Seller Gets Shot At Reforming Deed.

The parties entered into a contract for the sale of approximately 50 acres which stated that the "seller to convey 1/2 interest in all mineral rights owned and 100% of the surface rights."  While the seller owned a 50 percent interest in the mineral interests and intended to convey a 25 percent interest to the buyer, but the warranty deed (which neither party reviewed) did not reserve any mineral interests to the seller.  The sale closed on September 19, 2005.  The seller discovered the omission in December of 2009 when friends and neighbors told the seller that they had leased their land for drilling operations.  The seller was told by an oil company "landman" the company "goes by the deed" regarding royalty payments.  The buyer refused to sign a corrected deed, and the seller sued to reform the deed.  The buyer raised the applicable four-year statute of limitations as an affirmative defense.  The trial court granted summary judgment for the buyer.  On appeal, the court reversed on the basis that fact issues remained as to whether the seller should have known by the exercise of reasonable diligence that the deed contained a mistake such that the statute of limitations would bar the seller's suit.  Wigley v. Willems, No. 07-13-00028-CV, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 10541 (Tex. Ct. App. Sept. 19, 2014).