Headright Certificate Law and Legal Definition
A headright certificate refers to a certificate which is issued to a person giving possession of a land. Headright certificate is governed under authority of a Republic of Texas law of 1839. The following are the contents of a headright certificate :
1.A person is entitled to a land if s/he had immigrated to the Republic between 1 October 1837 and 1 January 1840;
2.The person was a head of household, and
The person actually resided within the Republic with his/her family.
A headright certificate is in the nature of personality and can be sold and delivered as chattels, and a purchaser without notice of a prior assignment of the right to the certificate would also take a good title. [Johnson v. Newman, 43 Tex. 628 (Tex. 1875)].
