Who inherited shares in the mineral rights?

I inherited my Dad’s share to mineral rights on two tracts of land in West Virginia We agreed to pool our tracts with others so that Antero could frack. Currently 5 wells producing. My Dad had a 1/6 interest on two tracts (one in Harrison Co and other in Dodridge County). All his siblings are gone, some had no children. How could I find out who has what interest on these 2 tracts? Antero would surely know - how can I find out? Thanks

PS - our payments had been suspended for several years and I had no idea we were due payments - I just figured it didn’t pan out. Antero tracked me down and we are awaiting payment in excess of 100K dollars - and understand all 5 wells are still producing. We feel like we hit the lottery LOL !

Hi Philip congratulations and welcome to the forum. If Antero tracked you down they probably have more info on some of the other heirs also. You can also go to the two counties and their online records and try to find the original leases to get names and try to trace who their heirs might be. There are a ton Nicholson’s on these sites but if you have first names that will help. If you have the DPU (Designated Pooled Unit) documents in your father’s papers you can locate the parcels and see who else shared in the royalties. You may be able to find them in your online search also. If the heirs are unknown then it gets difficult. Antero will probably hold those royalties in trust for 7 years and then forward them to the state. That is what is transpiring on one of our leases. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply!. Yes we were able to intercept our money before it was turned over to the state. We have the legal descriptions of the parcels of land. We have the original owners who signed the pooling amendment to the original lease. The owners were my father and his siblings. All those people are gone now, I know of a couple of people who inherited their shares but no idea where the kids or if there were any kids from some of his siblings. I can do a little genealogy research and some back ground checks and see if I can locate some of them but Antero would know for sure . Antero now shows me as the legal heir to my Dad’s share so I think we’re OK there. Will you be able to claw back the funds that were turned over to the state? We are still in a state of shock - my share is over 100K and apparently still paying. It looks like they started producing around 2017 or 18. I found some info online showing production. It looks like most of the wells are producing 50% or less since they started. I guess nobody knows how long this will go on.

It is normal for the volume to decline over time but they should continue to produce for several years 10-20. Then the price of nat gas and NGL’s will determine the real value. Afraid we have lost the amounts tied to our lost heir who appears to have no offspring even though she was married to a direct relation of my wife’s. Lawyers didn’t hold much hope of getting anywhere with that. You can check historical volumes on the WV DEP site as long as you have the well numbers. They are about 6 months in arrears in reporting. Once you receive payment you should get statements showing past volumes and prices for comparison. If you know the well pad names keep an eye out for any new permits on the DEP site under weekly reports. Antero may drill new wells on those same pads. One of the pros on here may have some additional advise. All good news. Enjoy.

If funds were turned over to the state you can recover those! West Virginia has an “unclaimed funds” website that you should be able to find by a google search. There is an ID process you have to go through but it is certainly doable.

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