I have just about completed getting my name on my deceased parents minerals. How do I go about getting them leased.
Hi Jackie -
Drilling Prospects are drawn up by Geologists and then the Landmen are sent out to the field to lease up the land. So, typically a Mineral Owner waits until an oil company contacts them.
Where are your Interests? Do you have a legal description of them?
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas
Hi Jackie:
Where are your minerals located? The leasing and drilling prospects are prepared by Geologists or Geophysists and then turned over to Landmen to research the title and negotiate the lease. However, you can contact a Landman such as myself who has contacts in the industryR to ascertain the level of interest your mineral holdings might have, if any, and negotiate a lease under the best terms available. You can contact me at wlandm@hotmail.com and I will be glad to assist you in any way I can.
R. Carl King, III
Wharton Land and Minerals
Wharton, Texas
Jackie, sorry that I am answering your question with my own question. LOL. But, how did you go about getting your name on your deceased parents' minerals? I am in the process of locating all the deeds on my dad's mineral rights and unsure exactly what to do.
Deanna -
Please allow me to offer my condolences on your recent loss of your father.
I am not an Attorney, only a Landman, but I just put my two cents in to another inquiry, very similar to your's, earlier today and thought it might help you as well.
If your father left a Will, it might be necessary to have it probated through the court. If he did not, then you may have to go through the process of an Administration of the Estate.
Those processes will include your Attorney preparing an Inventory and Appraisal or an Accounting of his properties, at least those that are taxable, such as those producing royalty income. Undeveloped mineral rights are not required to be listed.
If your father's estate is not large enough to owe any inheritance taxes, then you might be able to skip either of the steps above and simply prepare and file an Affidavit of Heirship in each of the counties and/or parishes he owned properties in.
If your father was receiving royalty checks, you will need to complete the above paperwork and then send certified copies of at least a selection of the papers, probably along with a certified copy of your father's Death Certificate, to whatever company is disbursing the royalty payments.
Note that that is not always the same company that drilled the well(s) or is currently operating the well(s). It could just as likely be the company(ies) that are purchasing the product(s) produced from the wells.
If your properties are in Texas, I can help with that sort of information. Might be able to with properties in other states as well - have to see.
And you would be wise to note that when you contact the companies and inform them of your father's having passed away, or if they come by the knowledge by any other means, they will immediately place all royalty payments attributable to his account(s) in suspense until such time as you provide them with the required paperwork to prove who his heir(s) is/are.
If you are dependent upon that income for everyday expenses, you'd best be moving it all along as quickly as you are able to.
Hope this helps -
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas
This is for both of you and for anybody else out there that would be interested:
Texas Christian University (TCU) has a wonderful program here in Fort Worth for industry professionals and is now offering a course for Royalty Owners both in Houston and in San Antonio.
I highly recommend you look into this!
Charles
Deanna Gearinger said:
Jackie, sorry that I am answering your question with my own question. LOL. But, how did you go about getting your name on your deceased parents' minerals? I am in the process of locating all the deeds on my dad's mineral rights and unsure exactly what to do.
Charles,
Thanks again for your response. The majority of our mineral interests are in Liberty County, Texas. My father did have a Will and it has been probated. I am gathering information for the Inventory, Appraisement, and Claims for the Estate. I have spent a few hours in the County Clerk's office learning how to find Deeds through the Indexes. I have pulled up Tax Statements showing anything that has been producing in the last few years, so that was helpful in narrowing down what has been producing. I have a list of about 30 different properties with mineral rights that was passed from my grandmother to my grandfather and now to us. I found my grandmother's estate inventory which was very helpful in getting a list of all properties with mineral interests. I am going to go to the courthouse and get Deeds on every property because those were not in my father's files that I received. If I am going to hold on to all of these mineral rights, I want to know exactly what I have and I want to know that producing companies can find me and my brothers to produce offers to us. So I am going to do everything to trace these back, making sure of the ownership, when the surface and minerals were split, which was mostly when my grandfather sold the surface and kept the minerals. I am wondering if Division Orders are on file anywhere. I am finding a lot of unexecuted Oil and Gas Leases in these files so they are really useless. However, the executed ones, which I have found are on record in the county clerk's office and which I want to obtain copies of all recorded leases as well. Then once I have done all this research and have obtained all the documentation that shows the ownership trail, then I will want to file either an Affidavit of Heirship on each and every property and/or the Will of my father. I know there is so much that I don't know, but I do feel that I know a lot more than I knew a month ago, so I am making some progress. So, in short, I want to know exactly what I own, I want all documentation in my hands to show ownership, and then I want all documentation on record to show our ownership of everything. Thanks for your patience with me and others who I feel are in the same boat as me -- just having all this "dumped" on us with no clue of what to do with it.
Charles Emery Tooke III said:
Deanna -
Please allow me to offer my condolences on your recent loss of your father.
I am not an Attorney, only a Landman, but I just put my two cents in to another inquiry, very similar to your's, earlier today and thought it might help you as well.
If your father left a Will, it might be necessary to have it probated through the court. If he did not, then you may have to go through the process of an Administration of the Estate.
Those processes will include your Attorney preparing an Inventory and Appraisal or an Accounting of his properties, at least those that are taxable, such as those producing royalty income. Undeveloped mineral rights are not required to be listed.
If your father's estate is not large enough to owe any inheritance taxes, then you might be able to skip either of the steps above and simply prepare and file an Affidavit of Heirship in each of the counties and/or parishes he owned properties in.
If your father was receiving royalty checks, you will need to complete the above paperwork and then send certified copies of at least a selection of the papers, probably along with a certified copy of your father's Death Certificate, to whatever company is disbursing the royalty payments.
Note that that is not always the same company that drilled the well(s) or is currently operating the well(s). It could just as likely be the company(ies) that are purchasing the product(s) produced from the wells.
If your properties are in Texas, I can help with that sort of information. Might be able to with properties in other states as well - have to see.
And you would be wise to note that when you contact the companies and inform them of your father's having passed away, or if they come by the knowledge by any other means, they will immediately place all royalty payments attributable to his account(s) in suspense until such time as you provide them with the required paperwork to prove who his heir(s) is/are.
If you are dependent upon that income for everyday expenses, you'd best be moving it all along as quickly as you are able to.
Hope this helps -
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas
Deanna -
You seem to have highjacked Jackie's message string!
I worked in Liberty County for many years when I lived in the Houston area. It is an excellent county to own minerals in, with several very productive formations throughout the county - your grandfather was a wise man.
In the industry, when we refer to a deed where minerals or royalties were separated from the land, we call it a "Source Deed". Source Deeds are where minerals or royalties are "severed" from the land. Two new Landman "Lingo" words for you. We'll have you up and running in no time.
Those unsigned leases might just be your Grandfather's copies. The Landman would have taken the signed copies to file in the courthouse. Let the legal descriptions in the leases and other documents be your guide, not whether the copies you find in your files are signed or not.
They may have reorganized the records of Liberty County by now, but I have what was a pretty accurate list of the various Indexes in the Clerk's Office from a few years ago. If you would like a copy I will need your email address, so you'll need to accept my offer to become a Friend on the Forum. They don't like it when you post personal contact information on the general forum.
Also, if you will send me a list of your legal descriptions and/or the wells you have an interest in, I will be glad to put together a little information from DrillingInfo on them for you. I can even tell you who is buying the product(s) and how much they are paying for it.
Charles
My apologies to Jackie. I am new to blogging and this website. LOL
Charles Emery Tooke III said:
Deanna -
You seem to have highjacked Jackie's message string!
I worked in Liberty County for many years when I lived in the Houston area. It is an excellent county to own minerals in, with several very productive formations throughout the county - your grandfather was a wise man.
In the industry, when we refer to a deed where minerals or royalties were separated from the land, we call it a "Source Deed". Source Deeds are where minerals or royalties are "severed" from the land. Two new Landman "Lingo" words for you. We'll have you up and running in no time.
Those unsigned leases might just be your Grandfather's copies. The Landman would have taken the signed copies to file in the courthouse. Let the legal descriptions in the leases and other documents be your guide, not whether the copies you find in your files are signed or not.
They may have reorganized the records of Liberty County by now, but I have what was a pretty accurate list of the various Indexes in the Clerk's Office from a few years ago. If you would like a copy I will need your email address, so you'll need to accept my offer to become a Friend on the Forum. They don't like it when you post personal contact information on the general forum.
Also, if you will send me a list of your legal descriptions and/or the wells you have an interest in, I will be glad to put together a little information from DrillingInfo on them for you. I can even tell you who is buying the product(s) and how much they are paying for it.
Charles
Deanna Gearinger said:
My apologies to Jackie. I am new to blogging and this website. LOL
Charles Emery Tooke III said:Deanna -
You seem to have highjacked Jackie's message string!
I worked in Liberty County for many years when I lived in the Houston area. It is an excellent county to own minerals in, with several very productive formations throughout the county - your grandfather was a wise man.
In the industry, when we refer to a deed where minerals or royalties were separated from the land, we call it a "Source Deed". Source Deeds are where minerals or royalties are "severed" from the land. Two new Landman "Lingo" words for you. We'll have you up and running in no time.
Those unsigned leases might just be your Grandfather's copies. The Landman would have taken the signed copies to file in the courthouse. Let the legal descriptions in the leases and other documents be your guide, not whether the copies you find in your files are signed or not.
They may have reorganized the records of Liberty County by now, but I have what was a pretty accurate list of the various Indexes in the Clerk's Office from a few years ago. If you would like a copy I will need your email address, so you'll need to accept my offer to become a Friend on the Forum. They don't like it when you post personal contact information on the general forum.
Also, if you will send me a list of your legal descriptions and/or the wells you have an interest in, I will be glad to put together a little information from DrillingInfo on them for you. I can even tell you who is buying the product(s) and how much they are paying for it.
Charles
Hey Charles, thanks so much again. My email address is deanna.gearinger@yahoo.com. I will definitely send you the list I have been compiling. -- Deanna
Deanna Gearinger said:
Deanna Gearinger said:My apologies to Jackie. I am new to blogging and this website. LOL
Charles Emery Tooke III said:Deanna -
You seem to have highjacked Jackie's message string!
I worked in Liberty County for many years when I lived in the Houston area. It is an excellent county to own minerals in, with several very productive formations throughout the county - your grandfather was a wise man.
In the industry, when we refer to a deed where minerals or royalties were separated from the land, we call it a "Source Deed". Source Deeds are where minerals or royalties are "severed" from the land. Two new Landman "Lingo" words for you. We'll have you up and running in no time.
Those unsigned leases might just be your Grandfather's copies. The Landman would have taken the signed copies to file in the courthouse. Let the legal descriptions in the leases and other documents be your guide, not whether the copies you find in your files are signed or not.
They may have reorganized the records of Liberty County by now, but I have what was a pretty accurate list of the various Indexes in the Clerk's Office from a few years ago. If you would like a copy I will need your email address, so you'll need to accept my offer to become a Friend on the Forum. They don't like it when you post personal contact information on the general forum.
Also, if you will send me a list of your legal descriptions and/or the wells you have an interest in, I will be glad to put together a little information from DrillingInfo on them for you. I can even tell you who is buying the product(s) and how much they are paying for it.
Charles