Duhig does not apply to quit claim deeds. Young v. Vermillion. .A quitclaim deed conveys only the interest of the grantor in the property described in the deed. It does not warrant to convey perfect title. Bonebrake v. McNeill, 1971 OK 146, 491 P.2d 269. - See more at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ok-court-of-civil-appeals/1109265.html#sthash.SwyqZhYw.dpuf
Rationale: the grantor does not warrant title to anything.
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tim,
I don't think it is a matter of making up my mind. The fact is no one ever challenged the grantor's intent to retain 20 acres of minerals in the SW/4 NW/4. There are lots of transactions after 1926 that occur based on his owning the reserved 20 acres in SW/4 NW/4 whether he owned 20 or 10.
Please be assured I did not think you were incorrect in the possibility that Duhig could have been applied to this warranty deed or that you were incorrect in your calculation of the minerals the grantor reserved if someone had interpreted the deed using Duhig but no one ever did.
I read articles regarding the Duhig case but would be interested in reading the case itself.
J
Rick Howell said:
While we are on the Duhig subject:
Is there any case law in Oklahoma concerning its impact on Quit Claim deeds? It has always been my understanding that by nature of the instrument, it does not apply.
I do understand case law whether it show by my writing or not. I appreciate the links to the cases and will read them. but right now I have to get back to my other life.
J
Rick Howell said:
Judy Phillips said:That's how oil and gas attorneys make a living. God bless them
Some are much better than others so you have to be selective in retaining one. There is a return on investment and I've seen far more cases in which someone wished they had conferred with an attorney prior to entering an agreement than the other way around.
Judy Phillips said:
The landman's opinion that the owner retained 20 acres does not help or hurt me as the leasing company offering to lease accepts that the owner retained 20 acres. That was never an issue.
Just because the leasing company is willing to lease based on that does not mean that is what the division order will reflect when that well starts producing. I’ve seen incompetence from the landmen in the original ownership reports. I’ve also seen where an issue has come up and they went ahead and “leased 10 acres” because that is what the owner insisted they owned. In reality they only owned 6.667 acres, but it was within budget so they signed them up. When it came time to pay for production, all they were paid on was the 5 acres. IMO, there is more than one reason there is a Mother Hubbard clause in those lease agreements.
Judy Phillips said:
I understand your position. And because of your and Rick's posts, I understand how Duhig is applied to a warranty deed. I appreciate that you and Rick have been thorough in explaining Duhig to me. I don't think Duhig would be applied to this 1920's warranty deed as Duhig ruling did not exist at that time. Also, as I understand Duhig, it is subject to interpretation, giving some weight to the intent of the parties.
Discounting Duhig because of it being a 1920 transaction is incorrect. Tim Dowd is the subject matter expert, but I think you are confusing statutory law with case law. Duhrig is case law, and as he pointed out, determines the way warranty deeds are interpreted.
I don’t think you fully understand Durhig because the situation is almost identical to the original case Duhig vs Peavy-Moor Lumber Company in Texas.
Read through this article pages 3-7.
http://law.und.edu/_files/powerpoint/law-review/2013oct24-ndlr-ener...
Here is another:
http://www.energyandthelaw.com/2014/01/07/the-duhig-rule-state-by-s...
Also note at the bottom the credit to George Snells book Oil and Gas Law, Nationwide Comparison of Laws on Leasing. Awesome book and I’ve been to a seminar where George discussed many of the topics and it was my first initiation on this subject. I highly recommend it as a reference for oil and gas law. It is available at the AAPL bookstore indexed by state or topic.
https://aapl.ps.membersuite.com/onlinestorefront/BrowseMerchandise....
You might also want to look at page one for the contributions credit for Oklahoma while you are there.
http://www.landman.org/docs/educational-material-(pdf)/page1.pdf
Best of luck to you. I hope you find additional language in the deed acknowledging the prior reservation.