Belmont County Mineral Rights Inheritance

It appears as though my great-grandmother, who has been deceased for a decade, owns several hundred acres of mineral rights listed on the auditor’s website as “coal rights, working interest” in western Belmont County. My family, her descendants, have not ever been contacted that we know of regarding these rights. We do not know the details of her position or interest in this. Of course, this is extremely preliminary, and before consulting an attorney, I wanted to ask: does anybody have any resources for me to find out more information regarding this via public record? I would like to investigate a little bit more before going forward. It struck me as odd that we have never been contacted regarding a decent tract of land’s working rights, meaning it is most likely worthless…but I figured I would check. Thank you for any tips!

Welcome to the Forum. You can start with the OHIO natural resources department. You can also look on their oil and gas wells link, just to find your location. The link I post below may lock up, so just type it in your browser.

Also, contact the National Association of Royalty Owners OHIO chapter.

ODNR Map Viewer.

You might consider finding a landman or title consultant to help research the records to determine ownership. You should also check under unclaimed property for Ohio, Delaware or the state of last known address for any relatives to see if money has ever been escheated to the state.

Best of luck!

I’m confused by your statement.

You state a relative held several hundred acres of COAL rights - so why would you believe you are entitled to OIL or NATURAL GAS

Completely different things and rights - each of which can and often were deeded separately from the land itself in coal country.

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