Ratification of a Lease

Greetings all....this is about a "ratification of a lease"

Our LLC has been asked to sign a "ratification of a lease" for the lease my now -deceased mother-in-law signed in 2006. This lease was amended in 2009 to include a higher percentage of royalty, etc...

Following is the lease...it's not that long...but looking for input if anyone else has experienced this...Here goes...

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:

That for a valuable consideration, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the undersigned: do(es) hereby ratify, adopt and confirm in all respects an Oil and Gas Lease dated the day of ____ between (mom-in-law) as Lessor and , (Oil Company) as Lessee, said lease being recorded , and all extensions and amendments thereof (including but not limited to the Amendment of Oil and Gas Lease executed by (me), and (my wife), as personal representatives of the Estate of (mom-in-law’s name), deceased, and recorded (date) in Document #1111111) covering all of that certain tract of land situated in the County of Roosevelt , State of North Dakota , described as follows:

Insofar as the above referenced "Lease" covers the following described lands:

(legal description of land and number of acres)

and do(es) hereby grant, lease and let the land described in said lease unto the above named Lessee, it's heirs, successors, and assigns, upon the terms and conditions and subject to the provisions of the lease, and said lease is by reference made a part hereof with the same force and effect as if the undersigned had originally joined in the execution thereof as Lessor.

I've been told that this is a common thing...but wanted to check this out with the corporate wisdom that I've found on this site. Note that I deleted the specifics so as to keep this somewhat confidential. THANKS for offering your experience and wisdom.

Dave

Nothing uncommon. Just an acknowledgement on your behalf that your mother took the lease and you are bound to it as an heir because it is still effective.

That's my reading also...but I wanted to have some other eyes take a look before I sign off on this. THANKS Gene!!

Gene O. said:

Nothing uncommon. Just an acknowledgement on your behalf that your mother took the lease and you are bound to it as an heir because it is still effective.

Mr. Peterson, since you and your wife executed the ammendment to the lease I see no reason why you would not ratify the lease. I am always curious though that if the original lease was done properly and legally, was binding as stated on all heirs (you and your wife) and assigns (the llc), why is a ratification needed at all? I have a tendency to not put my name on any document I don't see a need for. I do not return division orders for wells in the state of North Dakota because by law the operator must pay me whether I returned the division order or not. If someone can convince me there is a real need for my signature they can have it but if they can't convince me then they don't get it.

Dave: I'm reading this 60 days after your posting, but your rat. says Roosevelt County, North Dakota.

Where's that?

Montana...Oops!!



Steve said:

Dave: I'm reading this 60 days after your posting, but your rat. says Roosevelt County, North Dakota.

Where's that?

Now that I reread this...wow...you are right. I never noticed...the lease ratification says NORTH DAKOTA in it...and YOU ARE RIGHT!! When I first replied, I thought ND was in my writings...however...it's in the lease ratification. WOW...I think I will let this sit...and see what happens as we are already receiving the royalties from this lease anyway. Thanks for catching it for us!!! Interesting to see what happens!! Also note, I had legal folks look this over as well as several others and NOBODY else caught this!!!

I wouldn't expect much to happen other than sometime in the future you will be sent a correction to sign off on.

Congrats on the royalties! Keep em coming!

Oil companies so busy these days it's amazing how much stuff gets missed. Even in Drilling Title Opinions.