The vocabulary of title work.

Abstract number (A-number)

In Texas, the number assigned by the General Land Office to an original survey or land grant. County indexes are searched by abstract; TitleDesk captures the abstract index first.

Acreage ledger

TitleDesk's reconciliation of acreage vested by the oldest chain instrument against out-conveyances that took acreage away and never returned it.

Affidavit of heirship

A sworn statement of a decedent's heirs, recorded in lieu of probate. Held for review in the heirship tree before it affects ownership.

API number

The unique well identifier; in Texas the canonical form is 42-CCC-NNNNN. A partial county code is not a well.

Assignment (of lease)

A conveyance of a lessee's interest in an oil and gas lease. Assignment-chain defects are a curative category.

Chain of title

The sequence of conveyances from the sovereign to the present owner, each grantee becoming the next grantor. See chain of title software.

Curative

The work of resolving title defects — obtaining releases, probates, ratifications or affidavits — listed by TitleDesk with the instrument each came from and a next step.

Deed of trust (DT)

A lien securing a debt against land, recorded in the Deed of Trust Records. An unreleased deed of trust on the subject tract is a curative item.

Deed Records (DR) / Official Public Records (OPR)

Texas county record series. A citation is matched on series as well as volume and page.

GLO patent

The original land grant from the State of Texas issued through the General Land Office; the start of a Texas chain of title.

Grantor / grantee

The party conveying and the party receiving an interest in an instrument. Runsheet rows carry both, read from the page.

Held by production (HBP)

A lease kept alive past its primary term by production; matched to RRC data in the ownership view.

Instrument

A recorded document — deed, lease, release, assignment, probate, plat and others. TitleDesk classifies twenty-three types.

Landman

A professional who researches mineral and surface ownership, negotiates leases and manages land records for oil and gas operations.

Lessor to verify

The party whose ownership the assignment asks to confirm — typically the current mineral owner named in the source deed.

Lien window

The period (thirty years by default for some clients) within which liens are reported on the schedule whether released or not; older unreleased liens on the tract are still curative.

Metes and bounds

A legal description by courses and distances. Tracts described this way in a deed are matched to the assignment's tract acreage.

Mineral reservation

A grantor's retention of all or part of the mineral estate in a conveyance. The reservation review reports found, none found or unreadable.

Net mineral acres (NMA)

Gross acres multiplied by the fractional mineral interest owned. Computed in exact fractions.

Oil and gas lease (OGL)

A grant of the right to explore and produce; historic leases and their releases are tracked on the runsheet.

Over-conveyance

Conveying more interest than one owns. Reported as an exact excess, for example "over by 1/4".

Patent-era gap

A break between the sovereign grant and the earliest indexed conveyance into a named party.

Prior reference

A citation in one instrument to the volume and page of an earlier one; the strongest link when building the chain.

Probate gap

An estate conveying without a probate of record. Reported, not assumed.

Provenance

How a runsheet row was read: entered by a person, read deterministically from the page, or proposed by a model and accepted.

Ratification

An instrument confirming an earlier one, often a lease. Filename beats body text so a ratification does not steal the instrument it recites.

Release

An instrument discharging a lien or lease. Matched to the instrument it releases by prior reference.

Runsheet

The chronological list of recorded instruments affecting a tract, with parties, citations and interests. See title runsheet software.

Source deed

The deed the assignment cites as the current vesting instrument for a tract; verified on the index by volume and page, abstract and lessor.

Sovereignty

The original grant from the state or sovereign; running title "back to sovereignty" means to the patent.

Tract

A parcel described in the assignment, with its own acreage and, often, its own source deed.

Vendor's lien

A lien retained by a seller in a warranty deed to secure the purchase price; tracked as the encumbrance it is.

Warranty deed (WD)

A conveyance with title covenants; the most common link in a chain of title.

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