I am one of lots of heirs to some land in Atascosa County, Texas. We have already signed a mineral lease. One attorney I spoke with didn’t want to mess with it because there were too many people involved (about 30). He said we need an Affidavit of Heirship. Is this true? Is this something any attorney can do or do I need an Oil/Gas Attorney? Can you recommend an attorney in the Dallas area? Thanks in advance for any advice or information.
We've been quite happy with the council we've recieved from:
Eric C. Camp
Whitaker, Chalk, Swindle & Sawyer L.L.P.
301 Commerce St. Suite 3500
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
817-878-0529 office
817-308-0865 cell
817-878-0501 fax
ecamp@whitakerchalk.com
Hey, Nancy -
I'd suggest you hold tight: Attorney's can be expensive and you may not need one.
When the oil and gas company gets closer to drilling a well on your land or on lands that your land will be pooled with, they will be having an Attorney prepare a Title Opinion on your land based upon a review of a Title Run Sheet - think history - of the land prepared by a Landman.
As part of the Examining Attorney's review of your title, they will more than likely include a Requirement in their Title Opiinion that your Affidavit of Heirship be prepared, signed and filed of record.
Your Affidavit will probably be drawn up by a Landman after a series of interviews with different family members and perhaps having documents retrieved from other counties, signed by two people who have no connection to the Land and filed of record...
All for free.
If you have a good relationship with the company, they may even give you a copy of the Affidavit, the Title Run Sheet and possibly even the Title Opinion(s) on your land for your personal records.
Hope this helps -
Charles
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas
Thanks for the info! I will wait and see what happens. I will keep Eric Camp’s info in case I need it.
Hey Nancy, the heirship affidavit can filed directly with the County Clerk's office and might not actually need the intervention of legal consolation.
Please do yourself a favor, however, and make sure that you do get a proper and good Oil and Gas attorney to go over any leasing documents before you sign off on those. Far too many people shoot themselves in the foot and end up locked into unfavorable contracts for decades/generations on end by not spending a reasonable amount up front for proper representation.