Mineral Rights in North Dakota

We have property and mineral rights in Mountrail County and Stanley, North Dakota. I’m not sure what’s going on.

With the property, it was my mom’s and she passed away last year. Her and my 2 aunts have 160 acres in Mountrail County; they each have their own sections on the property. I know the lease expires this year. I have no idea what’s going on with the property. My mom always let her sister take care of it because they live there in North Dakota. My aunt won’t really tell us anything about the property.

I haven’t talked to them or seen them in 36 years. My sister has talked to her but she won’t tell her anything. She said that we can’t sell the property unless it is to someone in the family. She said the land isn’t really worth anything and that her son would buy it from us for like $10,000 for our share of the 160 acres in Mountrail County and the 30 acres in Stanley. I believe we own the surface and mineral rights in Mountrail County. My sister says we only own the mineral rights in Stanley. She has a paper saying that she gets 1/7 of the royalties on the property in Stanley. They had just got the property last year in Stanley. My aunt had to take some cousins to court for the property in Stanley because she found papers that stated that when the uncle died the property was to go to my mom and her 2 sisters. So I am not sure what’s going on with the property whether there is extracting minerals off the property or oil or gas. I don’t really trust my aunt and don’t really care to talk to her because they didn’t even care when my mom passed away. So how would I find out what’s going on with the property?

You may need an attorney to help sort this out and find out what is going on, or perhaps the executor/personal representative for your mom’s estate could do it. Mountrail County is a hot spot right now for minerals so be careful of selling anything. $50-60/acre sounds like a steal to me. If you have a legal description that gives the location (Township, Range, Section), you can look at the North Dakota Industrial Commission website and find out if there has been any drilling or existing oil wells in that area. Just so you know, the town of Stanley is within the county of Mountrail.

If you need help I could help you with everything you may need as I have a lot of experience in dealing with estates, minerals and pricing, surface and pricing in North Dakota. Let me know if you need help. Tim Metz My email address is: tm59707@classicnet.net or you can call me 580-227-2456

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