mineral rights (Dallas, Fort Worth, Athens: real estate, leasing, lawyer)

[chepa530]

How do you find out if you have the mineral rights to your property? Any info would be helpful.

[loves2read]

you might try the TAD.org site
there is link to minerals on there
basically if you bought home within past 10 yrs it is pretty much a guarantee that YOU don't have the mineral rights unless you specifically negotiated for them...
around 10 yrs ago is when people became conscious that the Barnett Shale formation was viable
before them people thought there was nothing valuable below the surface and more home buyers got their mineral rights

we own two properties in tarrant county
one we do own mineral rights although we have leased them--well to hold them has not been drilled as far as we know
second house the owners supposedly kept their rights--had already leased them before we bought the house--
we didn't care

[rugerjitsu]

you need to search the property in the deed records building at the Tarrant County Courthouse...

if we're talking about a small lot in a subdivision...ask your neighbors if they own their mineral rights...if they do, there's a good chance you do as well...first thing tho, check your deed. if the previous owner reserved the minerals, it will say so plainly in the deed.

[legalsea]

First, in Texas, mineral rights are attached to real property unless specifically withheld or reserved.
First, look at your deed. Does it make any mention of mineral rights? Often it will say ‘ this conveyance is subject to any prior reservation of mineral rights’ or such (i.e. will be vague).

The only sure way is to go to the county courthouse and trace your property back.

For instance, last year I bought a 16-acre tract of land in Henderson County. Neither the realtor nor the seller was sure about minerals.


Knowing the sellers’ name I drove to Athens (the county seat), and went to the where the real estate titles are kept. Looking in the Grantor/Grantee index (starting in Grantee) I found the warranty deed conveying the property to my seller (let us call my seller “Zena”). The deed said that “Rooster” sold the property to “Zena”, and that it was subject to a prior reservation of mineral rights.

So, back to the Grantee’s books, until I found the deed conveying the land to Rooster. In this warranty deed the seller had been “Hogan”, and Hogan had specifically withheld 50 percent of all minerals that had not already been reserved.

I kept tracing back (I think through 2 more prior transactions), until I found the original deed: the 16 acres had been part of a larger parcel and had been carved out for conveyance (to a relative). I then checked on the prior conveyance of the larger track, back to the initial transaction from the State of Texas to “Alpha”, the first owner.

Thus, when I had copies of every single deed affecting the property, and keeping my paper and pencil at hand, I discovered that my seller (or the land) still retained 25 percent of the mineral rights, with the other 75 percent of said rights being split among two other people.

This did factor in my decision in making an offer for the property: I demanded that said 25 percent transfer with the property without any further reservation. I also did some checking on whether there was a ‘danger’ (as I saw it) of there actually being minerals (oil, gas, etc) that some company would want to dig or drill out. I did conclude that there was no oil or gas that anyone would be interested in (I do not want the other mineral owners to sign a lease allowing an oil company come on my property and start drilling).

I did the same thing for my house in west Fort Worth when the Barnett Shale thing started up. Sure enough, (as stated by another poster) since it is in a residential neighborhood, no one had ever bothered to reserve the mineral rights. Hence I am the sole owner of the minerals.

During the Barnett Shale oil boom the courthouses were simply swamped by landmen and attorneys doing what I (also an attorney) did, dive into the deed records to figure out the mineral rights of various properties. I do not believe that the TAD web site will substitute for actual footwork at the courthouse.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by legalsea

This did factor in my decision in making an offer for the property: I demanded that said 25 percent transfer with the property without any further reservation. I also did some checking on whether there was a ‘danger’ (as I saw it) of there actually being minerals (oil, gas, etc) that some company would want to dig or drill out. I did conclude that there was no oil or gas that anyone would be interested in (I do not want the other mineral owners to sign a lease allowing an oil company come on my property and start drilling).

Careful. You've heard the expression "There's a doctor and a dentist at the bottom of every dry hole", right? Well, they had great advice from a lawyer on the way down there.

If you own the surface rights to a tract and a significant portion of the minerals beneath it (I would say greater than 1/5) then you are extremely, extremely unlikely to ever have a well physically located on your land without (i) your explicit consent and (ii) being leased yourself.

Also, there isn't really a fool-proof or even half-assed way to determine whether or not commercially viable hydrocarbons exist beneath your land that threaten to invite future drilling by search of any records (or at least search of any records that could be interpreted by a layperson).

[legalsea]

Originally Posted by jimboburnsy

Careful. You've heard the expression "There's a doctor and a dentist at the bottom of every dry hole", right? Well, they had great advice from a lawyer on the way down there.

If you own the surface rights to a tract and a significant portion of the minerals beneath it (I would say greater than 1/5) then you are extremely, extremely unlikely to ever have a well physically located on your land without (i) your explicit consent and (ii) being leased yourself.

Also, there isn't really a fool-proof or even half-assed way to determine whether or not commercially viable hydrocarbons exist beneath your land that threaten to invite future drilling by search of any records (or at least search of any records that could be interpreted by a layperson).

Any owner of minerals has a right to profit from said minerals. Recall, if you own a tract of land, yet absolutely have no mineral rights, the mineral rights' owner (or the leasing oil company) has the absolute right to come onto your property and drill, dig out, etc (there are some exceptions) those minerals.

I cannot not prevent the other mineral owners (here, 75 percent ownership) from obtaining their portion of the minerals. That is why I checked (with a couple of local oil men) about whether they thought there was a danger of future drilling in the area. I am in Northern Henderson County, and the consensus was: no oil or gas; it is mainly in the southern part of the county. Of course in the next few decades, who knows?

I did not say anything about determining whether there was 'commercially viable hydrocarbons' underneath the land by searching any records. I specifically stated that I searched the property records to determine what mineral rights were still attached to the property.

Texas is unique regarding mineral rights. Say you are the owner of one-fifth of the mineral rights under a tract of land, with the other four-fifths being owned by the property owner, and the mineral rights have not been leased. You have the right to lease your one-fifth rights to an oil company (for example). Said oil company would then have the right to go onto said land and drill for oil, no matter the objections of the property owner (who owns 4/5ths of the mineral rights). Of course, the property owner would receive his or her share of the royalties.

As a practical matter the oil company would get the land owner to also sign an oil lease, and the owner could probably insist on certain provisions (such as keeping damage to the property to a minimum; putting the property back in its original condition after all the oil has been obtained, etc).

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by legalsea

Texas is unique regarding mineral rights. Say you are the owner of one-fifth of the mineral rights under a tract of land, with the other four-fifths being owned by the property owner, and the mineral rights have not been leased. You have the right to lease your one-fifth rights to an oil company (for example). Said oil company would then have the right to go onto said land and drill for oil, no matter the objections of the property owner (who owns 4/5ths of the mineral rights). Of course, the property owner would receive his or her share of the royalties.

As a practical matter the oil company would get the land owner to also sign an oil lease, and the owner could probably insist on certain provisions (such as keeping damage to the property to a minimum; putting the property back in its original condition after all the oil has been obtained, etc).

Exactly what I was getting at. While an oil company would have the right to drill on a lease only covering 20% of the minerals, they would be crazy to do so. It isn't so much that the unleased mineral owner would receive his or her share of the royalties, it's more like they would become an 80% net working interest owner without ever paying a dime or sharing any of the risk. Yeah, a company could do it but in reality no one is going to drill a well if they have to give away 80% of their profits.

In practice, an oil company isn't very likely to drill on a tract that is less than about 90% leased unless there are some very, very exceptional circumstances. It is possible, but your risk is extremely low if you own 25% or more of the mineral rights.

[gmrobin]

Hello, I'm thinking of purchasing 20 Acres in Texas. This is located North of Dallas. There is only one thing on this property, it's a building of somesort that has to do w/the Gas Mineral Well. The person(s) selling the property do not own the Mineral Rights as far as I know.
Can you let me know where I can do research for what will be my Legal Rights as Land Owner if I buy 20 Acres and the Legal Rights of the person that owns these mineral rights, etc.
I need to research to make sure I know what I'm getting in to?

Thanks, Gail

[loves2read]

you need to talk with an attorney who knows oil/gas law
if you as the surface owner don't also own the minerals you don't have much clout with the o/g operator

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by loves2read

you need to talk with an attorney who knows oil/gas law
if you as the surface owner don't also own the minerals you don't have much clout with the o/g operator

^^^^THIS!

Buyer beware.