Hi, I own 1.86 acres in Centerville District. My daughter lives on the property there. An oil company is starting a gravel access road right by our driveway. We have not been contacted by the oil company concerning the mineral rights for that property. I went to the courthouse, but couldn't find out anything. The deed doesn't state that we have mineral rights, but the people we bought the house from said it does. My property is off of Klondike Rd close to route 18. Any info would be appreciated. Thank you.
First, there is something in Real Estate law where someone may build a driveway on your property if there is no other way to get to their property. An attorney could tell you more and the laws differ by state. I guess what I'm saying is that they would have the ability to do this if they wanted under certain conditions, regardless of your mineral rights ownership.
If the drilling is on your property then I would be really surprised you didn't hear from the oil company earlier. The company I deal with sounds like they made a deal with the surface owner even though I'm pretty sure all the rights have been sold off.
Proving you own mineral rights can be difficult. Again, an attorney will help but you would have to prove you own them and then the company would have to pay you what you deserve. There is a lot of up-front cost to you to prove it in attorney and court fees. You would have to work backwards to find out who owned the property and what happened to the mineral rights between sellers. Were they sold off or stayed with the surface rights?
If you honestly feel like you own the rights but the oil company is trampling then contact your state representative, local sheriff, media, everyone you can! They would be trespassing without proper paperwork and permits. Contact an attorney and the free consultation will tell you if you at least have a case worth pursuing. A reasonable fee of a thousand dollars or so would be able to tell you if you are in the right. It would still cost thousands to prove that right in court but you should get that back as part of the settlement. Keep in mind an attorney will keep a portion for their fee. Good luck!
If you have a copy of the deed, you can see if the previous deed is listed. It would say something like ... same parcel conveyed to [previous owner names] by [owner before that] by deed dated [the date] recorded in the records of Tyler County Clerk in Deed Book [number] at page [number].
You can go to the courthouse and find that deed, get a copy, and see if it says anything about mineral rights. Then keep going back as far as you can. There are indexes to these deeds. The people at the courthouse could help.
You could also ask the company doing the driveway.
Yes, I went to the courthouse, it was so crowded, and traced it back to 1954. A widow left it to her daughter. It didn't say mineral rights but it did say all the royalties was left to her. None of the deeds after that mentioned mineral rights or royalties. It's a little confusing.
Nancy Mosley said:
If you have a copy of the deed, you can see if the previous deed is listed. It would say something like ... same parcel conveyed to [previous owner names] by [owner before that] by deed dated [the date] recorded in the records of Tyler County Clerk in Deed Book [number] at page [number].
You can go to the courthouse and find that deed, get a copy, and see if it says anything about mineral rights. Then keep going back as far as you can. There are indexes to these deeds. The people at the courthouse could help.
You could also ask the company doing the driveway.
Thank you. I don't believe it is going to come across the property, but not really sure. Since the property was so small I didn't think it would be worth contacting an attorney.
Jim Neff said:
First, there is something in Real Estate law where someone may build a driveway on your property if there is no other way to get to their property. An attorney could tell you more and the laws differ by state. I guess what I'm saying is that they would have the ability to do this if they wanted under certain conditions, regardless of your mineral rights ownership.
If the drilling is on your property then I would be really surprised you didn't hear from the oil company earlier. The company I deal with sounds like they made a deal with the surface owner even though I'm pretty sure all the rights have been sold off.
Proving you own mineral rights can be difficult. Again, an attorney will help but you would have to prove you own them and then the company would have to pay you what you deserve. There is a lot of up-front cost to you to prove it in attorney and court fees. You would have to work backwards to find out who owned the property and what happened to the mineral rights between sellers. Were they sold off or stayed with the surface rights?
If you honestly feel like you own the rights but the oil company is trampling then contact your state representative, local sheriff, media, everyone you can! They would be trespassing without proper paperwork and permits. Contact an attorney and the free consultation will tell you if you at least have a case worth pursuing. A reasonable fee of a thousand dollars or so would be able to tell you if you are in the right. It would still cost thousands to prove that right in court but you should get that back as part of the settlement. Keep in mind an attorney will keep a portion for their fee. Good luck!
If you have the time to go back to the crowded courthouse again, you can keep tracing back. It sounds good that the 1954 deed mentioned royalties going to her.
I have read that it is recommended to trace back to the Land Grants when West Virginia was Virginia. At least if you could go back to about 1880, before most of the leasing was done (at least that is the time in Ritchie), you will very likely have gone far enough. The size might increase as you go back. Maybe your 1.86 acres was once part of a 50 acre tract, and if you go back maybe that was part of a 150 acre tract, etc. If you do this, and have some questions, you can ask them here, and someone will be able to help you with how to trace title. Of course only an attorney can certify a title, but getting the deed information can be done by us non-attorneys.
If you need to sign a lease or a right of way agreement or anything like that, it is best to get help from an attorney.
Patricia Wingfield said:
Yes, I went to the courthouse, it was so crowded, and traced it back to 1954. A widow left it to her daughter. It didn't say mineral rights but it did say all the royalties was left to her. None of the deeds after that mentioned mineral rights or royalties. It's a little confusing.
Nancy Mosley said:If you have a copy of the deed, you can see if the previous deed is listed. It would say something like ... same parcel conveyed to [previous owner names] by [owner before that] by deed dated [the date] recorded in the records of Tyler County Clerk in Deed Book [number] at page [number].
You can go to the courthouse and find that deed, get a copy, and see if it says anything about mineral rights. Then keep going back as far as you can. There are indexes to these deeds. The people at the courthouse could help.
You could also ask the company doing the driveway.