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Permalink Reply by Sandy on April 22, 2011 at 22:32

Let me add a little - I know the landman that got this snowball rolling. We work together. The 12 acres are undivided within the 124 acres mentioned. All of the mineral interest within this 124 acres is leased. XTO leased the interest owners they could find and the "unknowns" were leased, legally, through the courts - Receivership. XTO didn't look for the unknowns because he found them fairly easy. It's a matter of timing for an oil company, drill now and look later. I know there has been discussion regarding Hunt Petroleum drilling 2 wells and XTO has the one. Hunt is owned by XTO, so they are one and the same. The RL (Receivership Lease) covers all three wells. In order for the "unknowns" to become a lessor, an affidavit of heirship will have to be done on each and every person (heir) who died without a will and for those who died with a will, a Certified copy of their "probated" estate will have to be obtained and filed in Shelby County. Once you (or a landman/attorney) has all the documents completed to build a clear title, then the court will dissolve the Receivership and you will be in line for royalty payments. Hope this helps. 

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Permalink Reply by adubu on April 23, 2011 at 7:37

Sherry----there's you answer that is outline by Sandy with details of what you now have to do to prove your ownership of the minerals--that's it in a nut shell as old saying goes.  This makes a lot of sense. If you have every attempted to run title in Shelby County and good back 100 years and the minerals go thru several generations with minerals undivided in your case 92 Heirs in 124 acres some less than 1 acre and other fraction over 1 acre it is a nightmare for landman to run title to cure issue for lease and then DO. They do a legal lease that is a avg royalty and standard terms and money is escrowed for few years then goes to state of Texas unclaimed fund for those who they could not find. In time people like your family show up to claim your royalty money and it is now your responsibilty to prove title. The operator will help but has no responsibilty to you otherwise.  Good luck. You will just have to follow the instructions outlined above by Sandy

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Permalink Reply by adubu on April 23, 2011 at 8:22

Sherry--- It appears I was wrong on yesterdays post about if unleased you are a "unleased mineral owner" --in this case the 12 remaining of 124 acre tract with 92 heirs was leased as RL legally as outlined by Sherry in the courts so I think you will have to follow her outline to do the leg work yourself to prove your Title--- basically run title your self. I would ask XTO for copy of their Run Sheet they obtained from Hunt which should get to date and deeds before the 12 acres spilt off to the 92 heirs which would be helpful to you. I think you will have to go to county house in Center unless you can find it on line from shelby county county clerk records. The 92 heirs could hire  a landman to go to court house and run your titles with documentation and the divid the cost by 92. The amount of money each will receive on 12 acres divided by 92 is sorry going to be very small-- maybe dinner out one time for 2 each year at fast food place.  You should go over and ask Ben Elmore to review this thread to see if this is correct thinking

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Permalink Reply by Sandy on April 23, 2011 at 10:13

Let me give a little history and explain what Sherry is facing. The original 124 acres belonged to a widow, with 10 kids. She died in 1913, intestate, so the 124 acres was divided out to the 10 kids. Each child received 12.4 undivided acres. This was done through dissent and distribution. There have never been any partition deeds of conveyances of any type to actually divided out the land. Everybody's interest is undivided, lying wholly within the 124 acres. One of the children was the mother of Sherry's step-grandfather. This is where the entire 92 plus descendants come into this 12.4 acres. However, this woman owning the 12.4 undivided acres had 7children, one being the step-grandfather of Sherry. 12.4 divided by 7 isn't much. Then each of the 7 children had children, some as many as 12-15 kids. Well, we can see where this is going. It a nightmare at best and will be very expensive to the family to clear the title. XTO won't be in any hurry because they have the interest leased through the courts. They are happy to be paying the royalty payments to the courts, just as long as they are off the hook and can't be liable for unleased interest. The oil company is not obligated to lease anyone, they have a lease. The burden falls on the 92 heirs. They potentially could spend thousands of dollars to get very little. Adubu is right - maybe a fast food dinner once a year. 

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Permalink Reply by adubu on April 23, 2011 at 10:32

Sherry-- what you should thing about is donating your small interest to the Rainy Day Fund of Texas and take a deduction off your income tax. Get copy of tax appreal value of the well from the County Clerk Tax Office and calculate out what your mineral interest would be if you could clear title. Then go on down the road of life with this off your plate since it's doesnot appear to be that big pot of gold windfall you hope you found or call the Guy back that wanted to purchase your interest. In general I never sell minerals but with such small interest value with big nightmare to resolve this might be the time to sell and let grantee worry about getting clear title for royalty--- Just IMO

Permalink Reply by adubu on April 23, 2011 at 11:15

Sherry/Sandy--- Also it appear you have been very fortunate that Sandy is member of this site and answered your questions since it appears Sandy must have been one of the landman working on leases in this unit for Hunt and as result you got the infomation you need with out calling and calling and writting letter after letter for this information. Sandy is this correct assumption  you where one of staff working on this 124 acres to clear the title????? If you are not then you know the landman who worked the lease to have the info who quoted above about the Heirs. How Sherry you will have to take this info and decide what to do with it. Sherry you owe Sandy a big THANK YOU  Good luck

Permalink Reply by Mac Davis on April 22, 2011 at 15:02

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Mobley on April 23, 2011 at 14:54

Thank you Sandy and everyone else for all your info. . The first Landman was very helpful when he contacted us. We are all just asking questions trying to figure out why they approached us with warranty deeds asking to buy our little parts of 12 acres and had two paragraphs stating we would give up all bonus, lease rights, mineral rights, etc... It was very misleading and confusing. No one ever told us about any wells. We had to do all the legwork and have became a little educated in the oil and gas world. Just enough to realize we know very little. But between research, GHS, the landmen, and the owner, we have found out a good bit. Like I said everyone has been very helpful and really kind, espercially XTO. And they are working on clear title. Some of our heirs sold their part because they were never informed of the whole truth. The owner told me himself that we might get a good meal out of all this. But because of this and this title search my sister and I were reunited after 49 years. The rest is simply curiousity. Thanks again for all the help. We are getting our Affadavit of Heirships together. there are very few of us on our Grandmothers side. The Landman that got this snowball running has helped us a lot. Happy Easter to all of you. And Matt???????? SORRY FOR USING ALL CAPS

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Permalink Reply by Sandy on April 24, 2011 at 6:37

Adubu - yes. I am part of the research team on staff with the landman that got "the ball rolling", so I know the history. Sherry - I wish you all the best. It's uphill and very little reward at the top. Best to you.

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Permalink Reply by adubu on April 24, 2011 at 9:36

Sandy--- I hope my advise was appropriate to Sandy if not please advise her in correct direction for you have more knowledge of facts of this unit than I. I had a similiar small interest in a unitized  field of around 4000+ acres --small life estate from my mother's heirs in Joaquin area that was a nightmare to resolve ( decimal interest with 4 zero .00007 )but like Sherry I did not want to give up on anything and after several trips to court house over one year got it resolve and now get a small check every 6 months to one year enough for dinner out once a year but will never pay for time and effort -- just my satisfication --would I do it again-- doubtful but probably yes vs sell it to operator???

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Mobley on April 23, 2011 at 14:57

Excuse me , it was Mac, not Matt.

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