My mom came to me telling me about her mother's demand she never forget about the mineral rights in Montana. I told mom that was near the Bakken reserves and that it should be looked into. Mom then gave me the documents dated in 1944 (I think -- they're in a safe now), and I began a search on the internet -- that's how I found this forum.
I need help in finding out about the "rights" and their current status... Sheridan County .... where do you go to find out about if the area is being explored?
Mr. Jenks, first you need the legal description, township, range and section. Then you may go to the Montana GIS Webmapper, found on the Mt DNRC site, which [the map] while not super easy to use can be mastered in less than an hour. Then you can find your legal description on the map which will show wells and drilling activity / permits in the area of your minerals. You can select "identify" mouse over the wells and click on them and the name of the well and operator will appear at the bottom of the map. To the right of the well name / operator will be the history/production, if you click on that you will be shown the production for that well unless it's so new that it has confidential status.
I also recommend you join the appropriate county group. Groups can be found just below the header of this page. I would also recommend that you use the search function on this site to search for any mention of the county in which your minerals lie. Hope this gets you started.
Thank you ... I'm on it...
They owned several parcels of land, but because of the depression at the time (just near the end of WWII) sold them to cover debt and past taxes. They retained within the deeds a portion of the mineral rights. So the answer is several docs... including: A quick claim deed dated Aug 8, 1944 (on that deed it stated Grandma's husband is entitled to 6 1/4% and his wife -- Grandma -- is entitled to the same).
Another doc is for the original private sale occurring Feb 3, 1942 showing Grandma as the purchaser and within that doc the 6 1/4% is granted to her...
There's more docs, but hard to decipher...
It appears (from my re-reading the docs) that Grandma and her husband (a man named Max Hueth -- Grandma and Grandpa were divorced and she remarried Max) were each entitled to 6 1/4% of the mineral rights on the land.
And once again ... thank you for this information...
Pete Wrench said:
Well, it sounds like you need to run Grandma's name from 1942 forward in the Sheridan County Deed Records to see if she ever sold those mineral rights. She probably did not sell them since she told your mother not to forget about them, but you never know. If she did not sell them, then you need to figure out who the rightful owners are of that mineral interest today. If she had a will that was filed in Probate Court, then you have to go by what that says. If she did not have a will that was filed in Probate Court, then you need to follow the laws of intestacy for the State of Montana to figure out who inherited those mineral rights from her. Then you need to do the same thing for whoever inherited from her (check for Probate, and if none, go by laws of descent and distribution). And so on, and so on, until you get to the present day. Once you figure out exactly who owns those minerals right now, you can file in the County Clerk's Office what's called in my state an "Affidavit of Ownership," basically putting the public on notice as to who owns those minerals today so that any producers wanting to lease your minerals will know where to go. A knowledgeable landman or local attorney could help you with all this.
I would go to the Sheridan Courthouse and look up the records. Hopeful the clerks in the office will help you get started. It is not hard once you know what to do and if they have good records. If that is not an option, hire a local title company to look them up for you. They might charge you $150 or so.
Thank you ...
Joe Jackson said:
I would go to the Sheridan Courthouse and look up the records. Hopeful the clerks in the office will help you get started. It is not hard once you know what to do and if they have good records. If that is not an option, hire a local title company to look them up for you. They might charge you $150 or so.