My parents had some property but before they both passed on they sold the land but not the mineral or surface. It has been two years, which I myself didn’t know that my sibling knew of the mineral rights, etc. Sibling leased the land to an oil company without letting me know, for the past year, but then that oil company was bought out by this new oil company that was digging a little deeper and wanted to be sure everything was in order and found that instead of 1 heir there were 2 heirs and that would be me. I was furious, but oh well.
I called the oil company and they said I would have my own lease under my name but what I don’t understand is can we have two different leases for the same property under the same oil company?
Sounds like your sibling is like my no good dirty scummy dishonest crooked lawyer of a brother. You technically have two leases, because the oil company creates a lease with each owner. Now, the unfortunate thing for you is that if an oil company mistakenly pays someone like your dirty no good crook of a relative, money that should have been paid to you, then under the law, that company is not under obligation to recover those funds and give them to the rightful owner. It is up to you to take that crook of a brother of yours to court and get a judgment against him, which he may or may not decide to pay. Lucky for you that you at least found out about it sooner rather than later. Shakespeare was correct in his play Henry VI when he said, “Let’s start by killing all the lawyers.”
Mr. Tilden, I hate to have to disagree but Texas Lady need not sign the lease until she has been paid. The lessee will not have a valid lease for Texas Lady’s half until she has received some form of consideration. I suppose that Texas Lady may have a case against the sibling and lessee for slander of title and the lessee would have a case against the sibling if they agreed to warrant and defend title and did not add broad disclaimers of warranty of title, but the point is that the lessee does not have a valid lease for Texas Lady’s acreage without consideration to Texas Lady. One can no more legally lease mineral acres you do not have the right to than I could sell my neighbor’s house I have no right to.
Bingo- rwK is correct - Texas Lady, you’ll get to make your own lease for 1/2 interest in the full amount of mineral acres; be sure to get the best deal you can get (nice bonus $) and good royalty (1/4 or 25%) - just realize that it will be on HALF of the total mineral acres. Secondly, you need to go about ‘perfecting your title’ on those mineral acres, so this doesn’t happen again, etc.
Thank you, oldoak! I have the oil co. send everything to be filed in the courthouse and I went online and saw that everything is in my name and made copies. I also just found out, showed that my (dad) before he passed put 25% of the minerals and 75% surface and royalties to me only. Hard to understand, but the other 25% of my dad’s went to my mother. Then my mom put my sibling as POA of that land so now my sibling has only 75% of minerals and royalties only, no surface (the new owner of land has only 25% of surface only). So that’s how my sibling leased the land. It shows on the pool on my sibling 0.34 for that lease and it’s really producing, but what I don’t understand is I will not get anything from that, right? Since my lease is not in that pool. Oil Co. found me a month later after the pool had completed. Found out that my sibling is on 1H well and mine will be on 3H well. By the time they get to my #3 there will be no more oil.
Texas Lady, since we are talking percentages, unless you each received specific acres and not a percentage of all acres, you should share in all wells pooled with any of the acres.