Coin
Then possibly the parties can reach an agreement to choose tracts by a roll of the dice or by flipping a coin. As an example, I had a case where essentially there were two groups of landowners. I think there were approximately 18 people, but they basically gravitated to one of two groups. So we had a group of 60% of the ownership and 40% of the ownership.
And the parties agreed on a format and methodology by which to divide up this particular land. Each group actually wanted the land by the highway. I’ll simplify the example a little because the with the acres involved the actual situation would get a little complicated.
But let’s just say it was 100 acres, and one group was 40%, one group was 60%. Well, if the 40% group won the coin toss, and they chose the land by the road, it would be 40 acres by the road. If the group that owned 60% of the interest won the coin toss, then they would receive a designated 60 acres by the road if that’s what they chose. And so there was two essential scenarios depending on who won the coin flip.
And we actually had this coin flip in court. The bailiff brought a big token looking coin. It looked like we were flipping a coin for the Super Bowl. The court reporter was there for the court. The judge oversaw everything, and we even videotaped it.
There Was an Agreement to Choose Tracts in Place Before the Coin Flip
Everyone signed off on the ground rules. So we had a binding agreement in place as to how we would flip the coin to allow someone to make the choice and what their choice would be.
It wasn’t going to be, if you won the coin flip you get to choose wherever you want these 60 acres. I’ll refer to land in a partition as shapes. Those shapes were defined and all the ground rules were laid out, everyone agreed to it, and then we had the coin flip.
I’ve seen dice rolls as another method in which someone wants to try to win. I have never seen a rock-paper-scissors. So, if someone out there has done that before with rock-paper-scissor, please let me know. But I’ve seen coin flips, and I’ve seen dice rolls. I guess you could also put numbers in a hat and draw that.
But anyway, so hopefully that’s helpful. If you’re facing a partition of land, it can be very challenging to reach an agreement to choose tracts. Be patient and always seek advice from an attorney who handles land partitions. Good luck.