We are a group of 7 cousins who were contacted by a landman regarding mineral rights we were not aware of. Buck claims that the surface owner is about to be granted these mineral rights because of the 'dormant' period. We have been told we have  until Friday to make a claim. But he, Buck, will not reveal info about the property until we sign up with him and his partners and give them 1/2 the rights. The only thing we have to go on is a description of '70 acres' which does not match anything in out family records; which are certainly incomplete. We cannot find any legal notices that seem relevant.

 

The documents that Buck and his partners want us to sign have a blank space for description of the property to be filled in later.

 

We have contacted a local attorney who has not come up with any info yet. Not surprising considering the small amount of time available.

 

Although I've told the landman that it all seems crazy- he has stuck to his line that these are rights we were unaware of, would have lost without his intervention- and that he cannot reveal details because we would then make the claim ourselves and he would be left with nothing.

 

I am pretty certain that the attorney will recommend against the contract.

 

a. we could lose all rights

 

b. we could sign away 1/2 of our rights needlessly.

 

c. we could get 1/2 of something that might be very profitable.

 

signed- running out of time and don't know what to do.

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I have a solution to your problem. Have him prepare two copies of the instrument to be signed, notarized and recorded.  Be sure they are identical. One is for you.  One is to be recorded.  Sign them at the same time in front of the same notary and with subscribing witnesses.  If the companion document is recorded in different form than what you signed, it is fraudulent and could be easily judged as invalid in a court of law.  A signed, notarized document cannot be altered after the fact to suit the needs of one particular party.  I know a subscribing witness is not necessary in Ohio but, you can never have too much information or too many facts on your side.  Make sure they are an impartial observer, not a friend of relative who could be portrayed as someone biased as to your side.  If you sign at a bank, a fellow employee of the notary would be sufficient.

Further, a really good abstractor could find this missing interest, if it in fact exists.  It must be a part of your title chain somewhere.  I know I could.

legislature enacted the Dormant Oil and Gas Act, The purpose of the Act is to permit the development of oil and gas reserves when all owners of oil or gas interests cannot be located or identified. The Act provides for the creation of a trust for the benefit of certain owners of interests in oil and gas, authorizes a trustee to enter into leases of interests in oil and gas under terms and conditions authorized by the court of common pleas, provides for the administration of the trust and for payment of moneys to the trustee, and imposes penalties for nonpayment., the purpose of the Act is “to facilitate the development of subsurface properties by reducing the problems caused by fragmented and unknown or unlocatable ownership of oil and gas interests and to protect the interests of unknown or unlocatable owners of oil and gas. It is not the purpose of this act to vest the surface owner with title to oil and gas interests that have been severed from the surface estate.” Although § 701.4 of the Act creates a trust mechanism to allow for royalties to be paid to a trustee, the Act limits standing to those who already have an interest in fee, by lease, as royalty, or by “ownership of correlative rights in an oil and gas reservoir.”
The Pennsylvania Dormant Oil and Gas Act would not apply here. The original poster here is in Tuscarawas County Ohio. Ohio has a Dormant Minerals Act under ORC 5301.515301.52, and 5301.56which do apply in this situation. The Act you cite above would also not apply because the mineral interest owner has been located and identified. The mineral interest owner is the one who posted the original question (Jmaes Vaughan).

I realize this question is apparently moot because the deadline for action has passed but someone else might find this of interest.  As best I can see, in the original query from Mr Vaughan, he does not know if the O&G rights are in Ohio--they could be in any state.  Therefore, all discussion of Ohio law, and suggestions to check local newspapers and court records, might miss the issue entirely.

Here's a related story.  I searched a property in Pennsylvania, currently over 100 acres.  The O&G rights were excepted and reserved when the surface was sold in 1928.  The grantor then moved out of Pennsylvania, taking up residence in a state far away.  He never sold the O&G, and died owning them, in 1953.  By his will, everything was left to a friend and neighbor, in this state far away.  The O&G  was not specifically mentioned in the will but would have been included.  It appears that the O&G rights were forgotten by then;  this is not unusual--remember that the shallow oil fields in Pennsylvania were spotty and often quickly exhausted so that such claims were often regarded as worthless.

The friend and neighbor died 1976 leaving everything to his children, who thereby became owners of the O&G on over 100 acres of Pennsylvania, and they likely never had a clue that they owned this.  As far as I know, they, or their heirs, are still the owners, and still don't know it.  I did this work for a prospective buyer of the property, so no-one ever followed up on this.  It will probably stay like this until an energetic landman pursues it further.  Note that, even if the out-of-state heirs had a clue that they owned something, it would be very difficult for them to figure this out.

Finnbear- you are a great asset to this board. Great thread to read through.

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