While reviewing the chain of title on acreage in Reeves County, Tx that my wife's family inherited with the death of her father in 2015 we discovered my wife's great great grandfather also owned, and then sold, a second 20 acre parcel in Reeves County but retained a 1/32 mineral rights unit in the property - this took place in 1921 & 1922. There has been no drilling activity on the property nor does a title search show any conveyance of the 1/32 mineral right, however when her great great grandfather passed away in the late 1950's he left no reference or mention of the 1/32 mineral right. How would my wife's family establish a claim to the forgotten mineral rights?
If your Grandfather left a Will, you will need to see if he included a "rest and residue" style provision. That would dictate who inherited the 1/32nd. It would not have been required to be included in the Inventory and Appraisement because it was not producing at the time and therefore not subject to inheritance tax.
If he did not leave a Will, or if he neglected to include a "rest and residue" provision, then the interests would have passed down in accordance with the laws governing Intestate Succession in Texas.
If you will send the legal description, I will be happy to look the area up for you. Reeves County is popping!
Charles.
The Legal Description from the warranty deed is:
20 acres being the west one-half of the northwest forty acres of the east one hundred sixty acres of Section twenty five in block two, H&GN RR. CO. SURVEY.
The 20 acres was sold to Grisham Hunter Corp in Feb, 1928 and he retained 1/32 mineral rights interest.
Randy
Randy -
Please see the attached. It is not a thorough review of the area around your 20 acres, but should allow you to see what is happening in the area. And it looks like A LOT!
You are correct that there does not appear to have been any drilling in your particular survey. But there have been hundreds upon hundreds of wells drilled all around it, including 15 highly productive wells in the survey immediately to the North, Northwest of you.
I have prepared these maps and spreadsheets showing only the most productive wells in the area, which are the horizontal wells that have been fairly recently drilled. There are additional producing wells in the area, but they are for the most part conventional wells (straight down) and not very productive (under 10 Barrels of oil and day and very few of them anywhere close to your land).
I have also included a list of Oil and Gas Leases that have recently been taken in your survey. I wasn't able to find one that specifically described your 20 acres, but Linda Greene's 60 acre lease appears to describe an 80 acre tract, Save and Except (S/E) your lands.
Don't know why no one has drilled in your Survey yet. Perhaps the title is too messy, but with wells as productive as they are in your area, so day somebody will.
If your Grandfather's Probate or Administration Papers (or at least an Affidavit of Heirship) have/has not been filed in Reeves County, then you might want to consider doing so. A simple Affidavit describing who the Heirs are today with their contact information might not be a bad idea either.
You should note that there is a difference between reserving a mineral interest and reserving a royalty interest. Without seeing the document, I can't advise you as to which your wife's family owns.
Good Find! Now go dig around in his attic!
Hope this helps -
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas
855-RANDYEILAND20ACA47REEVESCOTX.zip (1.52 MB)Charles,
I've attached a copy of the original warranty deed from 1928 and will take your advice and file an affidavit of heirship. I do have a copy of SJ Isaacks probated will as well as documents establishing that my wife and her siblings are heirs to this small percentage of mineral rights. btw, this 1/32 was found while I was reviewing a chain of title to another 20 acres in Reeves County that my wife and her siblings inherited from her father. That 20 acres is under lease to Resolute and they recently began drilling a deep vertical and horizontal well on the site.
Thanks for your comments and suggestions.
Randy
854-DOC0502166.pdf (739 KB)Hey, Randy -
Been at a seminar all day and just getting back to my emails.
I read over the Document you sent. The reservation appears to be a 1/32 ROYALTY INTEREST, not a MINERAL INTEREST, the difference being that the Executive Rights (the rights to negotiate and sign Leases and other documents affecting the minerals), the Bonus Payments and the Rental Payments were not reserved (they were conveyed to the Grantee, the Buyer).
An Affidavit should do for now. If an Oil and Gas Company needs more, they will either further "cure" the title defects or contact you about doing so. Just make sure the Affidavit includes information about how to get in touch with your wife's family (and any other heirs) today.
Send me the other 20 AC legal description and I'll look it up for you.
And it's Source Deed.
Charles