Can anyone help me with how to go about reserving mineral rights. We own 50% mineral rights on 40 acres in Arapahoe County but are getting ready to sell. How do keep our mineral rights, or does that have to even be stated anywhere. Any information would be helpful and appreciated. Thanks.
Cathy:
The reservation of the mineral rights is usually addressed in the contract between the buyer and seller of real estate. You may want to get some legal assitence regarding the wording of the clause but definitely have that in the contract as you never want to sell your minerals.
Cathy,
If your deed fails to mention the mineral rights it is then considered that those rights were transferred along with the surface to the purchaser. So beware that it is not 'forgotten' during the closing process!
Hi Cathy,
Whenever I put some land in Texas on the market last year, I made it known to the realtor listing the property for sale that I was reserving all of my 50% interest in the minerals pertaining to the oil and gas. Whenever I got a contract from a Buyer, the Farm & Ranch sales contract stated that the deed to Buyer from Seller will contain the following reservation:
X hereby reserves and retain for themselves, their legal representatives, successors and assigns forever, all of their undivided interest in the oil, gas and other minerals in, under, and that may be produced from the property (collectively the Oil and Gas), provided, however, not included within the definition of Oil and Gas are minerals that form a part of the surface or soil such as sand, iron ore, gravel, uranium or limestone.
I further waived and relinquished any use of the Surface of the property for the exploration and/or removal of such Oil or Gas. The reason I was able to waive use of the surface is that when I negotiated an oil and gas lease on the property prior to selling, I excluded any surface operations from the lease. I concluded that most Buyers might want to build a house and not be subject to drilling on that tract. However, with a horizontal well, my minerals can be pooled into a non-drill site unit. I would have had difficulty selling the property at my price without the surface waiver. The oil company wasn't thrilled about the surface waiver, but they had other leases for a drill site and knew they weren't getting my lease without it. They can deal with the new surface owner should the need arise.
Whenever the transfer deed was drawn up for me to sign as Grantor, the same reservation language was in the Warranty Deed as in the sales contract. As others advised you, the deed must have the mineral reservation or else they pass to the Buyer with the land.
…and if I had not had the surface waiver in the sales contract and had not excluded all operations in the oil and gas lease, the reservation in my transfer deed would have included language to reserve the right of ingress and egress for development of my mineral interest.
6th Generation Texan said:
Hi Cathy,
Whenever I put some land in Texas on the market last year, I made it known to the realtor listing the property for sale that I was reserving all of my 50% interest in the minerals pertaining to the oil and gas. Whenever I got a contract from a Buyer, the Farm & Ranch sales contract stated that the deed to Buyer from Seller will contain the following reservation:
X hereby reserves and retain for themselves, their legal representatives, successors and assigns forever, all of their undivided interest in the oil, gas and other minerals in, under, and that may be produced from the property (collectively the Oil and Gas), provided, however, not included within the definition of Oil and Gas are minerals that form a part of the surface or soil such as sand, iron ore, gravel, uranium or limestone.
I further waived and relinquished any use of the Surface of the property for the exploration and/or removal of such Oil or Gas. The reason I was able to waive use of the surface is that when I negotiated an oil and gas lease on the property prior to selling, I excluded any surface operations from the lease. I concluded that most Buyers might want to build a house and not be subject to drilling on that tract. However, with a horizontal well, my minerals can be pooled into a non-drill site unit. I would have had difficulty selling the property at my price without the surface waiver. The oil company wasn't thrilled about the surface waiver, but they had other leases for a drill site and knew they weren't getting my lease without it. They can deal with the new surface owner should the need arise.
Whenever the transfer deed was drawn up for me to sign as Grantor, the same reservation language was in the Warranty Deed as in the sales contract. As others advised you, the deed must have the mineral reservation or else they pass to the Buyer with the land.
Just a cautionary tale about getting it right on the Earnest Money Contract
My grandpa told me "always take the money" -- which is generally good advice
He said a guy once hollered out to him from across the street, "I got that $50 dollars I owe you for those turkeys"
My grandpa hollered back, "That's okay -- pay me next week"
He said, "always take the money."
Now I later met a guy out on a country road who offered me what I wanted on a tract of land & said he was willing to put up $5000 Earnest Money.
Recalling my granpa's advice, I promptly pulled out an earnest Money Contract from my truck & wrote up the contact with the most clumsy awkward vague mineral reservation you'd ever encounter.
When I later got a copy of the deed from the title company attorney there was my idiotic mineral reservation word-for-word
I told him I wanted to re-word it to more clearly indicate what I meant.
He said, "But that's the reservation y'all agreed to"
And sure enough the buyer wanted to stick with that reservation as he preferred the vagueness over my more specific requested change.
Cherchez le femme?
Yes, I was rushed because I was fixing to be late for a date with a pretty San Antonio Senorita.
6th Generation Texan said:
...and if I had not had the surface waiver in the sales contract and had not excluded all operations in the oil and gas lease, the reservation in my transfer deed would have included language to reserve the right of ingress and egress for development of my mineral interest.
6th Generation Texan said:Hi Cathy,
Whenever I put some land in Texas on the market last year, I made it known to the realtor listing the property for sale that I was reserving all of my 50% interest in the minerals pertaining to the oil and gas. Whenever I got a contract from a Buyer, the Farm & Ranch sales contract stated that the deed to Buyer from Seller will contain the following reservation:
X hereby reserves and retain for themselves, their legal representatives, successors and assigns forever, all of their undivided interest in the oil, gas and other minerals in, under, and that may be produced from the property (collectively the Oil and Gas), provided, however, not included within the definition of Oil and Gas are minerals that form a part of the surface or soil such as sand, iron ore, gravel, uranium or limestone.
I further waived and relinquished any use of the Surface of the property for the exploration and/or removal of such Oil or Gas. The reason I was able to waive use of the surface is that when I negotiated an oil and gas lease on the property prior to selling, I excluded any surface operations from the lease. I concluded that most Buyers might want to build a house and not be subject to drilling on that tract. However, with a horizontal well, my minerals can be pooled into a non-drill site unit. I would have had difficulty selling the property at my price without the surface waiver. The oil company wasn't thrilled about the surface waiver, but they had other leases for a drill site and knew they weren't getting my lease without it. They can deal with the new surface owner should the need arise.
Whenever the transfer deed was drawn up for me to sign as Grantor, the same reservation language was in the Warranty Deed as in the sales contract. As others advised you, the deed must have the mineral reservation or else they pass to the Buyer with the land.
It is a real good idea in Texas to separate the mineral rights from the surface. Also depending upon where you are located in Texas some landowners are reserving their water and "wind rights"! If you are borrowing money against property you own, always exclude the mineral rights from the loan. Don't let lenders get their hands on them. If you have property you are selling and have already severed the minerals, it's still a real good idea to exclude them on the deed again. The language you use when you sell concerning the minerals, water and other things needs to be clearly defined. There should be "no doubt or questions about it" be specific.