Hi all, thank you in advance for any help on this issue. I recently received a letter from a company offering to buy my royalty interest in a property in Winkler County (Section 19). This is the first I’m learning of this property, and have been told my great grandfather is connected to purchasing it. How should I move forward? I would really like to understand exactly what I have inherited, but have no background documents (but I know this info must be somewhere if the company who offered to purchase could find it!). Once I understand what I have inherited, I would like to understand what it is worth. Thank you!
My best advice is to consult an attorney on the matter. In my experience, landmen and other mineral buyers have their own interest at heart and just compete with each other. An attorney will offer you unbiased guidance.
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Did the company that contacted you provide any details? I would ask for the number of acres owned, if it’s held by an existing lease and at what royalty, the source deed, and any other info they willingly provide. Clearly they’ve run some title and performed heirship research to locate you, so they’re going to be the best source of knowledge unless you hire a landman ($40-60/hour) to research everything for you. There’s no guarantee you can get good info from them, but if they’re serious about making a fair transaction occur, then they will likely be friendly and give you some information about your minerals.
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Patch Energy has offered 20 of us to purchase our rights in Block 27 Section 19. We have all inherited the rights from our Great Grandparents. We have identified about 16 of the 20 individuals. You may be one of the four remaining in our line. We are all trying to figure out what to do.
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I agree with TwoShoeBeagie7. The group making the offer should provide you with all of the necessary information. We had two groups make offers on the same property and one did not give us any information and the other was very informative and gave us enough information to bring to an attorney. My interest ended up being very small so we sold but I don’t think I would sell a larger interest.
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Good point. Also, keep in mind that the overall West Texas mineral market has become relatively stagnant lately, and fringe acreage is seeing a sizable decrease in leasing and buying as groups focus on core assets with less risk. Thus, depending on your situation, it may be smart to sell 1/2 and keep 1/2 (or any other proportion) to hedge your bet. Then, invest the cash you get now into something else to continue to grow that money. Not saying I would or would not sell, it’s just something else to consider. And remember there WILL be capital gains tax to pay if you sell anything!
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Hi, I’m part of the Lydecker family. We’re unclear how many of us there are, and how many got these letters!
I don’t have many details yet. I very much appreciate your response and will inquire further about these details.
Thank you very much for this advice!
Hello George, my name is Sonya and I have been just kind of observing everyone for a while now because I wasn’t sure what to ask about or if I even have the right people, but I’m pretty sure I do. My father is one of the 4 missing people. Can you tell me please your grandfather’s name? R.D.L.
Hello Sonya! It’s actually my wife but we are part of the Gildersleeve clan.
Hi everyone, we are the Sockey/Thompson family and love both sides of my great-great-great grandparents, great-great and great too are all from back there, so I’m researching a lot of names that I haven’t mentioned, but all same areas mostly. Choctaw dad’s side, Cherokee mom’s. I have a lot of paperwork that I’m learning about from on here. Thank you all, by the way. I’m kinda stuck as to what to do because I keep getting two sides to every story. Can I speak to anyone directly maybe?
I guess I should mention we got an offer from an oil company back in April to lease the property that went unnoticed for several months. I called the company; they called back but didn’t really say much, then I never heard from them again. Then I called the oil registry where my father is registered and they told me that land had been sold years and years ago, but my granny was drawing royalties on that particular property a long time after it was supposedly sold. Besides, she didn’t sell all of it, only some. Plus, like I said, I have other family with property that are connected all over the place. There is a lot of property my family was not sure about because of all the unfair ways they were treated, a lot of it considered abandoned, I believe, or threatened to leave it alone. But I’m here to say I’m a different generation and I intend to get it straightened out, put back in our family’s hands. Sorry if that sounds rude or impossible to accomplish to anyone. I must be headed in the right direction because I’m being a little bit bullied by some, not saying it’s by you all either, but they’re going through a lot of trouble to do it. I will answer any questions you all have for me if I can. Please continue doing the same. I so thank you for the guidance.
And the same comments apply to a lease, easement, etc., in addition to a sale.
Besides the comments here, the other important thing is to track down the relatives ASAP and try to get everyone to agree to negotiate as a group on the sale. It reduces attorneys’ fees if you hire one (recommended), increases your leverage, and will likely get you a better price. More importantly, it keeps you from signing one of those deeds that conveys everything you own in the county and gives an unlimited warranty of title. Otherwise, they will go from one relative to another, pick them off, and then argue your interest is too small to justify a higher price. This is not a time to let old family grievances rule the day.
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https://www.courthousedirect.com/IndexSearches.aspx You might start here.