Recently a GHS member asked a few pointed questions that demonstrate the frustration felt by anyone who has labored through deciphering their royalty statement only to discover they're being paid far less for their gas than the prices reported on TV. 

Whole books can (and have) been written on the issues surrounding the payment and reporting of royalties, and this post is not intended to be as comprehensive. Rather, I hope this post will address some common and reasonable concerns…

This post touches upon a commonly misunderstood issue: That the word "royalty" is used to described many different kinds of mineral right, which are governed by separate legal regimes in many cases. 

These distinctions become relevant when one has questions like "Does XYZ's royalties expire when a lease expires?" or "Are my royalties subject to prescription?" The answers to these questions and others depend on what kind of…

The State of Louisiana is undoubtedly the largest landowner in the state, and therefore is likely the largest mineral owner as well. Just like any other party, the State often acts aggressively to protect and establish its ownership of mineral rights throughout Louisiana. This blog post is meant to give a summary of some of the legal issues surrounding ownership of mineral rights when the State of Louisiana is involved.  This post is for educational purposes only, and is certainly no…

One of the unique aspects of Louisiana property law is the regime governing servitudes. For Louisianans and out-of-staters alike, the nomenclature and rules can be quite confusing. This post is to provide a brief summary of the ins and outs of Louisiana servitudes, in their basic forms, in hopes of alleviating some of that confusion. I will go into more depth into mineral servitudes because that is subject matter of this site.

This post is meant to be educational, but certainly should…