I inherited some minerals in Howard County TX. The oil company started drilling in 2017 and we now have 4 producing wells. Our final division orders came out and they have cut our decimal interest by almost 42%. The landman is saying my granddad sold 40 acres of the 160 acres. Also, the original owner retained 1/32 royalty. By my calculations, that is a little over 28% and not 42%. My Granddad acquired the property back in 1924 and I am trying to do some research to see how the ownership developed/changed over the years.
Can someone direct me to the best site to research and download documents dating back at least that far if not further. There are a lot of sites that want your information or money in order to access the documents. I am looking for a site that will allow you to download the documents for free if possible, or at least at a reasonable price.
This site worked well for me. I had a similar problem. Oil company was welling us we only owned .2777 net mineral acres but our deed said 160 acres. I found the deed on this link. Now trying to figure out next steps.
That’s called an undivided interest. Yes the deed will say 160 acres but that does not mean you own 160 net mineral acres.
For instance:
If you have 2 people who each own an undivided 50% of 160 acres, they will each own 80 net mineral acres. If one of those people conveys all of their interest to another person, the deed will still say 160 acres since that is the entire tract they own an interest in, but the new owner will not own 160 net mineral acres.
And as the years go by and people die and pass the interest on to their heirs, the net acre amount gets smaller and smaller as there are more owners.