I have a lease offer but I am stressing considerably trying to figure all of it out.
I inherited from my mom some oil, gas mineral rights, Richhill, Green County, PA. My sister was over my moms will & she is not giving me any info regarding what is actually owned. I would not sell her my share therefore she said she would see to it I never got any of the info or proceeds. I have been trying to find out info since 2014. I WANT TO CHECK OUT WHAT IS ON RECORD. PLUS I HAVE NO IDEA IF MY MOM OWNED ALL OR PART OF THE OIL, GAS MINERAL RIGHTS ON THE 145.5 acres & whatever she owned, only a third of that is mine.
I live in Texas & cant afford to go in debt traveling up there or paying an attorney. I have tried consulting attorneys in Waynesburg & here in Texas & all said they couldn’t help me & they didn’t do Pro Bono’s or do payment plans. I need help. I am very low income with medical issues.
My sister just retired from a bank several years back. Also I think she knew about these assets before mom died in 2002. My sis did not put any of this in the inventory . She called me in 2014 & said that there were assets found in Pennsylvania etc. Well you get the general idea.
I think I have figured out a lot of it but want to see records to be sure. But going to have to read this long drawn out lease offer etc when I get some Dr appointments & surgeries over with.
You said that you inherited. Was the will probated and if so, I would think it would be filed in the county where your mom lived. It should be public record. If it was not probated, then in order to get any royalties, it would probably need to be probated to prove that you and your sister actually have title. Was your sister the executor? If not, then find out who was.
If you have a lease offer, inquire from the agent what net acreage they show for you. That will give you a clue as to how much of the original 145.5 acres your mom actually had. Large tracts usually fractionate over time as the generations pass and folks pass on to the heirs.
The leases can be confusing at first read. In general, the first draft they offer is not going to be in your best interest since they want it to be in their best interest. Everything can be negotiated to get a better deal. Don’t worry about that now, just find out the net acres. Ask the agent where they got the information and if the will and probate were filed and where.
Good luck with your health issues in the meantime.
mtsh57,
We had the same thing happen to us last year. Richhill Township. 42+ acres. We live in California.
We negotiated and signed a lease with CNX gas last year.
I’ve been watching the county public records and there is great interest in the area. Currently pooled in with and 818+ acres well site and another 1108+ acres well site. Just waiting for the division orders to come thru. I suggest a brief visit to the Register & Recorder.
Search for deed transfers here: Welcome to US Land Records
Narrow down your search by state, county. There you’ll be able to enter the name of the land owner in question (your mom) and you should have records come up with her name to them. They charge .50 cents per page. Using a CC you can copy and or print those out. Save them. Look for heirship documents. some one filed those, that’s how they found you. A Land man with the gas company spent MANY hours tracking you down. Consider the lease and don’t sell. The Marcellus Shale they are after is BIG. Once you sell, you can’t get that back. Negotiate the lease with the land man. Call into Pennsylvania Bar Association and hire a lawyer to go over your contract. They work over the phone with your CC. Be sure to negotiate a Gross lease, NOT a Net lease. Paid up front Royalty bonus. Shoot for 18%. It will take over a year before things start rolling. Your properties mineral rights are part of a bigger plan. You should be in with the pool. Small change or big time income is up to you.
The will was probated but these assets were not mentioned. The finalization was in 2004. I have been looking online & my sis has been collecting I think since 2014. I had offers but they were purchase offers & I ignored them. I had 1 lease offer but it was fir maybe $1000 for a year or something. I messed with them then hung up on them cause I could tell they were trying to chump me. This lease offer now is the first I have gotten in over 3 years. There is a place on a page TITLED ‘ORDER OF PAYMENT’ it has a place TITLED ‘LEASOR’S VESTING DEED (if applicable’) under that it has this : WB 56/558 or 487//2591. Then it has another place that reads GROSS ACRES: 145.50000 then another place that reads: NET ACRES: 1.334722.
I Thought when I skimmed over it but Ave not read all of it yet.I had seen something about Royalties18% of the gross proceeds received by Lesse of gas & also oil. I have not had time yet to read all of the lease stuff yet. Have been to tired from other stuff to be able to read that long but hopefully will after today & a night of at least 8 hrs sleep,
So what can you tell me from that info? I do know the Parcel #'s 22-03-0123, 22-03-0123C, 22-03-0123D, 22-03-0123E , Richhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania , including lands described in deed from Patty Houston Trustee to Aldene Houston Polen, Robert B. Houston, Jr., Theodore S. Houston, J. Patrick Houston & Betty Houston by instrument dated April 1, 1946 & recorded Deed Book 425Page 82 containing approximately 145.5 acres, for all purposes of this Lease whether actually more or less & whether the tax map is correct, including small strips or parcels of contiguous land covered under Lessor’s source of title (collectively the Leased Premises) In the ORDER OF PAYMENT PAGE It says Lesse will make payment to Lessor in the amount of $3,500.00 per NET ACRE as described below) by check within said 180day period.
I think the rest is the usual stuff from skinning over it but like I said I have not sat down after sleeping for 8 hrs with nothing else to do but read it.
I can’t afford to pay anything to look up records . I have looked up & found things but was not able to read the documents. What can you tell me that will help me? I wont have any extra money or any credit card credit available for a few months. My CC’s are maxed out.
Sincerely,
mtsh57
Sounds like they have your information wrong to me. That acreage came from George E Houston and Florence Houston, to their children and so on. i don’t believe you fall in that line of succession of people that it describes above although you may fall in another line of succession. Are you signing for both the Marcellus and Utica or just the Utica?
Sam.
Well in response to. Your statement regarding you thought I had some wrong info & you didn’t see how I came to inherit. “My great aunt Patty Houston never married & never had any children. My mother was named after her. My mother’s father was Patty Houston’s Brother, Ralph Dickey Houston . Grandpa & great aunt children of George E & Florence. Because great aunt pat had no children, she willed her share to my mom who in turn willed it to her 4 children equally but my oldest sister died before my mom therefore leaving us ea 1/3 instead of 1/4 ea…
I was able to find what my sister had gotten in on after I found out we had the assets in 2014. Problem being my mom died in 2002. I found my sister’s name & memorandums filed but also found a document calledmended Declaration Of Pooling”. RHL 71HS B Unit. It showed a map that showed several people & their Parcel numbers all being connected into one unit, I think that is what I was seeing & figured was something like that. The document had an effective date of Sept 16, 2019. But I SEE THE FILE DATE AS 9/10/2020 . ALL OF THE the information I found has got me more confused. can can you share some light on this where I mean can you understand this or what let me know please sincerely mtsh 57
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Well in response to. Your statement regarding you thought I had some wrong info & you didn’t see how I came to inherit. “My great aunt Patty Houston never married & never had any children. My mother was named after her. My mother’s father was Patty Houston’s Brother, Ralph Dickey Houston . Grandpa & great aunt children of George E & Florence. Because great aunt pat had no children, she willed her share to my mom who in turn willed it to her 4 children equally but my oldest sister died before my mom therefore leaving us ea 1/3 instead of 1/4 ea…
I was able to find what my sister had gotten in on after I found out we had the assets in 2014. Problem being my mom died in 2002. I found my sister’s name & memorandums filed but also found a document calledmended Declaration Of Pooling”. RHL 71HS B Unit. It showed a map that showed several people & their Parcel numbers all being connected into one unit, I think that is what I was seeing & figured was something like that. The document had an effective date of Sept 16, 2019. But I SEE THE FILE DATE AS 9/10/2020 . ALL OF THE the information I found has got me more confused. can can you share some light on this where I mean can you understand this or what let me know please sincerely mtsh 57
Sorry for the confusion. What I mean was you said your lease states, “…to Aldene Houston Polen, Robert B. Houston, Jr., Theodore S. Houston, J. Patrick Houston & Betty Houston by instrument dated April 1, 1946 & recorded Deed Book 425Page 82 containing approximately 145.5 acres…” That is not how you came by your interest. You need to let the landman or whoever gave you the lease know that your interest came to you via Ralph D. Houston and Patty Houston. That should clear some things up.