Hello everyone. I have recently been contacted buy an oil and gas company regarding potential heirship to mineral rights dated back to the late 1800’s. Funny enough, being in the legal field and former estate field, I know nothing about this stuff and am learning a lot as I go. I stumbled across this forum and i am posting with hopes of getting some questions answered. The mineral rights belonged to my Great-Great grandfather, passed down to my Great Grandfather, passed down to my Grandparents, then to my father (deceased) and aunt (living). With my father and grandparents being deceased I am at a little bit of a loss here. Where do I start? I do not believe my father, or possibly even grandparents knew this asset existed.
I deal in this area quite a bit in several States, but never in OH. I would start by either asking the O&G CO for some basic title information. Will they provide you with recording citations or even possibly copies of documents so you can begin to develop a chain of title? Make sure to research intestate succession for OH if that is potentially an issue. Check to see if the County Recorders records are online. If not, that may require a trip to the courthouse to review the Grantor/Grantee indexes. A word of caution, review each estate to confirm whether it is a testate or intestate and document the facts. A family tree will not always agree with the chain of title. Good luck.
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Thanks James. I am going to reach out to the oil and gas company to see if they will share with me the documents they have. It seems they may be iffy to share certain things since they cannot determine the heirship without knowing who the trustees of my grandmothers trust were. The trust was created by a bank that no longer exists. The trust was mentioned in the will for the residue and remainder, and this technically falls into this category. (I think) This is where I am hitting a standstill and wonder if getting an Ohio gas and oil Attorney involved may be worth it in the long run.
You seem to have a plan. I highly suggest getting a copy of the initial deed into the family to start you title chain. Many times when you are contacted, the company is looking for assistance with issues like you have listed. If the estates went through probate, then the testamentary trust most likely is of record if it was used to progress the title; however, in many cases probates do not get filed in the property county for several reasons. This creates title confusion.
Hiring a landman, sometimes referred to in this area as an abstractor in this area, will probably be more helpful to you to collect documents to support the chain of title. A landman will also be the most cost efficient if you do not want to try collecting the documents yourself.
Geurnsey County Ohio does have records online Recorder – Guernsey County, so you may want to give that a try before hiring anyone. Any documents you collect are going to assist the professional you may hire to take the exam to the next level.