Mineral rights or royalties

Oil and Gas Leasing Help
1

My grandmother did a royalty deed before she sold the property. It said her children, who will be known as grantees, have given, granted, sold, conveyed, assigned, and delivered by these presents to give, grant, sell, convey, assign, and deliver unto the said grantees as their separate property and estate and to the sole and separate use of each an undivided 3/4 interest in and to all of the oil royalty, gas royalty, and royalty in other minerals in and under, and that may be produced and mined from the described lands. It also says neither the grantor nor the heirs shall make or enter into any lease of said land for oil, gas, or other minerals unless each lease shall provide for at least a royalty on the oil, and in the event grantor or the heirs shall operate and develop the minerals therein.

Question: Would the grandmother be considered the grantor if we are the grantees? If she died, us being her heirs, would we be the grantor and grantee? At the end it says to have and to hold the above described property and rights together with all and singular the rights and appurtenances thereto in any wise belonging unto the said grantees and their heirs assigns forever and grantor does hereby bind herself to warrant and forever defend all and singular the said property and rights unto the said grantees their heirs against every person lawfully claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof.

Does her being the grantor have the mineral rights and royalties, giving the royalties to the grantees? At that point before she did the royalty deed did she have the mineral rights and royalties? In doing this deed, if she was the grantor and we were the heirs, would the mineral rights go to us? So if she sold the property, did the mineral rights go to us or to the new owner?

In my great-grandfather’s will it listed part of the land as separate property, 52 acres, and the other part as community property of decedent and his surviving wife. He died first. Does the separate property go to her? With the community property, at that point does she have the mineral rights and royalty when he died for all of the properties?

2

This is in Texas. The land was purchased by my great-great-grandfather in the 1800s from the state of Texas land grant. I guess the mineral rights came with the land grant. I would appreciate anyone’s help as to who the mineral rights actually belong to.

3

Nancy, I believe before some of your questions can be answered by someone competent to do so, the following facts must be gathered:

  1. Who did your great-grandfather leave his separate and community property to in his will? Was any mention made regarding the minerals?

  2. Was your grandmother a child of your great-grandfather and did she inherit the land and/or minerals from him or from her mother?

A royalty deed conveys only an interest in the oil and gas and other minerals under the property, which you don’t receive until a producing well is drilled and completed.

There is something missing from this sentence: It also says neither the grantor nor the heirs shall make or enter into any lease of said land for oil gas or other minerals unless each lease shall provide for at least a royalty on the oil, (it should say at least a royalty of 1/8 or some other fractional amount on the oil, gas, and other minerals, etc. This means that the person holding the executive rights to lease the land must sign a lease for a royalty no less than this amount.)

If your grandmother owned the land and minerals and sold them after this royalty deed was executed, the mineral interest would have passed with the land unless she reserved them. If she didn’t reserve the minerals, the person to whom she sold the land would own the minerals and should hold the right to lease them and receive all of the bonus money (unless the executive rights are held by another). However, by your grandmother’s royalty deed of a 3/4 undivided interest to you and others the mineral owner(s) would only be entitled to 1/4 of the royalty payable on those minerals if a producing well was brought in.

The chain of title must be traced to determine what your grandmother and ancestors owned to know for sure what your exact ownership is. My answers above were made on the assumption that your grandmother owned 100% of the minerals and royalty before making the royalty deed to you and others.

I hope this helps.

4

Nancy, 6th Gen Texan gave you sound info. I don’t have anything to add to that.

Yet I also noticed something odd they didn’t mention. If your grandmother left her “children” each an undivided 3/4th royalty interest it does not add up unless she had a single child. In other words; Two kids = 150% of the royalty, Three kids = 225% of royalty, etc. So if she had “children”, either you had a typo in your message or there was an error when the royalty deed was written by her.

Frankly, I don’t know where that leaves you if she had multiple kids and the deed language was as you have written. You would own a portion of the royalty she had. However, you’d need to consult a competent O&G attorney to tell you just what that interest is.

5

On question #1, my great-grandfather in his will says to my wife, her heirs and assigns I hereby give, devise and bequeath all property of all kinds and natures; his wife was named sole executrix. On the inventory and appraisement on real estate list the separate property, land he inherited from his dad; his dad got the land as part of the State of Texas patent in 1860 preemption survey signed by Sam Houston, governor of Texas. It also lists the community property of decedent and his surviving wife. The rest of the land was conveyed to him by his brothers and sisters that inherited the land from their dad as part of the preemption survey. It didn’t mention minerals. The thing it mentioned was there was a tract of land from another county as part of a note that there was a producing distillate well in that tract of land, but nothing on the tract of land that I had in my question.

On Question #2, my grandfather was the child of my great-grandfather; he inherited the land. My grandmother married into the family of this land. The next question shall provide for at least a royalty on oil of the usual 1/8 to be delivered free of cost. There were six children that my grandmother in her will left everything to. They received 1/6th of said 3/4 or a 1/8th of said royalty. After she lists the 6 tracts of land it says together with the right of ingress and egress at all times for purpose of mining, drilling, and exploring said lands for oil, gas, and other minerals and removing the same.

What we are trying to figure out after this royalty deed was created, was she the grantor still holding the mineral rights, and she went to sell this property. I have a warranty deed with vendor lien; it says have granted, sold, and conveyed and by these presents do grant, sell, and convey all that certain tract or parcel of land. I think I have all the paperwork. I am trying to figure out if she let the mineral rights go to the new owners. It doesn’t say. Is there something else I could ask for at DeWitt County Courthouse?

6th Generation Texan said:

Nancy, I believe before some of your questions can be answered by someone competent to do so, the following facts must be gathered:

  1. Who did your great-grandfather leave his separate and community property to in his will? Was any mention made regarding the minerals?

  2. Was your grandmother a child of your great-grandfather and did she inherit the land and/or minerals from him or from her mother?

A royalty deed conveys only an interest in the oil and gas and other minerals under the property, which you don’t receive until a producing well is drilled and completed.

There is something missing from this sentence: It also says neither the grantor nor the heirs shall make or enter into any lease of said land for oil, gas, or other minerals unless each lease shall provide for at least a royalty on the oil (it should say at least a royalty of 1/8 or some other fractional amount on the oil, gas, and other minerals, etc.). This means that the person holding the executive rights to lease the land must sign a lease for a royalty no less than this amount.

If your grandmother owned the land and minerals and sold them after this royalty deed was executed, the mineral interest would have passed with the land unless she reserved them. If she didn’t reserve the minerals, the person to whom she sold the land would own the minerals and should hold the right to lease them and receive all of the bonus money (unless the executive rights are held by another). However, by your grandmother’s royalty deed of a 3/4 undivided interest to you and others, the mineral owner(s) would only be entitled to 1/4 of the royalty payable on those minerals if a producing well was brought in.

The chain of title must be traced to determine what your grandmother and ancestors owned to know for sure what your exact ownership is. My answers above were made on the assumption that your grandmother owned 100% of the minerals and royalty before making the royalty deed to you and others.

I hope this helps.

6

I need to make a correction: everywhere it says grandmother, it should say great-grandmother. I am sorry for the confusion. This is about to drive me crazy, but I am determined to figure this out. Is there any other paperwork I need to get from the courthouse? My grandmother died before the great-grandmother died, so of the six children, our one sixth passed directly to my dad and his two siblings. They were the heirs of my great-grandmother. I hope that better clarifies this. Thanks.

7

It sounds like you have a good idea of your family’s history.

Just a general piece of advice when dealing with inherited properties through multiple generations. You need to have mapped out every time someone dies with ownership in the minerals who is alive and who is dead. When they died did they have kids or not. Did they have a will.

The will says they leave it to one person but what if they are deceased at the time? Who does it go to then? Read the whole probate. Sometimes I have seen an elderly wife has waived their rights of the will and let the intestate rules take over as some of the kids are running the farm now.

What if he didn’t leave a will (so this becomes critical if it is separate or community property for intestate rules). He left a wife and 8 kids so you split it up between them by intestate rules. But one of the kids predeceased him and was never married and didn’t have any kids so his share becomes split between the surviving heirs. Or the child who predeceased him had kids so it is split between them.

It gets complicated really fast. It is really easy to overlook these situations in big families.

8

Yes I have a lot of info from courthouse it was put in my great-grandmother’s will about each of her six children, since one of the six had died she listed that in the will and her part who it went to being the three children.

9

6th generation: I tried to answer some of your questions, did that help so I can get to the bottom of all of this? I went to the courthouse, I have got the wills and probates and a warranty deed when the property was sold, but I haven’t got a release of the warranty deed. Is there anything else I need to ask for? The great grandmother died in 1966, also in my first discussion it should have read great grandmother instead of grandmother.

6th Generation Texan said:

Nancy, I believe before some of your questions can be answered by someone competent to do so, the following facts must be gathered:

  1. Who did your great-grandfather leave his separate and community property to in his will? Was any mention made regarding the minerals?

  2. Was your grandmother a child of your great-grandfather and did she inherit the land and/or minerals from him or from her mother?

A royalty deed conveys only an interest in the oil and gas and other minerals under the property, which you don’t receive until a producing well is drilled and completed.

There is something missing from this sentence: “It also says neither the grantor nor the heirs shall make or enter into any lease of said land for oil gas or other minerals unless each lease shall provide for at least a royalty on the oil,” (it should say at least a royalty of 1/8 or some other fractional amount on the oil, gas, and other minerals, etc. This means that the person holding the executive rights to lease the land must sign a lease for a royalty no less than this amount.)

If your grandmother owned the land and minerals and sold them after this royalty deed was executed, the mineral interest would have passed with the land unless she reserved them. If she didn’t reserve the minerals, the person to whom she sold the land would own the minerals and should hold the right to lease them and receive all of the bonus money (unless the executive rights are held by another). However, by your grandmother’s royalty deed of a 3/4 undivided interest to you and others the mineral owner(s) would only be entitled to 1/4 of the royalty payable on those minerals if a producing well was brought in.

The chain of title must be traced to determine what your grandmother and ancestors owned to know for sure what your exact ownership is. My answers above were made on the assumption that your grandmother owned 100% of the minerals and royalty before making the royalty deed to you and others.

I hope this helps.

10

Hey, are you Nancy from S’burg class of 1985? If so, I graduated with you. We have things going on in Lavaca County, Texas waiting on this year to turn around. So equipment is available.

11

No I have a place in Weimar, but actually I am from Corpus.

12

Ok you look like a twin to a classmate. I have Lavaca County mineral rights interest. How you heard any new drills in Fayetteville & Lavaca area through Omimex Ross Inc or any new partners?

nancy peterson said:

no i have a place in weimar, but actually i am from corpus

13

No I haven’t heard anything there.