I have inherited mineral interests in Fayette and Fort Bend counties. One thing that I have never completely understood is how the number of mineral acres I have are determined and what determines where in the plot those mineral acres are located? For instance, in one lease I have 8 mineral acres. There are wells in the same named tract but I do not receive payments because my 8 acres are off in the corner. Thanks, in advance.
The amount of minerals that you own is determined by the title path they have gone through over the years. A person may have had 160 acres in the original patent granted by the government 100 or so years ago. As generations passed, the gross amount frequently decreases as grandpa granted to four children, then those children granted to their children, etc.
If the minerals are “undivided” then the percentage of ownership is spread over the original gross acres as outlined in the patent. For example, if you are in a section, township and range description, then the original patent might have been 160 acres in the Northwest Quarter. A current owner may have had 160 acres, but now there may be 20 owners and they each have 8 acres, but it is still in the NW quarter, but not a particular spot. If the designation is “divided”, then maybe one child specifically inherited the East Half of the NW4 and the other child inherited the West Half of the NW4. Not all that many are specifically divided.
On the wells and getting revenue. Each well has its own spacing of a certain number of drainage acres which is based on the product (gas or oil) and the pressure regime. Going back to the NW4 example, if your acreage is there, but the well is drilled in the SE4 with only 160 acres, then your acreage is not within the the SE4, so you get no royalties. Horizontal wells have much large spacing units, so you can actually have shallow vertical wells with smaller spacing in the same area as a deeper horizontal well with large spacing.
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Thanks for the reply…My grandfather was not the land owner but had interests in a ‘plot’ since the 1940’s that were passed on to my father. My father was an only child. When my father passed the interests were split equally between my sister and I. We each have 8 mineral acres, according to our attorney. So, you are saying that when my grandfather acquired the interests the location of the mineral interests were designated at that time? By the way, If you look at my profile picture you will see me standing by one of the wells in the Barb-Mag oilfield in Fort Bend county. I was 12 years old. My grandfather was a Geophysicist. He discovered that field in 1955.
The original ownership was granted at statehood by patent that described the land for the original owner. There is a title chain of control that is supposed to be filed in the country courthouse from the original holder through all the other hands that it passed through. These might include probate of wills, deed of sale, etc.
Okay. Got it. Thanks for your input.
Actually, that does not answer my question. When I receive notice that a company wants to drill on a certain survey and abstract and that I have 8 mineral acres there, what determines exactly where those 8 mineral acres are located?
Your deed says how or where it is located. If your deed has an “undivided” interest in the wording, then your acreage is eight acres spread out over the gross acres described. More like a percent of the whole and you have a net acreage in the whole amount and there is no specific location within the gross. If your deed has the word “divided” in it, then it will describe the location very specifically with lots of terms. “Divided” mineral rights are fairly rare.
An example might be that grandpa owned 160 acres of both surface and minerals. He deeded 150 mineral acres to his heirs and others in a deed that severed the surface acres from the mineral acres. He reserved the 160 surface acres for himself to farm and specifically reserved a “divided” mineral acreage of 10 acres right under his farmhouse, garden and the ten acres around it in very specific terms. The other 150 acres of mineral rights that were “undivided” were deeded to other people. They would share their nets over the “undivided” 150 acres. But his 10 acres were “divided” off and specific in their location.
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Please excuse me for being so ignorant on this subject but I don’t understand “your deed”. I am not the land owner. I just have mineral rights that were acquired by my grandfather in the 1940s.
According to my previous attorney, when an oil company showed interest in drilling, my inherited interests computed to 8 mineral acres. Those mineral acres were off in the corner of the property nowhere near where the oil company was thinking about drilling. Which they never did, by the way. After the time ran out for them to drill I ask for and received a release from the contract.
Again, excuse me for having a hard time understanding. I’m 77 years old and my brain has a hard time of things lately. Thanks for your reply.
Every mineral owner has a deed somewhere in their chain of title that gives the legal description of the property, and spells out what kind of interest they own. There are some exceptions to this, but my guess from what you’re telling me is that you are likely looking for a Mineral Deed from the 1940s from an unknown owner to your grandfather. The deed she’s talking about is the deed (or deeds) in the 1940s where your grandfather obtained his mineral rights. That is what is called a “source deed”. Part of what makes understanding this tough is the limitations of the English language and the colloquial usage of terminology. In oil and gas, we may call you a land owner, property owner, mineral owner, etc. in general terms. Mineral rights is property. Mineral rights is land ownership. Land owner does not mean surface only, which I think is how you’re interpreting it. You may not own the surface, but you own a part of what is under it, making you a land owner. Land owner is used as a general term.
If you find the source deed(s), that will give you the exact location of where your mineral interest is located. I feel the need to point out though, that if you find the source deeds, you may only have part of the puzzle. A lot can happen in a chain of title between 1940 and now. Your father or grandfather may have sold some of the interest originally acquired at some point. If all you care about is the location of the mineral rights, that deed is the best place to start. If you want to verify your ownership entirely, you will have to run a chain of title. Mineral interest has to be run from sovereignty, meaning from the date the State of Texas granted the land to the first property owner, all the way to end, meaning you. It can be time consuming to try to do on your own. You could consider hiring a landman if you want to go that route. If all you truly care about is figuring out the physical location of where your mineral rights are, your best and easiest option is finding the deed into your grandfather.
So, when I receive a call/email/letter from a land man that an oil company is interested in drilling on a location in which I have mineral rights and I contact an attorney to handle the negotiations the attorney will find the " source deed(s)" for me. Correct? Then, I am assuming that he will find the “divided/undivided” acres also. Correct? So, to be sure, I have to get my hands on that deed. The last two replies have helped a lot. Thank you all so much.
Yes, you can rely on a qualified oil and gas attorney or you can do some research on your own if you like hunting online. If you inherited, your description may have the information.
I’ll start online and graduate to an attorney if need be. Thanks for the help and replies.
You can search on the website Texasfile under each county. It looks like Ft. Bend County documents date pretty far back online. However, Fayette County only goes back to 1985 so your information available online may be limited.
You can always drive to the County Clerks office and search through the physical files for older records. Or hire a title professional to search for you.
I’ve been to Texas File. I’ve tried Fayette county online. No luck there. I can’t afford to hire someone to search for me at the moment and I can’t drive the 425.8 miles to the La Grange courthouse.
Hi Kraut,
I will be in La Grange/Hostyn this week for a funeral - I can’t promise that I will have time to swing by the courthouse (or if it will even be open to the public), but if you would like to provide your grandfather’s name and what you know of the legal description ( if the landman provided it) then I may be able to do a quick search for you while I’m in the area and have some spare time.
Have a great evening ~
Sorry if I’m misunderstanding/misremembering what you’re looking for, but you are still looking for your source deed? You don’t know the legal description of the land you own? Your attorney doesn’t know?
If that is the case, try calling the County Clerk and see what the process is to have them run a search for your grandfather’s name. Every county is different. Just tell them your situation and ask them what their process is to have them run a search for your grandfather’s name from the decade you think he bought it to present. It’s likely $5 plus a dollar a page for whatever document(s) they find. Government is often slow. Don’t be surprised or get mad if they tell you to send a letter and a check before they’ll help you. While inconvenient, that’s common, and if you can’t hire someone to help you, you’re at the whim of what the Clerk’s office demands. If I were you, I’d have a comprehensive list of every possible alias your grandfather may have gone by. If he was well known by his initials, a nickname, an alias, etc. include that as well in your request. Some offices may charge per name searched, some may charge by legal description, it just depends. Good luck.
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