First, you need to post a reply with the description of the minerals in question. Copy it off your 2016 lease. That way any of us who are inclined to try to help you can go look more closely.
Some questions for you:
- What do you think you own - how many acres and what percentage of ownership?
- How did you come by this mineral ownership - what makes you think you own the minerals in the first place?
- You say the surface owners were squatters on the land, so it sounds like you know of them / have a history with them. What do you know about their involvement with the property on which they own the surface and under which you think you own the minerals? What’s the history there?
- Who is the lessee of your 2016 lease? The oil company who took the lease?
- Interesting that the lawyer you contacted is conflicted because he or his firm represents the surface owner on other matters. Is the surface owner someone who owns a lot of land around you?
- Have you leased these minerals in the past - prior to the 2016 lease? If so, when and how many times?
- Have these minerals ever had oil or gas produced from them? If so, did you receive royalties from the production? And did you pay property taxes on the mineral interest when they produced?
- Are you currently paying taxes on your mineral ownership? If there’s no current production, you’re probably not being assessed property taxes on those minerals.
Here are some thoughts on what you can do in the meantime:
Go to the TRRC website GIS mapping resource - here. Zoom into La Salle County and locate your minerals. Keep zooming in until you see the wells. You can see what production might have been from your minerals in the past and surrounding production. That will give you an idea of what’s at stake.
Get all of your documentation of your mineral ownership together in one place and organized. That way you’ll be more prepared to talk to the next potential lawyer. Things like deeds, wills, probate documents, etc.
Start getting all of your other records together - past leases, records of past production payments, documentation of property taxes paid, etc.
Search the deed records to confirm your ownership and see how the surface owners got title to the surface. Go to the County Clerk’s office at the courthouse in Cotulla with copies of the documents by which you acquired the minerals and ask the staff in that office to help you search the deed records. There may be a kind landman working in there that day who you could talk into helping get you started. While you’re there, go to the property tax office and see who is paying taxes on the land. And see if they separately list your mineral ownership and show you as the owner.
Lastly, like the others have said, you need a lawyer for something like this. If you can’t pay a lawyer to represent you on this, then I think your only other option is to find a lawyer who will represent you on a contingent basis. They get paid by getting a piece of your minerals and any money in suspense from production on the 2016 lease. But they would need to be satisfied you have a reasonable claim and reasonable chance of prevailing, and that a contingent share would be worth their time / risk. That may be a tall order. But you’ll need your documentation to help convince them it’s worth it. One suggestion for a lawyer is Catrina Longoria out of Eagle Pass. She is excellent - she successfully represented us in a similar matter in Dimmit County. I highly recommend her, but I’m not sure she would be interested in a contingent arrangement. But it’s worth asking.
Good luck!