Is This Normal for a Lessee to do?!

Oil and Gas Leasing Help
#1

I inherited mineral acres in McKenzie Co. N.D. 5 years ago I signed a lease. Recently, the lease expired and I signed a new lease with a different company. I was informed that I need to have the will probated in North Dakota, which I plan to do.

After I signed the lease AND received the bonus money, the Lessee contacted some relatives of the person that I inherited the property from. The people that they contacted had not been named in the will.

Is it normal for a Lessee to send letters to distant relatives? The inheritance occurred in 2003. I am wondering if this is an attempt to muddy the waters of the probate? Nothing was said during the 5 years of the first lease.

Sharon

#2

Sharon:

Have you researched the records on file at the County Clerks office to verify whose names are on this mineral property? How did the Lessee get the contact information for your relatives if they are not listed on documents filed at the County Clerks office? I am not aware of an instance where a Lessee contacts individuals who are not on public record as mineral right holders.

#3

No, I have not researched any of the records. What is the proper way to check the records on file at the County Clerks office? In the past, here on the Forum, I have read that it is not possible to phone that office due to the volume of phone calls that they receive. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Sharon

charles s mallory said:

Sharon:

Have you researched the records on file at the County Clerks office to verify whose names are on this mineral property? How did the Lessee get the contact information for your relatives if they are not listed on documents filed at the County Clerks office? I am not aware of an instance where a Lessee contacts individuals who are not on public record as mineral right holders.

#4

Sharon:

That is correct information in that you can't call in to the County Clerks office and expect them to research records. You have two options, either make a trip to the County Clerk office yourself or hire a landman to do the job. I live in Texas and have minerals in Montana and North Dakota and obviously if I had to research anything on record in those areas, it would be faster and cheaper to hire a landman or local Oil and Gas Attorney to handle it. Good luck on your findings.

Sharon Davis said:

No, I have not researched any of the records. What is the proper way to check the rec'ords on file at the County Clerks office? In the past, here on the Forum, I have read that it is not possible to phone that office due to the volume of phone calls that they receive. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Sharon

charles s mallory said:

Sharon:

Have you researched the records on file at the County Clerks office to verify whose names are on this mineral property? How did the Lessee get the contact information for your relatives if they are not listed on documents filed at the County Clerks office? I am not aware of an instance where a Lessee contacts individuals who are not on public record as mineral right holders.

#5

Charles,

Could you refer any Mineral Rights/Probate attorneys in that area? I would hate to pick one out from the phone book.

Thanks,

Sharon

charles s mallory said:

Sharon:

That is correct information in that you can't call in to the County Clerks office and expect them to research records. You have two options, either make a trip to the County Clerk office yourself or hire a landman to do the job. I live in Texas and have minerals in Montana and North Dakota and obviously if I had to research anything on record in those areas, it would be faster and cheaper to hire a landman or local Oil and Gas Attorney to handle it. Good luck on your findings.

Sharon Davis said:

No, I have not researched any of the records. What is the proper way to check the rec'ords on file at the County Clerks office? In the past, here on the Forum, I have read that it is not possible to phone that office due to the volume of phone calls that they receive. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Sharon

charles s mallory said:

Sharon:

Have you researched the records on file at the County Clerks office to verify whose names are on this mineral property? How did the Lessee get the contact information for your relatives if they are not listed on documents filed at the County Clerks office? I am not aware of an instance where a Lessee contacts individuals who are not on public record as mineral right holders.

#6

Sharon:

I can't help you in referring a name of someone in McKinzie County in regards to researching these records. We used an attorney in Montana back in 2003 to handle an inheritance of minerals in both Montana and North Dakota and I have not used anyone since that time. If you will scan over some of these posts on this forum, there are some individuals (landmen) who posts on a regular basis. You might ask for a reference if you contact someone. Good luck!!

Sharon Davis said:

Charles,

Could you refer any Mineral Rights/Probate attorneys in that area? I would hate to pick one out from the phone book.

Thanks,

Sharon

charles s mallory said:

Sharon:

That is correct information in that you can't call in to the County Clerks office and expect them to research records. You have two options, either make a trip to the County Clerk office yourself or hire a landman to do the job. I live in Texas and have minerals in Montana and North Dakota and obviously if I had to research anything on record in those areas, it would be faster and cheaper to hire a landman or local Oil and Gas Attorney to handle it. Good luck on your findings.

Sharon Davis said:

No, I have not researched any of the records. What is the proper way to check the rec'ords on file at the County Clerks office? In the past, here on the Forum, I have read that it is not possible to phone that office due to the volume of phone calls that they receive. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Sharon

charles s mallory said:

Sharon:

Have you researched the records on file at the County Clerks office to verify whose names are on this mineral property? How did the Lessee get the contact information for your relatives if they are not listed on documents filed at the County Clerks office? I am not aware of an instance where a Lessee contacts individuals who are not on public record as mineral right holders.

#7

Thank you. That is an excellent suggestion. I appreciate your help.

Sharon

#8

Sharon:

Good luck and remember to get references as you want to get someone who does good research at a reasonable price. I might add that you should be sure to get ALL your information together before hiring this person.

Sharon Davis said:

Thank you. That is an excellent suggestion. I appreciate your help.

Sharon

#9

K. Will do. Wish I had gone to law school, ha ha.

Sharon

charles s mallory said:

Sharon:

Good luck and remember to get references as you want to get someone who does good research at a reasonable price. I might add that you should be sure to get ALL your information together before hiring this person.

Sharon Davis said:

Thank you. That is an excellent suggestion. I appreciate your help.

Sharon

#10

Ms. Davis; you should be covered if you probate the will in N.D. and file the mineral deed in the county in which the minerals lie. It may be possible that the person you inherited from didn’t own 100% of the mineral interests and that these other family members are also heir to some part derived from someone else. Another possibility is a mistake by a landman somewhere, as that has happened with my mineral interests more than once. My brother and I used Dann Greenwood of Greenwood and Ramsey of Dickinson to probate our fathers estate. He did an adequate if not stellar job. Once the will is probated and your mineral deed is recorded you should be covered.

#11

Thank you. This does offer me some hope. Does searching the records for legal owners of mineral rights mean digging through complicated and vague information? I was under the impression that title companies had access to all land records and it was a straightforward process. Am I wrong? Should I attempt to do any research myself or will it be better to let the attorney take care of it from the start? I don't want to create any problems if they can be cured quickly and easily by a professional.

Sharon

r w kennedy said:

Ms. Davis; you should be covered if you probate the will in N.D. and file the mineral deed in the county in which the minerals lie. It may be possible that the person you inherited from didn't own 100% of the mineral interests and that these other family members are also heir to some part derived from someone else. Another possibility is a mistake by a landman somewhere, as that has happened with my mineral interests more than once. My brother and I used Dann Greenwood of Greenwood and Ramsey of Dickinson to probate our fathers estate. He did an adequate if not stellar job. Once the will is probated and your mineral deed is recorded you should be covered.
#12

Sharon:

Mr. Kennedy has provided a name in the above post. I would contact this individual as it sounds like he had good luck with him. Again, find out what his charges will be and decide for yourself if it will be worthwhile to utilize his services. Just remember, by the time you make a trip to ND and possibly not understand what you are doing, you might end up having to hire someone to do the job. Mr. Kennedy's idea that the person you inherited these minerals from a person who did not own 100% of the minerals could be a SOLID possibility as it makes sense. Again, a research of the minerals records will answer this question. Good luck!!

Sharon Davis said:

Thank you. This does offer me some hope. Does searching the records for legal owners of mineral rights mean digging through complicated and vague information? I was under the impression that title companies had access to all land records and it was a straightforward process. Am I wrong? Should I attempt to do any research myself or will it be better to let the attorney take care of it from the start? I don't want to create any problems if they can be cured quickly and easily by a professional.

Sharon

r w kennedy said:

Ms. Davis; you should be covered if you probate the will in N.D. and file the mineral deed in the county in which the minerals lie. It may be possible that the person you inherited from didn't own 100% of the mineral interests and that these other family members are also heir to some part derived from someone else. Another possibility is a mistake by a landman somewhere, as that has happened with my mineral interests more than once. My brother and I used Dann Greenwood of Greenwood and Ramsey of Dickinson to probate our fathers estate. He did an adequate if not stellar job. Once the will is probated and your mineral deed is recorded you should be covered.
#13

Your additional input helps me a lot. I will contact the Greenwood/Ramsey law firm. It is good to get a reference from an actual user. I looked at their website and they do offer a 20 minute free consultation.

Thanks much.

Sharon

charles s mallory said:

Sharon:

Mr. Kennedy has provided a name in the above post. I would contact this individual as it sounds like he had good luck with him. Again, find out what his charges will be and decide for yourself if it will be worthwhile to utilize his services. Just remember, by the time you make a trip to ND and possibly not understand what you are doing, you might end up having to hire someone to do the job. Mr. Kennedy's idea that the person you inherited these minerals from a person who did not own 100% of the minerals could be a SOLID possibility as it makes sense. Again, a research of the minerals records will answer this question. Good luck!!

Sharon Davis said:

Thank you. This does offer me some hope. Does searching the records for legal owners of mineral rights mean digging through complicated and vague information? I was under the impression that title companies had access to all land records and it was a straightforward process. Am I wrong? Should I attempt to do any research myself or will it be better to let the attorney take care of it from the start? I don't want to create any problems if they can be cured quickly and easily by a professional.

Sharon

r w kennedy said:

Ms. Davis; you should be covered if you probate the will in N.D. and file the mineral deed in the county in which the minerals lie. It may be possible that the person you inherited from didn't own 100% of the mineral interests and that these other family members are also heir to some part derived from someone else. Another possibility is a mistake by a landman somewhere, as that has happened with my mineral interests more than once. My brother and I used Dann Greenwood of Greenwood and Ramsey of Dickinson to probate our fathers estate. He did an adequate if not stellar job. Once the will is probated and your mineral deed is recorded you should be covered.
#14

Sharon, the very best thing you can do is contact the landman and ask him or her. More than likely you will find out that you own an interest with those relatives of the person you inherited from. Mineral estates get passed down through the generations. A landman sometimes contacts 15-20 separate family members in getting a lease on a parcel of land. For example: Company A is leasing minerals under a 640 acre tract. You might own 20 acres out of that 640 acres and other relatives and non-relatives own similar interests under the same tract. But a simple phone call will put your mind at ease. The last thing a landman wants to do is muddy the waters on a lease he just paid for. So, to put your mind at ease, give him a call. I hope this helps and I hope you get a great well out of this!!!

#15

ThankYou, Laura! You have put my mind to rest. That was my main concern. Why would they want to stir the pot, after they had the lease in hand. They told me (after they got the lease) that they wouldn't pay the royalty on a well until the mineral rights were probated. Then I found out that they had contacted some unconnected person. I couldn't figure out why they would do that, unless there were some advantage to confusing the probate. But, that didn't even make sense because they would have to put the royalty $$ into a State trust anyway. So, there couldn't be any savings advantage for them there.

So, I'm not so concerned now and will just get it probated. Thanks again.

Sharon


Laura Reagan said:

Sharon, the very best thing you can do is contact the landman and ask him or her. More than likely you will find out that you own an interest with those relatives of the person you inherited from. Mineral estates get passed down through the generations. A landman sometimes contacts 15-20 separate family members in getting a lease on a parcel of land. For example: Company A is leasing minerals under a 640 acre tract. You might own 20 acres out of that 640 acres and other relatives and non-relatives own similar interests under the same tract. But a simple phone call will put your mind at ease. The last thing a landman wants to do is muddy the waters on a lease he just paid for. So, to put your mind at ease, give him a call. I hope this helps and I hope you get a great well out of this!!!
#16