CROSSOVER: Texas Supreme Court Tightens Rule 166a Specificity: Generic No-Evidence Attacks Can Defeat Injunction-Based Property Claims

Crane v. Crane, 25-0386, June 26, 2026.

On appeal from Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth District of Texas

Synopsis

A no-evidence motion under Texas Rule 166a is sufficiently specific if it identifies the factual predicates of the pleaded claim in enough detail to put the nonmovant on notice of what must be supported with evidence. In Crane, the Texas Supreme Court held that a motion asserting there was no evidence the claimant owned an easement crossing the movant’s property, or that the challenged fence crossed that easement, adequately attacked the declaratory and injunctive claims; because the claimant produced no evidence of interference, take-nothing summary judgment was proper.

Relevance to Family Law

This is a civil property-access case, but its procedural holding has direct consequences in family law litigation, especially where parties seek declaratory or injunctive relief over real property, exclusive use of the residence, gate and access disputes, ranch roads, easements affecting awarded property, or enforcement-related possession and access conflicts. For Texas family law litigators, Crane is a reminder that courts will look through the label of the requested relief and focus on the actual factual predicates pleaded; if a no-evidence motion targets those predicates with enough specificity, the respondent must produce evidence on the point actually in dispute, not merely on adjacent background facts.

Case Summary

Fact Summary

The dispute arose between adjacent landowners who were also family members. Sasha Crane alleged that Robert Crane, her next-door neighbor and father-in-law, began constructing a fence that would interfere with her use of an express easement for ingress and egress and deny access to her landlocked property. The easement originated in 2002 and was described as lying generally within the western portion of Robert’s tract, while also including then-existing roadways that deviated within a broader western strip.

After Robert later conveyed part of the western portion of his tract to the City of McAllen for a road expansion, Sasha sued for declaratory and injunctive relief in December 2022. Her petition framed the controversy narrowly: Robert was allegedly building a fence that cut off access to her home and interfered with the recorded easement. The trial court entered a temporary restraining order, but the record did not show any extension of that order or a temporary-injunction hearing.

Nine months into the case, Robert filed a no-evidence motion for summary judgment. He asserted that Sasha had no competent summary-judgment evidence that she still owned an easement crossing his property or that the cedar fence he installed on his southern and eastern property lines crossed any easement belonging to her. Sasha responded primarily by arguing the motion lacked specificity. She attached evidence aimed largely at showing the easement still existed after the City conveyance: a title attorney affidavit, the 2002 easement, the 2009 deed to the City, and a 2019 email exchange with the City about roadway access. What she did not provide was evidence creating a fact issue that Robert’s fence actually crossed the easement or interfered with its use.

The trial court granted summary judgment and later awarded Robert attorney’s fees and costs. The court of appeals reversed, concluding Robert had not specifically challenged the element of interference. The Texas Supreme Court disagreed and reinstated the take-nothing judgment.

Issues Decided

• Whether a no-evidence summary judgment motion must separately name “interference with an easement” as an element when the plaintiff seeks declaratory and injunctive relief based on allegations that a fence crosses the easement and denies access.

• Whether a motion stating there is no evidence that the claimant owns an easement crossing the movant’s property, or that the fence crosses any such easement, identifies the challenged elements with sufficient specificity under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 166a.

• Whether evidence tending only to show the continued existence of an easement is enough to defeat a no-evidence motion when the pleaded controversy turns on alleged interference by a fence.

Rules Applied

The Court relied principally on Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 166a governing no-evidence summary judgments. As framed by the Court, once there has been an adequate time for discovery, the movant may seek no-evidence summary judgment by identifying the elements of a claim or defense for which there is no evidence, and the burden then shifts to the nonmovant to produce evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact.

The key specificity standard came from State v. $3,774.28 in U.S. Currency, 713 S.W.3d 381, 388 (Tex. 2025): a no-evidence motion is adequate when it “describes the challenged elements in sufficient detail to identify them.” The Court applied that notice-based standard rather than a hyper-technical requirement that the motion parrot a doctrinal element label.

For declaratory relief, the Court referenced the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act, including Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 37.003, emphasizing that declaratory relief must address a justiciable controversy that will be resolved by the declaration sought. For permanent injunctive relief, the Court cited Pike v. Tex. EMC Mgmt., LLC, 610 S.W.3d 763, 792 (Tex. 2020), identifying the familiar requirements of wrongful act, imminent harm, irreparable injury, and no adequate remedy at law.

The Court also reiterated de novo review of summary judgments, citing First Sabrepoint Cap. Mgmt., L.P. v. Farmland Partners Inc., 712 S.W.3d 75, 84 (Tex. 2025).

Application

The Court’s analysis turned on disciplined claim-framing. It first identified what Sasha had actually pleaded, not what could theoretically have been pleaded. Her declaratory and injunctive requests both concerned one asserted wrong: Robert was building a fence that crossed or blocked her easement and cut off ingress and egress to her home. That alleged fence interference was not merely one evidentiary detail among many. It was the only pleaded justiciable controversy for declaratory relief and the only pleaded wrongful act and imminent irreparable harm supporting injunctive relief.

Against that pleading, Robert’s motion said there was no evidence that Sasha still owned an easement crossing his property and no evidence that his fence crossed any such easement. The Supreme Court held that this was enough. Under $3,774.28 in U.S. Currency, a no-evidence motion need not use magic words if it identifies the challenged point with adequate detail. Here, the motion directly attacked the factual predicates necessary for Sasha to prevail on the claims she pleaded.

That framing also exposed the deficiency in Sasha’s response. Her exhibits were directed primarily to easement existence and title continuity after the City conveyance. The title attorney’s affidavit, the easement document, and the warranty deed all tended to support the proposition that some easement right still existed. But that was only half the problem. The pleaded controversy was whether Robert’s fence interfered with that right. On that point, the record was empty. The 2019 emails with the City did not address the fence alleged to have been under construction in December 2022. Thus, even assuming evidence of easement ownership, there was still no evidence of interference by the fence—the dispositive fact on both claims.

The Court therefore rejected the court of appeals’ characterization that Robert had attacked only a “factual theory” rather than an element. In the Supreme Court’s view, because the fence crossing/interference allegation was the sole basis of the pleaded declaratory and injunctive requests, the motion reached the necessary elements.

Holding

The Court held that a no-evidence motion satisfies Rule 166a’s specificity requirement when it describes the challenged elements in sufficient detail to identify them, even if it does not separately label the challenge using the precise doctrinal phrase “interference with an easement.” In this case, a motion asserting there was no evidence that Sasha owned an easement crossing Robert’s property or that Robert’s fence crossed that easement adequately placed at issue the essential factual predicates of her declaratory and injunctive claims.

The Court further held that because Sasha failed to produce summary-judgment evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact that Robert’s fence interfered with her easement rights, the trial court properly granted take-nothing summary judgment. Evidence going only to the existence of the easement, without evidence of interference, was insufficient to defeat the motion.

Finally, the Court reversed the court of appeals and reinstated the trial court’s judgment.

Practical Application

For family law litigators, Crane is less about easements than about how to draft and defeat no-evidence motions when equitable relief is tethered to a specific factual event. In divorce cases, parties often seek declarations about ownership, reimbursement, reimbursement offsets, characterization-linked possession rights, or exclusive use of real property, while simultaneously seeking temporary or permanent injunctive relief to stop lockouts, gate changes, utility cutoffs, vehicle repossession, document destruction, or interference with ranch, farm, or business operations. Crane teaches that the movant does not have to challenge the claim in abstract doctrinal language if the motion squarely attacks the factual predicate that makes the equitable claim live.

That matters in several recurring family-law settings. In post-divorce enforcement or partition-related litigation, one side may plead that the other installed a gate, changed a code, moved livestock fencing, or blocked a private road serving awarded property. A no-evidence motion can be effective if it identifies the absence of evidence that the complained-of obstruction actually affects the access right at issue. Likewise, in disputes over exclusive use of the marital residence, a motion can target whether there is any evidence of actual interference, threatened dispossession, or imminent irreparable injury rather than attacking the request in generic terms.

On the defensive side, Crane is a warning against responding to the wrong problem. If your client pleads that a former spouse blocked access to community business premises, moved children’s belongings in violation of standing orders, or altered access to a residence awarded for exclusive occupancy, evidence of title, possession history, or contractual entitlement alone may not be enough. You need evidence that the alleged interference actually occurred or is imminent and that it connects to the relief requested.

Strategically, the case also reinforces the importance of pleading discipline. Broad, vague requests for “declaratory and injunctive relief” invite courts to isolate the single factual premise of the claim. If that premise is narrow, a focused no-evidence motion may knock out the whole case. Conversely, if multiple wrongful acts or alternative factual bases truly exist, plead them distinctly and support them separately.

Checklists

Drafting a No-Evidence Motion in a Family Law Property or Access Dispute

• Identify the actual factual predicate pleaded for declaratory or injunctive relief.
• Quote or track the petition’s allegations when describing the challenged point.
• Attack the specific fact that makes the controversy justiciable or the injury imminent.
• Do not rely on global assertions that there is “no evidence to support the claim.”
• Tie the no-evidence challenge to the elements of the requested remedy, even if indirectly.
• If the injunction theory depends on one alleged act—lockout, code change, gate closure, fence placement, title transfer, fund dissipation—say so expressly.
• Include every dispositive factual predicate you may need on appeal.

Responding to a No-Evidence Motion After Crane

• Read the motion against the live pleading, not against an abstract cause-of-action chart.
• Ask what factual premise the motion says lacks evidence.
• Produce evidence on the actual interference, obstruction, denial of access, dissipation, concealment, or threatened act.
• Do not assume evidence of background entitlement is enough.
• Explain in the response how each exhibit raises a fact issue on the challenged predicate.
• Cite to the exact pages of affidavits, photos, surveys, text messages, business records, or testimony.
• If the motion is arguably vague, preserve that objection, but also submit evidence if possible.
• Avoid pivoting to unpleaded theories in the response.

Proving Interference in Divorce, Enforcement, or Property-Use Litigation

• Obtain photographs, video, maps, surveys, or drone images showing the physical obstruction.
• Secure affidavits from the client and third-party witnesses describing blocked access or changed conditions.
• Gather texts, emails, notices, or admissions showing intent to deny access or interfere with use.
• Tie the obstruction to the legal right asserted in the pleading.
• Show timing: when the obstruction arose, whether it is ongoing, and why the harm is imminent.
• If injunctive relief is sought, develop evidence of irreparable harm and lack of adequate legal remedy.
• For real-property disputes, consider surveys, plats, easement instruments, deeds, and expert testimony.
• For exclusive-use disputes, document actual denial of possession, inability to retrieve belongings, or prevention of entry.

Pleading Equitable Relief More Carefully

• Separate declaratory theories from injunctive theories.
• Plead each factual basis for interference or threatened injury distinctly.
• If multiple acts support relief, list them rather than collapsing the case into one event.
• State clearly what declaration is sought and what controversy it would resolve.
• For injunctions, plead the wrongful act, imminent harm, irreparable injury, and lack of adequate legal remedy.
• Align requested relief with the facts you can realistically prove in summary-judgment form.
• Amend before the hearing if the case has evolved beyond the original pleaded controversy.

Avoiding the Nonmovant’s Mistake in Crane

• Do not respond only with evidence that proves an underlying right exists.
• Do not assume the court will infer interference from title or easement documents alone.
• Do not ignore the movant’s characterization of the sole factual basis of the claim.
• Do not rely on unrelated theories not found in the live petition.
• Do not omit a narrative explanation connecting the evidence to the challenged element.
• Do not wait to develop interference evidence until trial if a no-evidence motion is pending.

Citation

Crane v. Crane, No. 25-0386, ___ S.W.3d ___ (Tex. June 26, 2026) (per curiam).

Full Opinion

Read the full opinion here.

Family Law Crossover

This opinion can be weaponized in family law because many divorce and SAPCR-adjacent disputes are pleaded as requests for declarations or injunctions but are really driven by one or two concrete factual allegations. If your opponent’s live pleading says your client locked them out of the marital home, blocked access to a ranch road, denied access to children’s passports or records, froze business accounts, or interfered with possession of awarded property, Crane supports a tightly drafted no-evidence motion aimed at those operative facts rather than at a generalized legal label. Conversely, if you represent the claimant, Crane gives the other side a roadmap: they can frame the motion around the one event that gives your equitable claim life and force you to produce competent evidence immediately. In that sense, the case is a procedural lever for early disposition of weak injunction and declaration claims in divorce, enforcement, and post-judgment property litigation.

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