I had a question about very old mineral rights. My great grandfather had purchased mineral rights in Bexar county late in the 19th century or early in the 20th century. We know this because we have found some recording informatoin at the county recorder showing his name and referencing his mineral interests. Some of the interests covered hundreds, if not thousands of acres, based upon the information from the county recorder. We were contacted by a land man some years ago asking for us to sell him the rights, but we did not sell.
Unfortunately, we no longer have any paperwork showing ownership of his mineral interests. We are sure that he never sold them.
At this point, is there any way to determine ownership of the rights? Would rights that have not been acted upon for over 100 years still be in effect? Would it be worth it to contact an attorney/land man or are we just wasting our time here?
Any advice or background on this topic would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
@TheStockster, you own what you own, whether you “have any paperwork” or not. The truth lies in the real property records of the applicable county.
a. a qualifier is whether or not there exist unrecorded documents that affect the interest(s)
b. the fact that a third party contacted you wanting to ‘do a deal’ certainly infers that they thought you owned something
c. you say you are “sure” he never sold them… may be, but like the old TV commercial, only her hairdresser knows (the actual records that is)
d. when you’re dealing with stuff that can be of high value, you’ll do yourself a big favor by knowing what you own. And it’s only rookies who let the other side of a transaction tell you what you own.
If you think education/knowledge is expensive, try ignorance. An old quote, not mine.
You would need to run your great grandfathers name in the county clerks office in Bexar county. Do you know what part of the county the minerals are located? Most of the production here is shallow and in the southern part of the county.