After going back and forth and dealing with uniformed land agents and companies over the last couple of years, I have this story to tell.
The company bought or "borrowed" mineral interest from one of the unrelated signed heirs and gave him cash for a portion of his minerals. They already had some deeded from another unrelated heir so, I do not know why they obtained more. That gave the company a share of our minerals. That in itself is a scary thought. The reason you have not seen many partition suits filed in the past couple of years, is because of "easy" mineral owners. Those people signed pretty soon after they were contacted with little or no changes. Forward to those informed people, who did not fall for the companies take it or leave tactics. Those people challenged the companies and in the end, some negotiated good changes and signed. We wanted royalty paid, where we did not get hammered in deductions but, the company said, no way, take it or, we file a partition suit. Sooo, they filed paperwork to sue and then we received a summons. The summons/complaint wording makes you look like you are the villain and is full of non truths and wrong addresses. There was a defendant who was deceased listed. The attorney also sent a summons to an elderly man by mistake, who was not even an heir. This seems to be the norm with these companies and their research but, it seems to work for them with no repercussions. The topper for me was, when the attorneys wrote, they pray that the judge rules in their favor. Me, I just pray to God that this will be my last dealings with these people.
Sooo, you have the option to go to the partition hearing and let the judge decide or you can sign a lease that is not to your liking. Our concern was not the partition suit. I felt we could win that. The scary thought is the "new" legislature, meeting now in Charleston. They are taking a hard look at the oil/gas situation and forced pooling is one thing they may address. They established a committee to address the energy situation in the state. The state is also putting out several bids to let companies drill on state lands. Sooo, who are they looking out for? Good luck
How do you think you are going to win a partition suit if they have an interest. All the errors will be corrected eventually. Are you willing to spend the money to appeal to the Supreme Court and hope they change the law, which they have refused to do for the past 150 years? Careful.
The inside word is that forced pooling will be a done deal this year. Let's hope they require the companies to make a reasonable offer. I sure reasonable will be what is reasonable for them, not us.
Jim, I believe from the last partition Judge Sweeney ruled on, would be our case in a district hearing. I do not think we would win if they appealed to the Supreme Court. I think in the district court we had a chance although, may have been slim, may have been none. That's all anyone has to go on is a chance. The company is going to bully everyone with their litigation and will stop at nothing to get their way. Fact is, I don't like to be bullied, so it is about principle. You know that, from when you have dealt with them. We signed leases but like I said, I hope we never have to deal with them again. Like they say: "It's just business" One of the remaining heirs obtained counsel so , I will keep you posted on how that goes.
(i)The property cannot be conveniently partitioned in kind.
(ii) The interest of one or more party will be promoted by sale.
(iii) The interest of the other parties will not be prejudiced by sale.
It really is Grossly Unfair. Sympathy to you DT. Thanks for sharing your story.
And, even if you had won the suit and the company had not appealed, there is the threat of the Forced Pooling bill. And even if that is defeated this year, the company would just wait until next year.
Anyway I hope your well is excellent and you make some money with it.
I figured I would put the above topic on the board because there have been so many heirs who are going through leasing. I never realized there were so many uninformed people out there. In this day and age, one would think with all the news and press most everyone would be informed. Apparently the polls are right, that less than half of the people read or watch the news. There are lot's of people from coast to coast who inherited mineral rights but, know nothing about them. Some, just shrug it off that grandpa left them something and move on. If someone called and told them they had just inherited the farm they would get that real quick. There was a reason that their grandpa kept those mineral rights when he sold the farm. The mineral rights are valuable real estate folks. So when someone calls and tells you that you have inherited mineral rights, get informed on what they are and what they mean to your family.
Ah, forced pooling will be a headache for many. If the companies can get around not giving good lease terms now, imagine a law that says fair in it. The companies will use the forced pooling in ways that the law makers did not think possible. Fair terms is not in the companies handbook. If the companies were doing things fair, why would they be pushing the forced pooling issue anyway? If people think this oil/gas boom is making everyone happy, Google the lawsuits that are showing up in the surrounding counties.
I saw where a suit was filed in Ohio where the parties are questioning why Public land is being made open to leasing to these companies. The plaintiffs are saying the recreation opportunities are being threatened and water contamination is also a claim. When leasing occurs, the folks who live close by are going to lose their peace and quiet if a pad is nearby. The loss in their property value with a pad nearby is an issue also. Interesting how that will play out.
DT, I feel your pain. Other people put hands in pots that don't belong to them.
I have discovered out of the 7 individual shares, that I am told, like yours can't be subdivided, but somehow, someone bought one well's worth...Go figure?
It has taken me months, but I finally figured out how to explain this nonsense to someone on the outside looking in.
We pay taxes on a pot of soup. Soup is good because it is fluid...not concrete.
The oil companies pay us on an individual item IN the soup, (ie. Well #1= carrots, Well#2= chicken, etc.)
The problem is folks can't sell the soup because you can only have so many cups. If you don't have a cup, then you can't sell the chicken out of the soup. That guy sold part of a cup, so if it is broken, it doesn't count. Right?
It may sound stupid, but after I explained it to my lawyer in Nashville, he "got it". lol
DT- you are so correct about folks not being informed. Personally, I find the entire concept interesting. But, I like a good logic puzzle. I think that others, even in my own family, just can't/won't put the brain power into understanding it. The entire idea of split estate is unfathomable to some folks. So, it is easy to understand how someone takes a check for $12-40 per year and cusses about having to pay the money for the extra form to be filed each year (this is what my mother did.) She tried to "give" it to my son more than once when she was alive. The county and the operators ignored her requests. (I didn't push the issue...which makes me one of those folks as well.) Had it been transferred as requested, my life would be much easier now. If some goofy woman hadn't called me the day after my mother passed, I may never have gotten in the middle of this stuff. (Believe me, I paid my $450.00 stupid tax for not doing so earlier) My son is 10, and a very smart little guy. I have already started educating him on how important this stuff is to our family. I didn't even know mine existed until he was a year old. My mom has owned it since 1983. It makes my stomach ache to know how much money she left on the table by not paying attention.