Hello!
This forum is amazing!
I received a letter from an Antero rep regarding an oil and gas interest in ol' Doddridge County and it appears they are trying to locate the heirs of my great grandmother.
The letter states, "We are trying to begin the payment process and cannot proceed until we complete the heirships and enclosed a draft of the affidavit....". She wants me to review it and make any corrections then send it back.
I've heard about this land long long ago at a family reunion but nothing ever came from it. Since then, my father has passed away and I don't have any contact with the other family members. Based on the data provided, appears I might be one of the only living heirs remaining.
My conern with this letter is the, "We are trying to begin the payment process...". This came out of the blue and hearing things about rushing a payment makes me nervous. I'm also concerned of any negative reprocutions of something like this. (back taxes, etc..).
The letter gave very vague details......"51 acres, more or less, Greenbrier District, Doddrige County from a Deed dated March 30, 1901 recorded in Book 31, Page 147.
Any feedback or suggestions for the proper next step will be greatly appeciated. I'm in no hurry to rush into ANYTHING with them, just want to protect myself and ensure I'm doing the right thing.
Thanks so much for your time!!
Robert,
I suggest you contact an attorney to review the chain of title. If there is a reference to "payment" then at some point a Pooling Modification should have been signed in the recent years.
There is a law firm in Harrisville that has a strong OGM practice, they are who I would reach out to, if I were in your shoes.
Cheers
WVMO, thanks for the quick reply!
If a Pooling Modificaition letter was signed, it was not by me. Are they able to proceed with pooling even if the hiers have not been located, Or an heir was located in the past and signed off on this already?
So its probable that the land is already drilled and such?
Thanks so much!
Robert,
Please note this is complete speculation, since I have very limited insight into the specifics. However, a production company must have signatures from all parties involved, prior to drilling as current WV law is written, therefore I must conclude someone has signed something, at some point.
If Antero is seeking information for payment, I imagine they are preparing a Division Order, which comes after drilling.
Again, legal advice is always the best direction in my opinion, I have been involved in the industry for 10 - 12 years and have only scratched the surface when it comes to knowledge.
Cheers
Do you think the Antero rep would be able to provide the info on this? I havent attempted to reach out to her yet. Figured I try to get my ducks in a row first.
Thanks agian for your input!
Hello Robert,
Do your research, find out the who and where the land is and who is in the line of succession, DO NOT sign anything until you have a clear picture. I too have recieved a request from Antero, turns out they sent entirely different proposals supposedly on the same property but different amounts of property from entirely different people. It is so convoluted and divisive.
Thanks for the info. I will be doing a good deal of research on my end before anything else. This site is great!!
As the kids would say these days, its a 'HOT MESS'
Robert, here is the link to the Doddridge county online records but it does not have the old ones. You might find something helpful here. Look for names of your family; you might find that some have signed leases on this acreage.
I agree with WV Mineral Owner. You need to see what is going on here. Since unfortunately Doddridge does not have all its records online, you either need to go there to the courthouse in West Union or have someone do it. I believe WV Mineral Owner is referring to Scott Windom at Windom Law Offices in Harrisville WV which is a few miles from West Union. I know they are able to do the research if you can't get there.
It sounds like they are needing your cooperation which is good.
Ask questions here if you need to. Several of us can help in various ways.
Ill play with that site to see if I can locate something. I live roughly 6 hours away from Doddridge so maybe one day I can make the trip. I want to get my ducks in a row before I take a trip out there so I know exactly what I'm looking for.
Thanks for everyones replies!!!!
4-6-2017
Mr. Tate:
If you have not already done so, I strongly suggest that you hire the services of a professional genealogist in the city or county where your great grandmother died so that the genealogist can do a thorough search (first by obtaining information from the death certificate) to locate any and all potential heirs. In my experience, some energy companies (or their landmen) do not do a complete and thorough enough search to identify all heirs, therefore perhaps omitting some persons who might be eligible for payment, although I hope that will not happen here. Do not sign any royalty agreements until you have reviewed them with an attorney who has experience royalties and/or oil/gas leases.
Keith Northington, Genealogical Researcher
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