When my Grandpa Luther died my Grandmother sold their land in Okahoma City, OK, but kept the mineral rights for her kids, three girls and two boys (one of which was my father). This meant any royalties that where earned were split equally between the siblings after her death.
My Grandmother also purchased a farm in South Texas, Hildago County and split the land between her five children. Whenever the land was sold, the mineral rights WERE NEVER SOLD.
My question is: Even if the land of this farm was sold, the mineral rights WERE NOT, and I have the DEED saying so . . therefore, if drilling is done on ANY PART of this land through a lease, shouldn't royalty money be split between the heirs of this farm land?
Thank you so much for any help you can give me.
Mary Jane
Dear Ms.Prothro-Jones,
As to the Hidalgo County property, there is no way to know what the heirs own without title research.
Here is an example. Johns owned the property and sold it to smith and reserved 1/2 the minerals. Smith sold it to Granny and reserved 1/2 the minerals. Granny sold the property and reserved all the minerals. Granny's heirs will share in 1/2 of the minerals.
Granny could have also only owned a royalty interest in the farm and when reserved, no royalty interest was passed in the sale.
So, title must be run to be confident in what Granny actually reserved.
As to a well drilled on any part of the land, well, it depends on what the lease says and the nature of the interest.
The well drilled could be an extended reach well, where the surface owner grants a subsurface easement.