My brothers and I have inherited mineral rights in West Virginia. They were our grandmother's on my dad's side. The rights were divided among his five brothers and sisters, and are all
deceased. One of the sisters and my dad had kept up the taxes on the mineral rights for years.
Since our parents passing my brother and I have taken over paying them.
We have been approached by someone wanting to buy the rights but we have no idea what
they are worth or if we have to share with all the heirs of the other brothers and sisters. I have only been in contact with one of them and several are deceased. We need to know how far
we have to search for heirs or if at all. Have not had any luck with lawyers from West Virginia.
Well, You do not want to ever sell them. All of the heirs will have a say in those minerals. Leasing is the big thing going on in Wv. Oil/gas companies are offering paid up leases for anywhere from the norm of 1250.00 per acre up to close to 2000.00 an acre. with royalities starting at 12.5 to 18%. There is so much to read and one thing you folks need to do is find out who in your circle is an heir. Some heirs are in other states and some deceased. When a heir is deceased it goes to their next in kin and so on. This leasing is a drawn out process. If you take one piece of advise it would be: DO NOT SIGN A COMPANY LEASE THAT HAS NO CHANGES TO PROTECT YOU AS HEIRS. Go to the Dodridge Co. Wv. site where there is more discussion. You guys need to get educated and read all you can and ask questions. You will be contacted sometime by a land agent when he finds out if you have unleased property. If there are no current leases on the property they will find you. Do not give in to their car salesman tactics. Stand your ground and keep in touch with all the heirs that you can find. Numbers are what get you good leases. Greedy heirs is what gets you whats left over!!! Good luck
Thank you for the information. I failed to say that it is only 1/6 of oil and gas on over 320 acres and own none of the land. If we had not kept up the taxes on the rights it would have been sold at auction. Don't know if it is worth the problems of finding all the heirs if it our responsibility. I appreciate any help I can get.
We have mineral rights in West Virginia , you should not have to pay property taxes unless there are producing wells. Might be something worth looking into. Anyone know of a reputable land man in New Mexico? I am overwhelmed right now in the cline, but any advice with West Virginia or New Mexico would help.
BEV, someone is paying the taxes on the mineral rights and the surface rights and that is fact. Both the surface and mineral rights are taxed and it matters not if there is a well. In Wv, mineral rights and surface rights are listed as real estate. You may want to check with the county assesor in the county where the mineral rights are. They can tell you who pays taxes on the mineral rights and the surface owner property. Give them the info on the decendents names who passed the minerals to you and the area of the property. Believe me, someone is paying them for you.
NANCY, it matters not if you have just 1/6 of the minerals. That would still be money in your folks pockets, plus they need your 1/6th as much as the other 5/6ths. For instance if oil/gas co. paid 1500.00 an acre for leasing the 320 acres, that is a chunk of change to be paid out. Even if you only have 1/6, it is still good money, along with royalities if they drill. It is not your responibility to find the heirs. It would benefit you if you knew them and kept in contact and form a plan. You can get a better lease if you have more heirs sticking together to negotiate. The surface (land owner) is not in the discussion at all concerning what you own in mineral rights. They have the land but you have the minerals under it, which is good. Surface owners wish they had what you have and that is mineral rights. Educate your family and google mineral rights leasing and educate yourself. When approached by a land agent sometime in the future, be nice but be educated and do not fall for any of their tatics. They will tell you everything that makes you feel bad. Anything from, "you are the only one holding up us from drilling". They use the tatic "everyone else but you has signed" They also will tell you if you don't sign today the deal is off. Never sign the company lease until you get changes to protect you put in and taken out of "their lease". Do not believe any of those tactics and when in doubt, get on here and ask first before you act. Do not hesitate to ask. Just be patient and go slow. Chances are "they" are looking for you right now through the courthouse records.
Beverly Newsom said:
We have mineral rights in West Virginia , you should not have to pay property taxes unless there are producing wells. Might be something worth looking into. Anyone know of a reputable land man in New Mexico? I am overwhelmed right now in the cline, but any advice with West Virginia or New Mexico would help.
Joe, YES, mineral rights are classified as real estate just like your house and the land it is setting on. That is the way it is in Ritchie Co. I would not hesitate in saying that it is that way in the rest of the counties. I don't think any county would miss out on taxing folks. You may not even know who in your long list of family is paying the taxes on the mineral rights. SOMEONE is paying them or they would be sold by the county at auction for delinquent taxes. My wife paid taxes for her Dad for years on his inherited mineral rights. He was an heir to his parents mineral rights. The taxes were not that much back then. There were heirs of his brothers and sisters who had no idea they were even heirs. There was no oil/gas interest back then, so no one gave much thought. We recently have talked to his relatives about the mineral rights and they acted like we were crazy. They had no idea they had other mineral rights or where they were located. They even thought we were talking about the one lease that had an active well and they were getting royalities from that one. Those people are the ones who fall to land agents tactics because they don't understand. Folks if you plan to lease, then you need to educate yourself. Oh by the way, we were paying taxes on 3 tracts and only 1 had a current lease under production with a well. You pay taxes on mineral rights regardless of what is going on with the rights. Don't worry, the county will reascess your mineral rights if it is leased and drilling begins. You know just like they do if you ad an addition to your house
Mineral Joe said:
DT,
Your saying that in all counties of WV severed mineral rights are taxed by the county even if there is no production?
I know in some states it is up to the county and not all of them do tax minerals so I didn't know if all counties in WV taxed. Are the minerals taxed separate from surface if minerals were never severed? One can call the County Assessor and they know and can tell you exactly the net minerals everyone owns? I didn't think it was so transparent in WV.
We pay mineral rights taxes and the people who own the surface pay taxes also. The county does not look at them as the same and there are two tax tickets for each parcel. Why would you think they were not taxed seperate if they were not severed? Call the county clerk and ask them how they tax minerals and surface. Good luck on getting them to tell you who all owns a share. You would have to go to the court house and go elbow to elbow with the land agents to find out who owns what. It's like searching the family tree from the 1800's when you look in those record books. I am still trying to find out who is paying a tax ticket in or for our family. Someone who thinks they are an heir could be paying them. These mineral rights can drive you crazy because most do not know anything on their decendents.
Mineral Joe said:
I know in some states it is up to the county and not all of them do tax minerals so I didn't know if all counties in WV taxed. Are the minerals taxed separate from surface if minerals were never severed? One can call the County Assessor and they know and can tell you exactly the net minerals everyone owns? I didn't think it was so transparent in WV.
You ask why would I think they are not taxed separate if they were not severed, in Colorado they don't tax minerals unless they are severed and in Kansas not all counties decide to tax non producing minerals so I was just asking how WV did it. So do they see minerals as separate in conveyances and so when you convey surface you do not automatically convey the minerals also without mention like most states, you actually must mention in the deed you are conveying minerals with the surface for both to be conveyed? Why if they tax all minerals separate even if never severed would they not show and tell you at the Assessors office who owns what net minerals, they'd have no reason not to as it should be public record, other states that tax do like Routt County Co. knows exactly who owns what minerals and it is public record like most tax info is. You mean to tell me the county knows you own your minerals but will not tell you just who is paying the taxes on them? Is it not a matter of public record? It all sounds really strange.
The courthouse can tell you who pays the taxes if the original owner on the deed can be given. For instance, if your late granddad "Bob Smith" was on the tax ticket as the deeded owner, they could tell you who pays the taxes on that parcel. It may be one of his living children or even a cousin. They will not have the list of the heirs to give you because most offices do not have them modernized. The courthouse does not care who pays the taxes, only that they are paid by someone. That is why oil/gas land agents are searching the books at the courthouse to find heirs. That process is like hunting for your cousin whom you have not seen in 40 years. Most property in this state is sold without mineral rights. If you can get the mineral rights with a property you are lucky. Hope this helps you.
For sure Barb, do not sell your mineral rights. There are so many folks out there in this country who are mineral rights heirs who do not have an inkling what is going on. Mineral rights have been out there since back in the 1800's but some people don't even know the value of them. Your decendents preserved them for all those years and alot of people are just signing them away like they are nothing. Mineral rights are real estate just in case you did not know that. I may own the farm but you own what's under it in the form of minerals. The oil/gas boom in the east is catching people by suprise. Oil/gas companies are raking in leases from people who who are not aware they are signing "crap" leases. You never want to sign a company lease that is handed or mailed to you until you have it looked at by a reputable oil/gas person who will work for a good lease or an attorney. The mineral rights owners need to educate themselves or take a beating from the land agents when they come calling. If you have mineral interests and know little about the process, please search the internet on mineral rights leasing or get an oil/gas lawyer to help you with leasing.
I am right beside Jackson Co. I have a friend with interest on two farms there. If i here anything going on i will post it for you. Kyle N. is an oil/gas attorney who posts on here if you want any info. Have a good week
Nancey Copelin said:
Just want to thank everyone with the information about mineral rights. It has certainly helped us decide that we
do not want to sell our rights. By the way, Jackson County WV is where we pay our taxes and have for many years.
I do know that one person who offered to buy our rights got the information at the court house. At some point I
think we'll have to have and attorney but we will take your advice and take it slow. Thanks again.
Don't sell your mineral rights! I bet that took a lot of thought, educated research and foresight to advise someone of their financial future with such a statement. I take it your a geologist and engineer who knows the area well to have given such wise intelligent advise.
Joe, You can benefit more by leasing them for gas/oil drilling and be rewarded quite well if money is what you want. Once you sell them they are gone. If you want to sell any, there are buyers who would love to have them. I am not posting on here as an expert and your comment does not show much professional content either. I seriously doubt that anyone with any intellengence will go out and get rid of property without checking things out first. I am glad you enjoy this site and hope things are well in Colorado and don't sell your mineral rights.
For sure Barb, do not sell your mineral rights. There are so many folks out there in this country who are mineral rights heirs who do not have an inkling what is going on. Mineral rights have been out there since back in the 1800's but some people don't even know the value of them. Your decendents preserved them for all those years and alot of people are just signing them away like they are nothing. Mineral rights are real estate just in case you did not know that. I may own the farm but you own what's under it in the form of minerals. The oil/gas boom in the east is catching people by suprise. Oil/gas companies are raking in leases from people who who are not aware they are signing "crap" leases. You never want to sign a company lease that is handed or mailed to you until you have it looked at by a reputable oil/gas person who will work for a good lease or an attorney. The mineral rights owners need to educate themselves or take a beating from the land agents when they come calling. If you have mineral interests and know little about the process, please search the internet on mineral rights leasing or get an oil/gas lawyer to help you with leasing.