Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by RGV AG on December 5, 2013 at 3:42

Mark:

I would recommend, and this is what I did, not going with an attorney immediately.  Hire and or look for a Landman working in Wilkinson County.  They will likely do it faster and cheaper than an attorney.  An attorney might likely hire a landman to do the research anyway.  What you need is for someone to "run" the minerals on your land.  

It is not that complicated, but it is time consuming and a mysterious science.  After that is done what you can do is have an attorney formalize and register the minerals, either via a deed or other instrument.  

FYI, this is what I had to do, and I found that some of the minerals we thought we owned we did not and also that some of the minerals were a bit off in the descriptions. 

Permalink Reply by mark edward marchiafava on December 5, 2013 at 3:48

since I'm in Amite county, would you know of a landman over this way please?

Permalink Reply by Steve on December 5, 2013 at 4:52

You might just go to the Courthouse in Liberty and find some landmen from out of town already working on property searches, one might take on your search for extra money. I think you live in Tennessee now don't you, so this might not be an option.

Permalink Reply by mark edward marchiafava on December 5, 2013 at 5:05

I live near Gloster, time to time I motorcycle to TN, NC, GA and back

Permalink Reply by RGV AG on December 5, 2013 at 11:38

Mark:

Do what Steve is saying, go to the Amite or Wilkinson county courthouse and ask around, there should be several working in there.  Honestly, that is what I did.    That might be your best bet.  I can maybe refer one or two that have emailed in the past.  Request me as a friend or whatever it is that you do on this site and we can private message. 

Permalink Reply by mark edward marchiafava on December 5, 2013 at 11:56

called the clerk's office, got a lead on a person who can do a search for me, if I can ever locate this person.

A neighbor says all that land in that area was once owned by the same family who appear to have kept ALL the mineral rights. Sure hope he's not correct, but WILL find out ASAP.

Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on December 5, 2013 at 14:33

Mark, be very careful. If I were you I wouldn't trust a landman that you met in the courthouse. I am a landman and can say for certain that many of these so called landmen are just warm bodies that are making tons of money for the brokers they work for. Many of them have little experience in complicated title issues. I have no experience in Amite County but have worked Wilkerson County a couple of years ago and can say that Wilkerson is not an easy place to work. If you own minerals then the company will come to you for a lease before they drill. Let them do the work and pay for it. If they hit and bring in a decent well and you have not been contacted to lease, then spend your money to look into the title. You will have them by the short hairs at that point if you have the minerals.

I also wouldn't put any faith in the courthouse crew that you contact on the phone and don't know yourself. I have seen courthouse people steer folks to whoever buys them dounuts. 

Permalink Reply by RGV AG on December 6, 2013 at 2:23

There is a lot of logic and truth in what TwoDogs relates, and that is from me being a novice on my end.  I did extensive background checking on the landman I hired in Wilkinson county, I also then did a bunch of the research myself after I figured out how to do it.   I then had an attorney do a mineral deed and something else to further legitimize things. 

As TwoDogs mentions, if you own the minerals and there is somewhat clear chain of title to the property the oil companies will likely find you. I did the work that I did because the minerals and land we had in Wilkinson county had gone through two recent probates in Texas and it had taken time to do in Wilkinson county and was held in trust and everyone was in Texas.  Some of the probating also failed to update all that completely in Wilkinson county.  

I will tell you all what, time machines do exist.  If you ever want to go back to 1971 just visit the Wilkinson County courthouse, that is a way back deal.  I was shocked at how backward that was.  I grew up in deep South Texas, often considered a very backwards place.  It is "Star Trek the Next Generation" compared to Wilkinson county.  So DosPerros is right yet again in saying "buyer beware" with info and advice you get out of any of those courthouses.  Nice enough people and such, but records and competency are scarce I do believe. 

Permalink Reply by mark edward marchiafava on December 6, 2013 at 2:37

according to our deed, the seller conveys 50% of the mineral rights.  What I am trying to determine is if the seller HAD any mineral rights to begin with.  The clerk's office referred me to an attorney in Pike county east of Amite county. How do you vet an attorney in reference to mineral rights' knowledge?

Permalink Reply by Steve on December 6, 2013 at 2:43

Mark,

This may be a long shot but I would try contacting whomever your neighbor leased to or got letters from and ask them why you never got an offer from them since you are next door. Maybe with your property description they can tell you whether or not your land was leased from someone else already or offer letters were sent to someone else for your acreage. This would possibly give you some relief from not knowing.

Permalink Reply by mark edward marchiafava on December 6, 2013 at 2:44

That's a great idea !  When he gets home from work, I'll be sure to ask him the names of whoever is sending him letters. Thanks

Permalink Reply by Steve on December 6, 2013 at 3:40

We have different laws in Louisiana that I think are more fair to the current landowner. The mineral rights automatically transfer to the new property owner after 10 years if there is no mineral production within the 10 year period after the property was purchased. This gives the new landowner a chance to get all his minerals, even if the seller retained them at time of purchase. If there is mineral production during the initial 10 years, then the seller gets the royalties until that production ceases. In my opinion, this makes it easier in most cases to determine who currently owns the minerals. In regards to Ms., I would not automatically assume that an average  or even a novice landman would do a poor job of searching your title - your property may be one of the simple ones to research - not every title is a can of worms, but as the other posters have aptly opined  - it can be, but that isn't always the case. There are lots of pockets of acreage that are not leased or have not received offers, some just because no one has gotten around to searching the mineral title yet. In a 250 subdivision I represent as the Owner's Association president, we have 1/2 the landowners' lots leased by Encana and 1/2 across the main road through the subdivision not leased by anyone and no offers to lease yet, but, the acreage on their back side up to the lot lines was leased by Trinity. In other words 1/2 of the residents have their neighbors with leased property surrounding them front and back, but they are in a no-lease donut hole. Why?  I think they will eventually get leased.

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