My mother received a letter from a Landsman stating she is an heir to 640 acres of mineral rights in Marshall co WV and they want to start drilling soon. The aunt had been dead for 22 years and had no living spouse, children, or siblings. We have so many questions before she signs the Affidavit of Death and Heirship.We dont know if this is a good or bad thing. How lucrative could this be? Could there be 22 years of back taxes owed? My mother is almost 80 and could not afford such a burden. Do we trust the Landsman or do we need to retain an attorney? We have no idea where to start.
- If she does in fact own 640 acres of minerals, it could be very valuable.
- Marshall County, WV is a good producing county. In some spots, the wells are extraordinary.
- The affidavit of death and heirship, if accurate, is a good thing.
- Not likely she is going to owe 22 years of back taxes. If the tax collector was that far behind, the property would have been placed up for sal.
- Consulting a knowledge oil and gas attorney would be in order and a good idea. It need not be somebody in Marshall county. It is more important that they know oil and gas.
Welcome to the forum. Marshall County is a very rich mineral concern. My wife has interests there that are producing. You need to determine how many of the total 640 acres you actually own as net mineral acres. The landman should know this figure. Because the potential acreage is large I would seriously consider talking to an Oil & Gas attorney who can sort out much of the necessary information and then negotiate for you. Potentially this could yield a very large return. There are many particulars we could discuss such as royalty rates 18%, bonus amounts per net acre $4,500 to $5,000 and a no cost clause in a lease. What production company is the landman representing? See what the landman says and then maybe you can determine how to proceed. They always lowball on any first offer. Don’t let them rush you into a decision.
It’s unlikely that there are any back taxes owed. Even if there were, taxes on non-producing oil and gas rights are pretty small, and you can only owe 10 years back taxes in West Virginia, by law. So, assuming a best case scenario where your aunt owned all of the 640 acres (which is unlikely, by the way) the taxes would probably be a few hundred to maybe a few thousand dollars per year, for ten years. That might seem like a lot, but keep in mind that the signing bonus for a lease is going to be in the thousands of dollars per acre, so it would be worth it.
The most likely scenario is that your aunt owned a small fraction of the 640 acres, so any back taxes (if there were any owed at all) would likely be small. It sure would be fun to find out you owned 640 net mineral acres, though. Talk about winning the lottery!