I recieved the name of an attorney in N. Dakota. (I live in Ohio) where my deceased mother owned with 5 other siblings, and passed on to my sister and me her mineral rights.
He informed me that although I have a document filed with the court that my mother did in 1987 of her interest in the rights, I will have to first deed them in her name than probate her estate and deed them in our name. The fee for each step is $2000, total $4000. Seems pretty steep, or is this the going rate?
Last June we had an offer to lease and pay bonus on it for $450 an acre total $30,000, but Sullivan defunked on it and never paid, after I called and called they finally sent me a letter in Dec saying the cancelled the lease. They found me, and I helped them find some of the other siblings, then I got cut out. I came to find out they paid 2 of the 6 siblings - cancelled or didn't even make offers to the rest. This and living out of state has me wondering if I need an attorney.
By the way, the rest of the siblings and their heirs don't seem to be very forthcoming with information. I had asked if we should all be united and in agreement - but they seem to think it is every man for himself. The copy of the will that passed it down states it goes to all 6 with equal interest. But with 2 of them recieving $30,000 each and the other 4 recieving nothing doesn't seem to equal to me already. I assume we won't get any offers until their lease expires due to the split interest. And wonder if they drill, will we get any royalties.
Shar, if your family no longer owns the surface I think all you need do for the time being would be a statement of claim for your mineral rights, so your rights could not be extinguished, something you could do yourself.
As long as you have the ability to lease, I would not worry about perfecting title. Even after leasing I would not worry about perfecting title until someone started drilling, and producing some oil. I would also do a quiet title action rather than a couple of probates so you only need one court action, hopefully everyone will join in the expenses.
You also do not need an oil and gas lawyer for a probate or quiet title, those who style themselves as oil and gas lawyers probably charge alot more than a real estate lawyer. I hope this helps.
Shar, your family members were lucky to get paid. Chesapeake, through Sullivan did what they do, blow into town throwing lease offers everywhere and blow out again when they don't find the killing they are looking for. I doubt they even did seismic on your acres. CHK did not find the immediate gratification they needed to pull them out of financial difficulty and they left ND, they still have unexpired leases there though. CHK has made alot of money in the past selling their leasehold to someone else, they get in cheap and sell out dear if things pan out. A company doesn't need to lease everyone if they just want to speculate with a position.
Thanks, what is a quiet title? The attorney told me that a statement of claim was nothing.
I hate to spend alot of money if there is no interest in the land. But do want to be able to be found and contacted if there is ever any interest in leasing the land. Would a statement of claim do that for us?
r w kennedy said:
Shar, if your family no longer owns the surface I think all you need do for the time being would be a statement of claim for your mineral rights, so your rights could not be extinguished, something you could do yourself.
As long as you have the ability to lease, I would not worry about perfecting title. Even after leasing I would not worry about perfecting title until someone started drilling, and producing some oil. I would also do a quiet title action rather than a couple of probates so you only need one court action, hopefully everyone will join in the expenses.
You also do not need an oil and gas lawyer for a probate or quiet title, those who style themselves as oil and gas lawyers probably charge alot more than a real estate lawyer. I hope this helps.
Release of oil and gas lease? I recieved my original signed lease back with the letter saying they were no longer interesed.
Someone asked me if they registered or filed their lease claim. How do I know? How do I find out. They told me if they did, I could not lease, and nobody to even consider an offer because it is legally taken.?????? They said that the two that did sign gave them the right to register or file staking claim to that land. That would tie up or rights for the duration of the lease even though we did not get paid. Is this correct?
Can I search the land records on line?
Shar,
If they filed it of public record, there should be some type of file stamp on it put there by the clerk when they accepted it for filing.
I wouldn't worry about it too much. It appears that they no longer were interested in your lease, and returned the original to you, unless of course there are any marks on lease made by the clerk's office. In that case, it would be evidence that it was filed.
Shar, McKenzie and Dunn counties actually stamp the original lease and return it, I have never recorded anything in Stark county though. I did a search Shar and did not find a recorded lease for you. I did a little looking on the map and you are about 2-3 miles away from a verticle gas well that seems to have fair production, 391,221 thousand cubic feet of gas from february to april of 2013 from the Winnipeg formation. Might be something there for the future.
Shar, a quiet title action is the court looking at the facts to determine the ownership of real property. If nobody else is claiming your property, it should be a smooth process. The court will determine who owns the property giving you marketable title immediately and allow you to perfect title after a period of time which would bar all claims, even if someone else had a better claim than you. It would skip over any probates that have not been done.
Shar, as for the lawyer telling you the statement of claim is nothing, there are quite a dew people who no longer own their minerals because the surface owner was able to reclaim them because there was no statement of claim, no lease, no lien against the minerals or any other use for the last 20 years. That lawyer may have been telling you a statement of claim was nothing because he wouldn't make much money off of helping you with it. I'd find a new lawyer. Like I said before, you could do a statement of claim yourself. The statement of claim need not be exact, although your legal description seems to be pretty thorough. The statement of claim does nothing but prevent your claim from being extinguished under the ND dormant minerals law.
Thanks, you guys are so helpful. I have downloaded and printed the Statement of Claim forms for my sister and myself. Can I mail it in? What department? Can I call and ask how and where to send it as well as pay the fee. How do I ask the court to do a quiet title? And where do I find information on how to get it, and how it works.
Also, thanks so much for the land search and information. Will have to learn how to do that too.
Since you were all so helpful, I will be able to save alot of money and do the thing you mentioned instead of hiring an attorney. This is a great site!
Shar, you need to call the county recorders office to find out their fee schedule, I would guess $30 or less. I am sure you can send it in. I usually send a money order although I believe they probably take checks. Make sure your form leaves room in the margin for the barcode, 1-1/4 inches is fine and 3-1/2 inches at the bottom so the recorder has room for the seal. Filing one page is ideal but if your form does not have space for the barcode and seal they will charge you for an extra page just for the barcode and seal. The recorder should send you back the original. Don't be surprised if it takes a couple weeks for the original to return. I hope this helps.
Thanks again, I will call on Monday and get this process started. I will also inquire about a quiet title.
Shar, I think quiet title is the way to go but I don't think you need to dig into your pocket for it until some drilling actually starts. The statement of claim will act as a placeholder for 20 years.
20 years, wow! I'm glad I have joined this group. So, I will do that, and worry about a deed if and when there is any interest.
I think that would be the way to go.
Shar Kullman said:
20 years, wow! I'm glad I have joined this group. So, I will do that, and worry about a deed if and when there is any interest.