Hello,
I was looking for some help with needed info for mineral heirship rights. Lawyer says i need to track down surface owner deed for reeves section. Our family is not being helpful and mom didnt have will. Not sure if surface rights are even owned by my family anymore but they all show up tied to leases under texas file. For reeves county TX township 5 section 40 block 55. Having trouble tieing that down to address and where i would be able to get surface deed. Any suggestions?
If you’ll search Reeves County Appraisal District’s online records by legal description you should be able to find the current surface ownership.
https://www.reevescountytax.org/searchowner
Once you have the name of the folks currently paying taxes on the surface you sould be able to track down their acquisition deed in the County Clerk’s records.
Here’s where you can do free searches and print documents from the deed records. https://reeves.tx.publicsearch.us/
Section 40 has 5 separate abstract numbers, essentially dividing into 5 tracts. Four tracts are mineral classified which means that the State of Texas owns the minerals and the surface owner leases on behalf of the State, as agent for the State. (A-5252, A-5330, A-5424 and A-5411) The surface owner then receives 1/2 of related bonus and royalties. Minerals under 5th tract are not owned by State. For mineral classified, if surface owner sells the surface, then the leasing and related income goes to the new surface owner. You will need to search the deed records to see filings for title in the names of your family, including your mother, to determine if they still own the surface or have sold. Look for the same names in the Reeves County CAD (county appraisal district) records as the surface owners will be listed as they are assessed taxes on both surface and minerals.