We have been contacted about leasing our minerals in Howard county Tx but I do not believe that we own them. Our deed states fee simple ownership and title search states that the title to mineral interest was not checked in 1964 when grandfather purchased the land. HOWEVER it was ALL conveyed . This company has been relentless about wanting to give us a offer should we take a offer and check see what happens ?? I have even told them this story surely they see it??
Kim,
Kudos for your integrity and honesty. The job of the land man is to get you to sign a lease. If you read the fine print in the lease document you will find many ways for the lessee to control what title you may or may not have. Plus, they ask you to warrant title as well. Very one sided documents.
If there is enough guaranteed money in a lease bonus, it is best to get your own understanding of your mineral title before signing anything. Don't put yourself in a position of having to prove your rights after a lease is signed. Trust your instincts and find out before hand.
Gary L Hutchinson
Minerals Managment for mineral heirs.
Ask them, first, to send you a chain of title that shows you own the minerals on this land.
Then take it from there.
Good luck,
Pat
Ms. Malone,
We have been offered a very large amount of money (by two different entities) for our mineral rights in Culberson County, which has two producing wells on them.
One entity doesn't believe we own as much of the minerals as they first assumed, based on a very complicated mathematical formula calculated with our check stubs, and have lowered their total offer by one third, although they upped their NRA offer by $1,000 dollars.
We are trying to hire someone to perform the chain of title, as we don't recall any specific caveat in the deed when we purchased the property. Do you by any chance have someone you could recommend to perform that service? We do not live in Texas.
Thanks,
Traveler
If you are in pay, then you should ask your operator for net mineral acres and if they have chain of title. Your operator may offer even more as acreage will be especially valuable to them.
So ... now one entity doesn't believe you own as much of the minerals as they first assumed, based on a very complicated mathematical formula ... Hmmm! OK, so ask them to provide you with a chain of title that shows what you do own. In fact, you can ask both entities to provide a chain of title.
You don't have to live in Texas to do this. Plus, I suggest that you don't be in any hurry to do anything until you get this straightened out.
Save your money and ask them.
Good luck,
Pat
Traveler,
Pat has provided you excellent advice here. When significant $ is involved, it behooves anyone to gather the intelligence you need to make a wise decision. She's also correct in encouraging patience. It's the very rare case when these type transactions "go away" as a result of time passing. More often, the deal gets better, (although that's not the case every time). I trust you're finding great value here with our forum.
Pat,
Thank you for the very sound advice.
We're trying to get someone (an oil and gas lawyer?) to run the title search, and trying to find someone who will do an appraisal on our properties to see exactly what the potential is.
We figure it's worth spending some money to have all of our facts at hand.
Thanks!
Traveler
Kenny,
We are definitely finding the forum to be invaluable. We had no idea what we were really doing when we signed a lease for our mineral rights back in 2008 - we may have gotten a better deal than 3/16th if we had known more.
Thanks,
Traveler
Make sure the chain of title includes researching old court cases, including the possibility of errors in probates and the such.