My mother died and I was left with part of her share of a lease in Calhoun County, West Virginia. I have to sign a certificate of ownership and send back. I called and spoke to the company and asked them to send a copy of the lease. They said they would, but never did and have not replied to any of my phone calls. The lease is dated July 23, 1906. She says it has never been re-negotiated and there are 42 people on the lease now. I got a copy of the 1906 lease from the County Clerk’s office and the lease is for $50.00 a quarter, or $200.00 per year. It was good for 10 years. The lease was for 104 acres but I don’t even know if the family still owns the land. Can anyone recommend where to even start searching this out? I’ve called a lawyer’s office twice about this but have not gotten a call back. Since my share is $.52 every three months, I’m wondering if I should just forget about it.
Cynthia, thanks for writing back. I will definitely call the number of the Landmen that you gave me. Since I posted this question, I’ve been looking up info on mineral rights. I know that my local attorneys will probably know nothing about mineral rights leases. As for relatives, the only relative I know that has an interest in this called the company after his father died and told the company that he wasn’t interested in having a part of the lease anymore, that it wasn’t worth his hassle for $12.48 a year. As for the other things, HBP, production, where the acreage is located, etc., I don’t know any of that. The only lease I have is the lease from 1906 which lists my grandmother and her siblings. They are all dead and I’m pretty sure that the next generation are all dead too. The Dominion Transmission Co said they would send a copy of the lease but never did. So I’m going to call the number you gave me and can’t thank you enough for your reply.
Cynthia, I called the number you gave me and someone was very helpful. But he told me that the lease from 1906 cannot be renegotiated. The representative from Dominion told me it could be. Was the girl at Dominion wrong?