Here's another gem of an affidavit of possession, this one executed in 1929, probably in connection with an oil and gas lease by a woman who was the record owner of the land in question, two particular 320 ac. tracts we'll call the H. Kreuzbauer Surveys 1931 and 1932.
After being duly sworn, the Affiant stated :
>that the Affiant is the owner of the H. Kreuzbauer Surveys 1931 and 1932 in McCulloch County, Texas
>and that she has owned and held said lands as her separate property and estate and had the open, exclusive, notorious possession of the same since the date of a deed to her by [her mother] dated December 21, 1921, owning, holding, and claiming said land under said deed, said deed being of record in Volume 88 at Page 888 of the McCulloch County Deed Records
Again, it's those nagging details that destroy yet another affidavit. The woman actually purchased the H. Kreuzbauer Surveys 1931 and 1932 for value from the record owner who was not her mother. The volume and page given are not those of that conveyance or even of any conveyance by her mother or to her and the date is also erroneous.
I've had attorneys write affidavits for a survey I did or some research or something and then send them to me to sign. More often than not, I end up going through it and correcting a bunch of stuff they got wrong.
> I've had attorneys write affidavits for a survey I did or some research or something and then send them to me to sign.
My standard practice is to write the affidavit myself. If an attorney wants to bill some hours drafting one, fine. I'll still rewrite the whole thing in my own words. It's just much better that way.
There is a real art to writing landowner affidavits, capturing convincing details and using language that have the flavor of the actual person rather than sounding like a canned product some unsuspecting individual has been conned into signing.
