Opinion ID: 1748512
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Statutes of Fraud and of Conveyances

Text: Again at the outset, the lot owners are confronted with the Statute of Frauds and the Statute of Conveyances. The substance of these statutes, adopted from the English, have been in force since the days of the Republic of Texas. Their interpretation has become an integral and fundamental part of the land law of this State. The Statute of Conveyances says in part: No estate of inheritance or freehold, or for a term of more than one year, in lands and tenements, shall be conveyed from one to another, unless the conveyance be declared by an instrument in writing   . [3] The Statute of Frauds says in part: No action shall be brought in any court    unless the promise or agreement upon which such action shall be brought, or some memorandum thereof, shall be in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith   .       4. Upon any contract for the sale of real estate or the lease thereof for a longer term than one year. [4] The right to go upon the land of another for pleasure and recreation, such as sought here, may be classified either as (1) a license, as a license to picnic or to hunt, or (2) an easement in gross, an interest in land, usually attached to a person but not attached or appurtenant to the land of the owner of the right, or (3) an easement appurtenant to the land, a right which is attached to the land itself and passing with it. Ordinarily licenses are revocable; and ordinarily, easements in gross are not transferable or assignable. Alley v. Carleton, 29 Tex. 74 (1867). The lot owners do not claim rights by license or by easements in gross, but claim easements appurtenant. James et al. assert that the rights sought for pleasure and recreation are mere licenses or easements in gross. We shall, however, treat them as easements appurtenant. Treating the alleged rights, then, as easements appurtenant, it has been held by this Court that easements appurtenant are interests in land which require a writing to create or transfer. [5] As urged here, there are some exceptions to the rule: dedication, implied easements appurtenant, and easements by estoppel in pais. These are discussed later herein. But there was no writing here. Therefore, unless the lot owners can bring their case within one of the categories not requiring a writing for the creation of the rights, they cannot prevail.