How do you find the owner of mineral rights in North Dakota

A few months ago a person call from a oil company and wanted to lease the land my father had the rights to. I do not know the location where the rights are. My father has passed away. What do I need to do?

Dear Mr. Schultz,

Hopefully, after two months, the window to lease your property has not passed.

It appears that you are trying to verify mineral ownership. For the most part, the landman that contacted you has done just that. Ask him for a copy of his runsheet. That information will list the history of the chain of title to your father’s mineral interest.

As to location of the mineral rights, it will be in the form of Section, Township and Range. That would be a legal description. An address is not a legal description, nor is 10 miles west of Podunk, ND.

I received the neatest map from the McKenzie County Courthouse. It has all the sections, ranges and townships marked off, so if you have that information, you would be able to tell where to look on the map. The Landsman that called you should be able to tell you that info. I don’t know what county you are in, but you could call your county courthouse and see if they have one available for that county.

Call the register of deeds of the county in which you own an interest and they will help you

Are you still looking for this information? I may be able to help. I have over a million acres of title sitting literally right in front of me.