What are my mineral rights worth?

Hello, I’m very new to this site and have very little knowledge of mineral rights. Recently my 3 sister’s and I were contacted by a person who owns property that once belonged to our Great Grandmother. When it was sold years ago, the minerals rights still belonged to her. She is deceased, her daughter (our grandmother) is deceased, our father is deceased. So the small inheritance is left to 2 uncles, 1 cousin, who have yet to be contacted regarding their share. The property owner says she will be offering each $2,000 for their part in line of inheritance & what is left to us 4 sisters is 1 acre each $2,000 to be split $500 per sister. The property is located in Mt. Alba, TX. Owner says it is inactive, been pumped & has been shut down several years. She was eager to locate each of us & anxious for us to sign off for the $500 check. Sending paperwork by over night express. She has said it was valued by a reputable appraiser & just wants to put the property back together as there were once many hands in the pie & we are the last living owners to these rights. Should we trust that she is being forthcoming & fair or should we make further inquiries? Would there be other buyers interested? What would you do? Thank you to anyone on this forum who would reply with more expertise knowledge…

Hi Lloyd - Welcome!

I know nothing about where you are in Texas. So please take that into consideration.

I am a naturally suspicious person when it comes to people pushing me in money matters. I always wonder why they are in such a hurry - and I assume that it will be to my detriment and their benefit somehow. I would be 10 times as suspicious if someone tried to rush me in any matters concerning oil property in Texas. Do you know this person? Do you even know if “she” (are you sure she’s really a she) really owns anything? Do you know how “she” arrived at the value she gave you? It seems verrrrrry cheap to me.

There are plenty of scammers in Texas these days. If she wants your minerals so badly, she will wait. Do whatever research you need to do. I’d be pretty surprised if your property weren’t worth more. Best luck!

Thank you Liz_M Your words ring true. We have discussed these things. You make very valid points. We have currently been advised to tell the alleged property owner to have her lawyer send us documentation and stop talking to her. Very well could be a scam. However, she HAS conversed with an elderly relative in TX that recalled many of our names and who the previous owner was. That part we know is legit. Again your words helped confirm what we were all thinking. Thanks again

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Slow down and do a bit of research. Might be a legitimate offer, might not. The original wells may have been pumped dry, but that doesn’t mean that the underlying shales aren’t a possible target for horizontal development. Many folks out there buying minerals for cheap from unsuspecting owners using that “your wells are dead” language. I have had many offers. If you are interested in selling, then contact an attorney and get your own appraisal. Get on the TX RCC site and see if there are any horizontal wells near you. Clint Liles is an excellent reference on the forum to help you navigate the site. If you post this question in the proper county where your minerals are, then he might be able to walk you through how to look up the activity in the area. If all of you stick together, you will have more bargaining power either to sell or to lease. The first thing you will have to do in either case is get all the wills probated and get the title clear for each of you. Depending upon how many acres you have and how valuable the area is, that price offered may or may not be the right value.

My two siblings, three cousins, and I own mineral rights in Oklahoma counties: Payne County, Creek County, Hughes County, and Okfuskee County which we inherited from our mothers. Other than the holdings that we know of because there were previous mineral leases, we are not sure if we have additional holdings in these counties, so we would like to find a reputable landman to research this information for us. Our mothers have been deceased for at least 10 years and we have not received many royalties from leases in these counties, so we suspect that our holdings are not substantial, but we would like to find out exactly what we own. Once we have this information then we would like to contact potential buyers since all of us are close to retirement and we want to sell our mineral rights (as a block of owners). My siblings and I probated our mother’s Will in these counties so I have original mineral deeds for the Section/Townships in our names. Our cousins had their mother’s Will probated but I will find out from them if her mineral rights were included in the probated Will to transfer them to my cousins. We also inherited mineral rights through our grandmother in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, and we have detailed info on these holdings from the probate of our grandmother’s Will. We are looking for some guidance on how to proceed. Thanks for any advice that you can provide.

M_Barnes Thank you so much for your insights! We are researching & learning. Very interesting