I am asking a question about filing mineral rights in a Texas County. I have a small property which I need to correct the ownship on (I am one owner but my brother is as well and I need to pick him up as an owner). I have tried to do this with a Quit Claim. The minerals involved are severed as the property itself was sold. To file a Quit Claim I needed a legal description for the property. I tried to get this from the oil company but was given the wrong information more than once. The oil company gave the legal description for one of the wellsl (not for the property). when I tried to get the legal description from the county, the county said I had to get a division order from the oil company. But the oil company would not give me a division order without a Quit Claim filed in the county and the county would not file a quit Claim without the legal description.
This has gone on since last summer. Mostly, the oil company and county have just not reponded.
I do now know how to file correctly (see below), thanks to another mineral rights poster.
"The description of the mineral acres should be exactly the same as the house and land if they were never severed until the sale of the land. "
But I cannot inderstand why the county and the oil company have for months not told me this already. I have repeatedly asked for this information.
I am wondering if this is just a quirk of the county I am in.
I apologize for posting on this county board but I was told it was a good board for a question such as I have.
Thanks.
You need to go back to the deed through which you acquired ownership and look at the legal description as well as the deed which severed the minerals which would be in your chain of title. Did you sell the property and retain the minerals? I suggest that you consult a title attorney to make sure that you correctly describe the minerals and what you are giving to your brother. A quit claim deed may not be advisable. The oil company and the county will never get involved in providing you legal advice as they could be sued if things go wrong. It is solely the responsibility of the mineral owner to ensure that his title is correct and up-to-date.
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My brother and I inherited the property. We rented it for a time and sold it sometime ago (10 years?) to a developer. It is a vacant lot at the moment. It is in the Barnett Shale in a mixed commercial and residential area. The lot is very small. I now know the legal description of the lot as I finally figured out the legal description of theproperty the house was on would have to be the legal description of the mineral property as well. However the oil compaany is telling me to use the legal description of a well (not the legal description of the property). The county is deferring to the oil company on everything. I know the wells (there are two wells) are on the county tax records. But I have been unable to find out how the county keeps records of the mineral owners showing the legal description of the property they own. The tax records do not have a legal description of the property. They list my name and the two wells, the interest I own in the wells, the operator. But no legal description ( i.e. there is no reference to a abstract (as far as I can tell) where I am listed as the owner of the mineral property.
It has always been my experience that the proper way to assign minerals is to use the legal description of the property. In your case you would have to describe the interest going to your brother, such as 1/2 of my interest in the minerals. NOT 1/2 of the minerals as you may not own 100% and so would be giving more than half of what you own. These deeds are tricky and you really should have an oil and gas title attorney review the wording. I am not sure that a quit-claim deed is appropriate where you are giving part and retaining part of the minerals. Do not take your legal advice from the oil company and the county employees as it is unlikely that they are attorneys who are experience with oil and gas title intricacies. Your attorney could tell you to note that the minerals are under lease and that the assignment includes the lease, but again the exact wording is important.
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