My grandmother passed away in August 2023 and I am her sole beneficiary in the her will, I went through wetzel county ancillary probate and it closed January 16th making me the owner of 48.5 acres of mineral rights, almost 9 acres in wetzel county and 39.5 acres in Tyler county. I didn’t hire the probate attorney but he valued it at $132,732 which I’m not sure is accurate! I’m new to this and I don’t want to scammed out of my inheritance! I have no children, no family, it’s just me and I want to sell the mineral rights and do something nice with the money! I don’t know how much it’s actually worth or where to sell it! Any help would be so appreciated!
You need a broker to sell your mineral rights at a good price, an accountant to help you for any tax-related considerations, and an engineer to conduct a retrospective appraisal on your mineral rights. This appraisal can assist in reducing your capital gains tax liability when you sell your mineral rights.
Disclaimer: I’m an engineer, not a lawyer or landman or accountant. Please take a grain of salt on my comments.
Ok Thank you so much My_PE
Hi,
The probate lawyer’s valuation is probably a much lower number than an actual appraisal with the intention to sell. (I also inherited, but am not selling). Definitely listen to the engineer in the previous comment (My_PE). Get an appraisal. Good luck!
Tyler and Wetzel are very active and full of Wet Gas, I would suggest not selling. My family used Miller Law Offices and MAA or AMCO. Local to West Virginia they have a lot of professional oil and gas Petroleum Landman, Geologist, and Attorneys along with Mineral Advisors and Aprassiers. All of them are highly recommended.
There are a multitude of factors that figure into such a decision, but expediency should not be one of them.
These mineral rights could very well be quite valuable. Indeed you have much to learn and it would be most advisable to do so before soliciting to sell.
You speak of acreage you inherited, but the significant factor is the “net” mineral acreage and not the gross acreage. Do you know for a fact that you own roughly 40 net acres or do you have an unknown interest in 40 gross acres?
Depending on where the property is and if a production company wants to lease it, it’s quite common to see $4000 per “net” acre in lease bonus money offered. Multiply $4000 by the net acre interest you own.
Then, should the lease be drilled successfully, a 16% royalty can generate substantial monthly income for years.
A recent example that was shared here indicated $1300 per acre per month at initial production.
A little multiplication should illustrate how significant lease bonus, plus royalty payments can represent serious money.
Everyone’s needs and decisions are different, but mineral rights in active drilling communities are not moves one wants to make without serious consideration and study.
If you decide to sell, make sure you shop around the internet. Find a TRUE end buyer, and avoid brokers.
If you have 48.5 acres of minerals in Tyler and Wetzel Counties, I’d hold on to them. You should be able to lease them and get a signing bonus of about $4,000 per acre. That number is dependent on whether some company actually wants to lease them, of course. Some parts of Tyler and Wetzel are less active than others. Of course, if selling them will make an enormous difference in the way you live your life, or if you have an investment that you’re more familiar with that you can put the proceeds into, then sell. But if you’re financially stable, seriously consider keeping them. If you do sell, try to get north of $5,000/acre for them.
Why does my reply’s have to approved 1st? The Constitution says I have a right to freedom or speech not the right to get an approval on my words!
Ok so I called Eqt gave my grandmothers owner number they said they have nothing under that number but yet they send checks to my house! The lady with Eqt sounded so shady like a con-artist or least that’s the vibe I picked up from her! I told this lady about all the mail I got from a Kathy at EQT over the years with lease numbers and that lady said she could not find anything under those lease numbers so I spoke up and said why are you sending checks to my house for my grandmother then? She said they could be sending it because the lease is with Antero Resources because they bought them out but I already know Antero Resources is still open and operating because my grandmother signed a lease with them on other mineral rights! Then I was going at it with this lady I found a letter from EQT that states there’s 212 acres not 48.5 acres so I asked the lady where’s the other 163.5 acres of mineral rights she said there’s nothing on my grandmother or me so where’s the other 163.5 acreage?
Dear FM, I suspect you know the answer to all this. If there is a dispute as to the number of acres, some question about past production, and who operates the well, you will need to pay for legal advice. Free legal advice or general advice will not resolve this.
@FearfullyMade, go to where the county records are maintained and research what your family owns. Then you can speak to EQT with authority. Should you decide to engage an attorney, or another qualified professional to assist, the process will be much more efficient if you can first provide the chain of title with copies of the recorded deeds.
I did a little digging here. Looks like when the LO’s Grandmother leased this toe Triad Hunter back in 2012, they took 12 leases on the subject 39.5 ac tract. LO’s grandmother leased it to ANT in April 2023 w/ a ROFR on purchasing.
WVOGM~ last night I got the county website and I found the numbers EQT claims there’s not but yet I have years of check stubs and paperwork because I took care of my grandmother for 25 years before she died! There’s 200+ acres not 48.5 and I have that lease with a map of the land and the wells and I’m EQT again I’m pointing those liars!
FM- be sure to understand that we deal with net acres, not gross acres when speaking about minerals. EQT most likely bought the lease from Antero. They did not buy Antero. EQT has done their diligence to determine the ownership. If you disagree with them, hire someone to check your title for you and see what you get. You will not get anywhere with complaints without documentation. Maps are not documentation but copies of filed deeds are. Good luck.
I went to the wetzel county tax site and my value on a lease is $830 but yet when I look up other people on the same lease theirs is $24,000 or $3,600 or $9,670 so why is my share less and their share more if its split equally?
WVOGM who is LO’s? My grandmothers name was Catherine not LO! 
I did a lot of a lot of research and it’s 858 acres not 48.5 acres! I know I own a share not all acres but here’s the thing my grandmother only got 2 leases on tax inquiries and the 3rd lease there’s nothing on it but others heirs are so they me back pay for 12 years and not top of that back pay for 5 others leases they did not include my grandmother on in 2013 and 2014 that’s a whole lot of back pay!!!
LO is legal owner, I think.
If you want to sell the property, you could try contacting EnergyNet. It is an online auction house for oil and gas interests and properties. Before accepting a property for auction, they will ask you to furnish certain specific information about the property. If you are able to furnish the information they require and you are able to have them list the property for sale at auction, I believe they will allow you to establish a “reserve” price for the property (if you want to), meaning that you would not have to sell unless the specified “reserve” price is offered. The price or prices you are offered in such an auction might help to establish the value of the property.