My sister and I were contacted last year informing us we owned minerals in Marshall Cnty, WV that were purchased by our 2X great-grandfather in 1907. I mentioned to the contact person from Gastar that I knew of my 3 cousins but hadn't had contact in years so I had no info. My cousin in England never received an offer. She found me through FB recently. Does she have any recourse now? My sister and I both received the same amount and royalties and now I am being offered to buy my minerals for $3250 an acre. My sister has not received any offers and my cousin in England feels left out of something she should be entitled to. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Assuming your great-great-grandfather owned the minerals at the time of his death, the current owners now of what he owned THEN would be determined by looking at who his heirs were, then figuring out who his heirs' heirs were, etc. This is done by probate documents, when present, and by applying the laws of descent and distribution in West Virginia, about which I know nothing. Based upon those two things, your cousin might or might not be entitled to anything. Since you and your sister are receiving royalty checks, that means your minerals are in production. When that is the case, it rarely makes sense to sell the minerals. Usually, the royalty stream of income will exceed whatever price per acre you are offered to sell your minerals.
I misphrased my question. I meant that my sister and I received the same offer including the percentage of royalties, however, we have not received any royalties as of yet. We signed a 5 yr contract with the initial payment per acre which our cousin in England was never contacted. Is she able to receive a lease as well?
Oh, OK. Like I said previously, there is NO WAY for anybody on this Forum to tell you whether or not your cousin is entitled to receive a bonus and/or royalty payment without doing a heck of alot of research into your family tree, alot more than they care to. It is possible that your cousin does own a portion of what your great-great-grandfather had owned but that the oil-and-gas company leased you and your sister but not your cousin because they ran out of money, circumstances changed, they went out of business or were sold to another company with different priorities, or any of a whole lot of other reasons.
Dear Ms. Excline,
The first question to answer is whether your cousin is actually an heir of your great,great,great grandfather. That is a lot of greats. One of mine that had that many greats died in 1790 in Virginia.
Even if your cousin is an heir, there is no requirement that an oil company lease all mineral interests under a tract of land. She would have recourse if the property is drilled or included in an unit and is producing.
Best,
Buddy Cotten