I inherited mineral rights in Taylor County, West Virginia. I didn’t do a signing bonus. My sisters and brothers have. They’ve been getting money for the past 4 or 5 years. I haven’t gotten anything. A woman from Antero Resources said they don’t know how but they overlooked me. And I should be getting a check with all the information on how much the wells are producing. But she did send me something with pooling, I think. There are three wells on 11 acres. I think I got a letter in the mail something about royalties but mineral rights I don’t know the difference.
You should tell them (Antero) that they are trespassing on your property by drilling without your signature. You can negotiate to sign the pooling modification for a payment to you to make up for their overlooking you. An attorney can help with this. I know of a few people that this happened to. You might get a few hundred dollars or so. Also ask for interest on the payment that they will be sending you. They might do this anyway.
Two questions:
- Have you seen a full copy of the Will by which you inherited the mineral rights?
- Have you received a Division Order or anything of the sort from the operator of the well(s)?
I ask in order to 1) make sure you in fact directly received the mineral rights as a result of a Will or if there was an Executor of the Will that perhaps did not fulfill their duty as set out by the Will in question and 2) a Division Order or any other letter/notification could shed light on what the Operator’s opinion on the matter is. If I remember correctly, however, West Virginia only recently started requiring the use of Division Orders as recent as 2014 - if this is the case, there is a large chance that you have been overlooked.