Does a County Judge have the right to be come Receiver and Grantors over family Minerals Rights. This action has taken place in Limestone County Texas, Grantees Samson Lone Star LLC.
Yes, if the County Judge was appointed Receiver as allowed under Section 64.091 Vernon's Civil Statutes. The section was set up allow the leasing of unlocatable or missing mineral interest owners. Another statute has to do with proceedings for a non-participating royalty interest owner.
Buddy CottenBuddy, have you worked on or seen any instances of receivership, and if so, what are you thoughts on the process? What scares me is that in receivership a judge could allow the property to be sold. In short reading I can understand why this legal process exists, however, I can see where it may allow for abuse of the legal process for personal gain as well.
Kitchen,
There are safeguards built into the system. First the quoted section was only for leasing mineral rights. The missing mineral owners are somewhat protected by having appointed an attorney at litum to represent the interests of the unknown mineral owners.
Buddy
Buddy, thank you for the clarification. It doesn't sound as bad as I had envisioned. Of course, that only related to Texas and the law may not have the same safeguards in other states.
James could you elaborate on what happened in the situation you are inquiring about?
This sounds familliar to a little problem my brother and I are working on, except it was North Dakota, they did find us and we negotiated with them for 9 months before they decided to go to court and seek an Emergency Unlocatable Mineral Owner Trust. My brother actually executed a lease for the lessees and a memorandum of lease recorded before the land company lessee went to court to claim they could not find us. It goes on and on, getting more raw all the time. I would say there is good cause to worry about abuse.
deloe hubbard said:
This sure sounds like a situation where the "good ole boy's" could come out on the good end of something like this, where owners are unlocatable?? What constitutes a real effort to locate before this happens? If owners are in another state far from that state and are pretty much in the dark as to what is what and what is and has gone on over the years and are heirs. How, without having to pay an expensive attorney, can they follow up on whether this has happened in their particular case? Reciever? Grantor? Can't find family? Just sounds a bit hmmmmm........... Just saying.........