r w, we have not had an attorney send a letter yet; we're hoping to avoid this going to that point. I am hoping to discover if there are any guidelines about this, or any methods anyone else has used (short of law suit) to get things to move along in a more timely manner. We've been dealing with this since August 2012. What's stumped me about the delay is that the chain of heirship for the portion they *are* paying is *exactly* the same as the portion which is causing them question--that, and the fact that in 25 years, no one else has questioned it, ever.
You mentioned the importance of a lease requiring timely payment. As non-executive interest holders, I didn't think we had a say in this; thought it was up to the executive rights holder (in this case, the land owner), to insure any such protective language in the lease. If I'm missing something here, and if we non-executive rights holders have some say in this, please point out what I'm missing.
Thank you for your interest and help!
r w kennedy said:
The answer to the title question is as long as you will allow it. Have you had a lawyer send a demand letter yet? This is an unfortunate part of the average lease, unless the lease makes the timely payment of royalty a condition of the lease which will terminate in the absence of the royalty payments, all you can do is sue them and the operator knows this, after you win the suit and the operator pays you, they could decide to not pay you again until you sue them again. I, in your place would have my lawyer send them a letter immediately and if that didn't do the job I would bite the bullet and sue them. If you are leased you have two options if they will not pay. you can forget about it or you can sue.
In all the research I have done, I have not found a statute anywhere that says the operator must pay a lessor. I have found where the law says they owe interest if the lessor has marketable title and they don't pay, which is far different from saying they must pay. I will say that I don't think time is working for you. I think the longer you allow them to keep your money the harder they will resist paying you. I suggest you get a lawyer. I think there is another option, but I wouldn't do it. You could spend years calling them pleading for them to pay you. Good luck whatever you decide.
Ps. I caught myself using lessee when I should have been saying lessor. Common problem I usually don't make. I still think the logic is sound.