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Permalink Reply by ALongview on April 2, 2009 at 10:34

Another point I feel the need to make....we settled an estate and gave up surface land for mineral interests. Would this make it so that after the prescribed amount of time the surface owner whom we negotiated with would then get the entire estate if it was not continually "in use"? That sounds about as unfair as anything I have ever heard in my life.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Williamson on April 2, 2009 at 10:41

As it stands now in the state of Texas, filing an affidavit of heirship is all that is required to make your claim. You would own the interest forever, assuming someone doesn't come along to challenge the A of H. It is always best to file a certified copy of probate proceedings that may have taken place in another county or state. Assuming the deceased owner died intestate (no will) the A of H will suffice.

This new pending legislation would certainly change the rules (for everyone except the government.) I would urge all mineral owners to write or call your congressman to protest the continuing effort of our state congress to poke their nose where it does not belong.

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Permalink Reply by ALongview on April 2, 2009 at 11:09

Thanks Jon for the response.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Williamson on April 2, 2009 at 16:31

Keep in mind ALongview

Part of the problem they are trying to adress is the inability to locate owners. If you filed the affidavit of ownership and the minerals are non-producing, it may be 20 years before someone decides to lease you. Imagine the difficulty 20 years from now...where are you? Do you have any nearby heirs with your last name? It's always prudent to file something current in the county relating to your adress or your heirs address.

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on April 2, 2009 at 15:03

A Landman is a investigator of minerals.

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Permalink Reply by Sandstone on April 2, 2009 at 15:47

Two Dogs, I think of a Landman as a business person working for a company or companies, checking deeds, etc. I was thinking more of a private sleuth looking for heirs to beat the state out of those royalities for fun - and maybe a little percentage..LOL

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on April 2, 2009 at 16:11

Then what you think of a Landman is incorrect. Many are outside the box of what you have placed them in. I have to find people that may not want to be found. Some are violent people that would just as soon kill you as to look at you. At times I have taken on projects that were dangerous but for my on well being I chose to stay on the safe side when I can. I can tell you a story of a, out of state, private sleuth that got strip searched on the side of the road in the I-20 corridor for just trying to find out about biological parents. This whole deal went much farther and the guy had a helluf a time geting cleared of the charges.

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Permalink Reply by Sandstone on April 2, 2009 at 22:29

Boy, did I get an education!! I had no idea what all was involved in the job. The term Landman just meant someone doing the paperwork on the land for the oil companies with a little salesmanship thrown in.

Staying on the safe side sounds like a smart thing to do, but I would sure like to read more about those stories; a landman's blog could be very interesting!! It's not something you can go to the library and read about.

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Permalink Reply by Sandstone on April 2, 2009 at 22:46

Now this puts a whole new perspective on researching the family tree. You just may have helped me get past a brick wall! One of the ancestor's name was drawn in the gold lotteries in Georgia in the 1820's but I never thought about following the minerals. What I really need is a Shale discovery in Georgia; then I bet they woud come out of the woodwork!

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Permalink Reply by Jay Murrell on April 2, 2009 at 12:39

Not going to happen

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Permalink Reply by Jon Williamson on April 2, 2009 at 15:54

I am starting to agree Jay. Today I talked to some interested parties in Austin. They assure me that this will not see the light of day.

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Permalink Reply by Foxiecajun on April 3, 2009 at 2:09

Wow- that sounds crazy. Alot of mineral owners in Texas don't even know that own anything until the landman calls. I had cousins that were leased last summer and they never knew their great grandfather reserved the minerals. He had like 9 kids and one or more of them had 9, so it was lots of people involved, less than a handful even knew they owned them. The property had not been leased since the fifties. Landmans number one web site for Texas is Ancestry.com.

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