I and my niece & nephew—have a 1/32 share of mineral rights in some property.
There is a total of 300 surface acres involved. This 1/32 share was awarded to us thru a probate proceedings and court Decree.
The Decree describes the ownership as:
Me 50%
My niece 25%
My nephew 25%
Total 100%
We have received an offer to lease and the company has sent three copies of the
lease contract. One to each of us and there is only one name on each copy along
with a bank draft with the amount corresponding to the above percentages.
To me this sounds like 3 totally separate contracts and they could renege on 2
of them and only have to pay the bonus money on one of the lesser contracts.
The contract forms have more than one line to list the lessor(s).
Shouldn’t all three names, addresses, etc appear on one contract?
William, you are right, the lessee could renege on all three leases. You should not accept a draft as payment unless you escrow your lease with a bank that will not send the lease until payment has cleared. Under no circumstances should you give the lessee your executed lease until you have cash in your account, then it won't matter as much if they want to renege or not. Just don't give them the lease until you are paid, it's the best way to assure you are paid promptly. If they have your lease in hand they will feel comfortable that they have your hands tied while they are free and feel less need to close the deal promptly.
Each having their own separate lease is proper unless you have a trust or something leasing for you.
Thank you for your info. We have a bit of a geography problem. The land involved is in Colorado, I am In Tennessee and my niece and nephew are in Texas. I guess if we escrow thru a bank each of us should use a bank in our own vicinity?
r w kennedy said:
William, you are right, the lessee could renege on all three leases. You should not accept a draft as payment unless you escrow your lease with a bank that will not send the lease until payment has cleared. Under no circumstances should you give the lessee your executed lease until you have cash in your account, then it won't matter as much if they want to renege or not. Just don't give them the lease until you are paid, it's the best way to assure you are paid promptly. If they have your lease in hand they will feel comfortable that they have your hands tied while they are free and feel less need to close the deal promptly.
Each having their own separate lease is proper unless you have a trust or something leasing for you.