I have tried the route of calling the Reaves County clerk,no luck in getting a copy of my land deed or survey. Anyone have a suggestions about getting these documents? Thanks for any help
Melissa, contact me on Monday and I get help. 817-304-4456
Mark Wayne
Robert Benson at Western Abstract and Title Co at 432-445-2463 helped us and should be able to help you with the deed. Try contacting Adam Welch at Stanford Surveying Co at 432-699-5708....he has been very helpful with survey info although we haven't yet decided if we need a survey.
Good Luck
Randy Eiland
Randy – depending on size… e.g., if an entire section… wonder if the ‘called acreage’ was less than the ‘surveyed acreage’… justathought. Later -- Buzz
What do you mean? I am not familiar with the terminology. In my case, land was first owned by my grandfather, 160 ac. Then by my mother and her brother, 50/50. He sold his 50% in the early 70’s. Our 80 ac divided by 4- 20 ac each. One sold their 20 ac. I am looking for deed and or survey of my 20 ac. I am not sure how much detail I need to pursue. Thanks
Melissa – assume a bonus being offered is $2,000/acre; say you own an entire section where the ‘called acreage’ is 715 acres (all sections are not necessarily 640-acres). If the ‘surveyed acreage is 720 acres that extra 5 acres is worth an additional bonus of $10,000. Later -- Buzz
You should contact a title company in Reeves County and order a Title Report. It will list the chain of title and should also contain the recorded instruments...you can determine the date you want the chain of title to start at - in our case we picked about 100 years back because that was when the first family b member acquired our property. There may or may not be an existing survey of the original 160 acres or of the subsequent partitioning, Assuming you have the correct legal description of your 20 acres it shouldn't be difficult to get the Title Report. Once you have that you can decide if you need or want a survey. You are probably looking at a few hundred dollars for the TR and about $3,000.00+/- for the survey.
Randy
Thanks again for all the info. I was told by local (I am in Maryland) lawyer,I need the title and talk to TX land lawyer. Good to know what kind of money it will cost me!
Melissa,
What's the legal description of the property and your mother and brother's name? I can likely get a copy of the instrument for you in a few minutes.
Thanks mike my grandfather's name was /fred K Parke
My mothers name was Marguerite Parke Avery
My brothers names are Allen P Avery and Anthony P Avery
The area is section 39
Thanks for your help
Melissa, Section 39 of what Block (and Township if available). The description may read something like Section 39, Block 57, Township 1, T&P RR Co Survey...or it could simply be Sec 39, Blk 13, H&GN RR Co Survey.
Mike E,
Melissa's legal description is Reeves County A-464/Section 39/Block 13/H & GN RR.
Clint Liles
Melissa,
The basic chain of title from your grandfather and subsequently into you and your siblings is downloadable from the below link. It would appear based on this cursory review that you and your siblings share in a 1/2 undivided mineral Interest in the NW/4 of Section 39. Your land is not divided into 20 acre parcels that I am aware, but rather, you each have an undivided interest in the NW/4.
You can download the instruments in a single pdf from below link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byal18y-EMddZ0R4LTl1d1hIS0E/view?u...
I didn't look for your brother's conveyance.
Thank you. Does that mean we split the royalty offered? Also, the contract is for me to offer my 20 ac’s for lease. Is that a common way to get around a joint owned interest?
Mike, Thank you for the documentation. I have never seen these things before. Very fascinating. Tells a lot about my grandfather. The highway goes through part of the property, so I guess that is why ownership of the surface is 1/3 and minerals 1/2? Also, for drilling to occur, do all owners need to sign leases?
I didn't look into the entire title history, but based on the cursory review, I would imagine there was a further conveyance of the surface by your mother to M. McDonnold, Jr. or Frank Cahoon, at some point between the time your brother conveyed his 1/2 interest to the surface and the date of the Stipulation of Interest. It's possible there was no further conveyance, but the stipulation of interest then acted as a conveyance to effectively leave each party with the interest stated. We'd have to do a full title work up to be sure. In any case, the surface interest is not consequential to what you would be paid for your mineral interest.
When you have undivided interest in a tract of land, each owner is treated separately and generally signs their own lease (unless they prefer to negotiate as one and in that case, each could sign on the same lease). You're bonus will be paid based on the net mineral acres you own. In this case..20.00 x $$$ will go to you. You're royalty will be based on your ownership alone. To get your NRI (Net Revenue Interest), you take your mineral interest in the tract (1/8), and multiply by the royalty. If they offered a 1/4 for the royalty...(.125(MI) x .25(Roy) = .03125 NRI) This is not taking into account NPRIs (Non Participating Royalty Interest), which are reservations or conveyances of only royalty interest in the prior chain of title. I'm not sure if there are any NPRIs in your chain of title, but if so, that royalty interest would be deducted from your royalty . In any case, 1/4 royalty on your lease is the best you can hope for, especially in this market. This is likely more than you were looking for, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
As far as whether all owners have to sign in order to drill, the simple answer is no, but it becomes more likely the company will want all owners to sign if the tract of land is a potential drillsite, or if any length of the lateral passes through the tract. There are certain exceptions the operator can file for with the RRC if the lateral passes within a certain distance to an unleased interest, but they would prefer to have all owners under lease. If the lateral passes through the subject tract, the operator would almost certainly want a vast majority or 100% of the owners under lease before they drill.
What exactly do you mean ?
"between the time your brother conveyed his 1/2 interest to the surface and the date of the Stipulation of Interest."
I hate to admit I am so ignorant, but I am totally unfamiliar with the legal language regarding real estate.
What exactly is my % of surface interest, or is that what would be measured by a survey?
Say for instance , could AI lease my surface area for cattle or wind energy?
Also, NPRI - that would be from before my grandfather owned the land? I have not heard anything about that possibility. I assume others in the family have done a title search.
I have questions about the wording of the lease agreement sent to me. I am concerned about how the well will be closed when drilling is over and how much of the surface I own, among other things.
Thanks very much for your help and advice.
I said your brother, when I should have said your mother's brother. I only meant that sometimes between the time he conveyed both a surface and mineral interest to M. McDonald, Jr. on Jan. 29, 1966 and the date of the Stipulation of Interest between your mother, mother's brother, M. McDonald, Jr. and Frank Kell Cahoon on Mar 23, 1972....it is possible that your mother's brother or your mother conveyed an partial interest to the surface to M. McDonald, Jr. or Frank Cahoon. In any case, when each of those parties executed the Stipulation of Interest, all past conveyances become mute and from thereon, each of the parties named own the specified percentage of the surface/minerals(assuming all owners were party to the stipulation). Your ownership of the surface would be an undivided 1/4 of 1/3 (being 1/12). As far as your ability to lease the surface, I couldn't say for certain. I believe you would have possessory rights, but I would leave that to others on this forum or an attorney.
The NPRI could have happened at anytime before your grandfather owned the land (unlikely due to how long ago it was), or after he, and any successor to him owned it. The instruments I sent you were source documents, and not a complete title history, so it's possible, however unlikely, that someone could have conveyed or reserved a Non Participating royalty interest somewhere in the chain of title.
If you're concerned about your lease, I would advise you to speak with an Oil and Gas attorney and they can help you negotiate a custom lease form with the landman for a fee.