In 1909 my great grandparents along with 2 other couples secured mineral rights to 2 parcels in Belmont County, Ohio. My siblings and I received certified letters stating a company was interested in leasing. This all came as a surprise as we knew nothing about these mineral rights. I have been doing research online and see a few leases where the land (surface) owner was paid, not the mineral rights owners. How does this work? Who has the responsibility of making sure who owns what? Is there anything one can do to contact the prior companies and demand payment? Again new to this. Is there a paper we should file with the court recorder on heirship or deed so this is more clearly spelled out? Not living in Ohio, and knowing nothing about mineral rights, how would you suggest moving forward?
Previous interest in leasing does not guarantee that you are owed anything. Or that you legally own it, unfortunately. If there is production, the operator has obligations to pay the mineral rights owners. If you find production, contact the operators with your names and names of your predecessors and start there. What you should file depends on how you inherited it. Whether you should spend the money to file things depends on production.
This is worth contacting an Ohio attorney who is familiar with oil and gas to check this out. The leases should be reviewed by that attorney. You might want to begin with Mineral Help tab above to get familiar with the concepts and unique terms used. I’m not licensed in Ohio so cannot help out.
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.