We were told by someone to request lease to be changed from "post production" to "at the wellhead" royalties...not sure if that is correct lingo. When talking over telephone with the Antero person he said no problem and could change it to read "market enhancement". Is this the same thing?
He also had incorrect info that I had 4 siblings instead of 3...all of this heir stuff is very confusing to me!!! Anyone know any tips to make sense of it. We live out of state but are willing to go to West Union if knew what to do once we get there. Or is there anyone reputable anyone would recommend to do title research and what is the going rate for their services?
It generally takes a lawyer a to make the "lingo" "correct." And I am not a lawyer. But my understanding is that "market enhancement" is just another name for post-production costs. The wording can get tricky. If you are attempting to negotiate your own lease through a landman, you had sure as heck better know more about all that stuff than he does--he doesn't work for you, he works for them.
The landman does not really care if his information is correct, as long as he can tie up the land for Antero's use, and inducing confusion is a favortie tactic or negotiators the world over. The landman would love to trick you into doing all his research and legwork for him. Make HIM put together something you think you may be willing to sign, but don't sign it until after you have run the near-final document by a lawyer or someone with experience and expertise in gas-lease negotiation whom you trust to be familiar with WV law.
True definitive title research is an expensive, exhaustive, detailed specialty, and Antero has hired the only ones that Antero will trust. Don't sign anything you don't agree with, and make sure your lease has a clause releasing you from responsibility for the title. In Antero's own words:
"It is our practice in acquiring oil and gas leases or interests not to incur the expense of retaining lawyers to examine the title to the mineral interest at the time of acquisition. Rather, we rely upon the judgment of oil and gas lease brokers or landmen who perform the fieldwork in examining records in the appropriate governmental office before attempting to acquire a lease in a specific mineral interest. Leases in the Appalachian Basin are particularly vulnerable to title deficiencies due the long history of land ownership in the area, resulting in extensive and complex chains of title."--http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/filing.ashx?filingid=8938776
Let's be safe out there. They have several teams of lawyers they can use whenever they decide they feel like it. We often need at least one to help us have a decent lease to be even minimally protected in dealing with them.
ps-Hopefully some of the posters with more experience than I have (since I have very little) will chime in with better advice soon.
The most important thing, I think, is to make sure you have an attorney to help. I recommend Kyle Nuttall, who posts on this site, and who lives in the next county over from Doddridge.
About the heir business, do you know how far back was the ancestor who owned the property? Have you been getting a tax bill for it? I think I just read that some county, maybe Doddridge, does not tax non producing property. How far back did your family live in Doddridge County? Talk with siblings, parents (if still around), aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. who might know family history. That is a good idea, anyway.