Homestead Acts
In the United States, a split estate is an estate where the property rights to the surface and the underground are split between two parties. It is the result of Homestead Acts such as the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (1971) or the Stock-Raising Homestead Act (1916). A split estate is similar to the Broad Form Deed, a type of legal document created in the United States in the early 1900s. These documents were used to sever property into mineral and surface rights, just like a split estate today.