Many Texas families make substantial fortunes and wealth through mineral interests. These Texas mineral interests commonly pay oil royalties to owners. Unfortunately, many families lose their mineral interests by failing to protect, transfer, and claim their mineral interests through time. Further, many families lose their mineral interests through generations or to oil companies. As a Texas Oil Inheritance Lawyer, I work with families to protect, document, and claim Texas mineral interests.
What is a Texas Mineral Interest?
Basically, a Texas mineral interest is a real property ownership interest in the subsurface of real estate. This interest provides the owner with rights to extract oil, gas, metals, and other minerals. In Texas, mineral interests most commonly give owners the right to drill for oil and gas.
Do Mineral Interests and Surface Rights Always Coincide?
Under Texas law, land owners commonly separate or sever surface rights from mineral interests. When this occurs, the surface right owner no longer controls the subsurface mineral rights. Further, in these situations, surface rights and mineral rights no longer coincide.
When mineral interests are severed, the mineral interest owners should record the severance. Further, the mineral interest owner needs to make sure that they protect, document and claim their interest through time.
Drilling Viability Changes Over Time
Mineral interest owning families should protect their interests even when the interests are not producing. This is because, the economic drilling viability of mineral interests change over time. Further, the price of oil and drilling technologies often change through time. More specifically, many non-viable mineral interests from twenty to fifty years ago became viable in the past five to ten years. Thus, many families failed to protect their interests and lost substantial wealth.
More Information on Texas Oil Inheritance Law
For more information on Texas Oil Royalty and Mineral Interest Law, please go to the following webpages: Texas Oil Royalty and Mineral Interest Inheritance Lawyer, Texas Oil Company Litigation Lawyer, and Texas Real Estate Inheritance Lawyer.