Question on my warranty deed

Oil and Gas Leasing Help
1

I live in Laramie County. I purchased my property from a private party. There is NO mention of mineral rights on my deed. Then I researched her deed, again no mineral rights. But, the investment group that purchased this ranch, rec'd 50% of the mineral rights.

In the deed, shouldn't they have either retained, or excluded the minerals?

Does that mean, that the minerals automatically are transferred with the sale of the land?

There must be state statues regarding warranty deeds, and mineral rights?

2

Unless reserved by the seller or grantor, minerals are automatically transferred with the sale of the land. This would assume that there were no prior reservations. The minerals may already be out. You don't know.

You would have to run it all out, or complete a chain of title to figure out what is going on.

3

thanks Dave, I will do the research...

4

The Warranty Deed will normally only mention mineral rights specifically if they are reserved. What leads you to believe that the investment group received 50% of the rights? If there is no mention of a reservation in the Warranty Deed, then any mineral rights owned by the Grantor at the time will normally be conveyed. However, if they didn't own any rights at the time because of previous reservations, then typically the deed will not make a mention of them. In order to determine the exact ownership of the minerals, a title search from "Patent-Present" will be needed to determine the ownership which means that every conveying document will need to be analyzed in order to search for reservations. You can send me your property description and Id be happy to see if I have any title information regarding your tract as I have worked in Laramie in the past and covered quite a bit of land at the time.

5

Thank you for your response. From the late 1800's, till 1988 this land all belonged to the Bruegman family.

In 1988 I found the warranty deed where the land was conveyed to the buyer, Then there was a corrective warranty deed, added 50% of the minerals. The Bruegman family have oil and gas leases from the early days, up to 2010.

So, I believe the family has retained 50%. Then in June 2005, the land and minerals went to First American Title Insurance Co, (This is Tres Brooks of Brooks Reality)

Diamond B Ranch and Remington Ranch property owners that bought their property in 2005 and 2006, are being sued. But, if we sign a QuitClaim Deed, reassuring that we do NOT have the mineral rights, then our name will be withdrawn from the law suit. Mr Brooks, and his employees forgot to mention in the warranty deed, that they are retaining the mineral rights... ALSO, I was offered back in 2010 an oil and gas lease (I turned them down) Also, in 2010, I found a recorded mineral deed to First American (Brooks) for all the land at the Dia. B Ranch, but then 3 months later, I found a recorded Release of Oil and Gas.

So, I believe, I do have a portion of the oil and gas. Mr. B, in my opinion is a horses a__.

I am in T17N R64W, section 17, if you have anything new, I would appreciate it very much.

Otherwise, looks like I will need to find an atty, to protect what I own...

6

It sounds as though you should have 50% of the minerals according to record title (If I'm understanding the situation correctly and you purchased from Brooks without a reservation in the Warranty Deed).

The release that you mentioned more than likely would have been a Release of Oil and Gas Lease, not the mineral conveyance.

I would not sign a quit claim without talking to an attorney. When I worked in Cheyenne, I worked quite a bit with Brent Kunz (downtown Cheyenne-Hathaway and Kunz )who is an oil and gas attorney for the Hales (Wyoming Hereford Ranch) and others in the area and seemed to represent his clients interests very well in negotiations. I would seek his advice or another attorney in the area you trust to defend your title because unless there was a letter of intent or another document stating the minerals were to be reserved (by Brooks), then the recorded deed is what will have legal precedence in my opinion.

I looked in my records and unfortunately do not have title in your township.

Good luck, it is not uncommon for people to realize they "accidentally" conveyed mineral rights once the landmen start calling but it sounds like you are in the right.

7

thanks again Adam. Mr Brooks is using Hathaway and Kunz...

and yes, it was a release of Oil and Gas Lease.

You, are quite knowledgeable...Question, I have been searching WY State Statues, looking up mineral rights, and what deeds have to say. I can find nothing... You and others have said, If the owner/grantor has mineral rights, and does not retain/reserve them on the deed, then the mineral rights transfer with the land.

Where, do you find that information? Is this state, or federal requirements???

No, I will NOT sign any quit claim without talking to an attorney...

8

Your question seems to be directed more towards Wyoming Title Standards. I'm sure someone on here knows the answer, but you could also look at Wyoming Title Standards / Real Estate (Title) laws. A title company who writes policies for Wyoming or a title attorney / oil and gas attorney for Wyoming should also be able to give you a definitive answer, and maybe point you to the direct source of the laws which you are seeking.

Faith Moulton said:

thanks again Adam. Mr Brooks is using Hathaway and Kunz...

and yes, it was a release of Oil and Gas Lease.

You, are quite knowledgeable...Question, I have been searching WY State Statues, looking up mineral rights, and what deeds have to say. I can find nothing... You and others have said, If the owner/grantor has mineral rights, and does not retain/reserve them on the deed, then the mineral rights transfer with the land.

Where, do you find that information? Is this state, or federal requirements???

No, I will NOT sign any quit claim without talking to an attorney...

9

Faith-

I guess that going to Kunz would not be a good idea then since he is representing Brooks, I looked through my contacts and don't seem to have any other recommendations off hand but it shouldn't be a complicated issue that needs more than an average real estate attorney:/

As far as finding the Title Standards for Wyoming, Kitchen was correct in suggesting an attorney. I have examined title in several states and as far as what is required on deeds its more or less a common issue of contract law and what applies in this case is what is known as the "Four Corners Rule". Basically, in the deed itself, the exact ownership of rights is not expressed because the Deed will clearly state what is being conveyed by the Grantor-they either convey, "All of their Right, Title and Interest....." or make reservations of the mineral estate (or a portion thereof).

You want to look at your Deed and look for language similar to the excerpt above, if you do not see any specific reservation language then it is my opinion that the burden of proof will be on Brooks, to show that the intent of the actual agreement was to reserve the mineral rights and it was simply omitted in error.

Was there a Letter Agreement, Letter of Intent or any other correspondence prior to executing the Warranty Deed, in which any mention of Brooks' intent to reserve the minerals was mentioned?

10

Yes, Kunz is saying that the mineral rights were omitted in error, He had always planned on retaining them.

So, am I to go ahead and give him a quitclaim deed, just because one of him employees forgot to retain the minerals in the warranty deed?

And, I did not buy from him. I bought from a private party, and she was the one that purchased thru the Brooks Realty. She bought this property in Jan 2006. Is there not a statue of limitations?

All I have is a copy of her recorded Warranty Deed, and my deed.

And, as far as Letter of Intent, or any mention of Brooks' intent to reserve the minerals, not that I know of.

I was told, that the later sales, maybe in 2007 or 2008, he did retain mineral rights.

At this point, I am going to have to shell out some, and see what my legal options are.

Adam, you have been most helpful and I sure appreciate all your info

thanks, again

11

Issues like this should be handled by the title insurance company (if a policy was purchased). Especially with the issue of whether or not the deed was written correctly. If you had a policy when you bought it, I would start by calling the title company. Yes I know they don’t insure minerals, but they should be able to give you quick answers to your situation.

12

ok, I will give the title company a call, thank you, Kitchen, I appreciate your help

13

Please keep us updated if you can, I'd like to hear how it all turns out.

14

That may or may not work. Their emphasis is mainly surface. A deed may or may not list all prior mineral reservations. If it doesn't, that doesn't invalidate the deed.

The original reply was the best one. She is just going to have to do a full mineral title search or take-off. All the rest makes for great conversation, but that is what she will need to do. I'm not expecting that the title company will offer to do that for her.

15

No problem, I have ran across a similar situation in the past when working with a landowner in ND but in that case there was a Letter of Intent that outlined the reservation of minerals so he ended up signing a corrective deed. In your case, it seems as though you should be okay with a little help from an attorney but again just looking at it from a high level understanding.

It sounds as though the closing companies errors and omission insurance may have to pay him a claim because at the time you bough the property the price you paid included the minerals! I imagine it will be diffucult to come and take those away from you simply because of an error on their part.

As Kitchen said, please keep us informed on the outcome!
Best of Luck!!!!

16

I don't think it follows that her deed is telltale, or that she paid more for the minerals. I think someone would have to read her deed, and it sounds like a full mineral title search would answer all of her questions. She is a novice and only can throw out the bones for consideration that she deems appropriate. No one here has actually read anything applicable to her mineral title.

17

Yes, I will keep you all updated, again, thanks for all your help...

18

You don't know what she owns. Are you going to drill it straight-up?

19

Apologize, my previous response was posted to the wrong thread