How to Know If You Own Your Mineral Rights
When minerals, such as coal or even natural gas, are discovered in an area, many landowners in the surrounding areas wonder if they, too, will benefit. Indeed, the discovery of minerals beneath your property can be an unexpected windfall. But you will only receive the benefits of such a discovery if you own the mineral rights to your property, as well as the surface rights. If the mineral rights to your property were separated and sold, then this discovery will benefit the owner of those rights. Determining whether you own these rights is a well-defined, if difficult, process.
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Instructions
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Check your deed. Your deed may say that only the surface rights are being transferred. If this is the case, you do not own mineral rights to your property. If, however, the deed indicates that fee simple was transferred to you, you may own your mineral rights. Do not rely upon the deed alone, however. It is possible that these rights were transferred at some point in the past but that this transfer is not reflected on your deed.
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Conduct a mineral rights search. The ease with which such a search can be conducted varies from state to state and county to county. Whatever the location of the property, however, a mineral rights search will have to be conducted using the files of the county clerk or recorder. You will need to determine every prior owner of the property, perhaps dating back as far as the 1800s (depending upon the area). You will then need to check the separate indexes for each of these owners to determine whether any of them transferred away mineral rights in the property.
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Hire an attorney or specialty search company to conduct a search. If you are not confident in your ability to conduct the search yourself, hire an expert. Even if you do conduct all or part of the search yourself, a professional search can double-check your results and provide you with peace of mind.
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Tips & Warnings
In most areas outside the U.S., all mineral rights are owned by the government. The U.S. is one of only a few nations that allow private ownership of mineral rights.
Conducting a standard title search will not necessarily reveal whether your mineral rights are still attached to the property. When mineral rights are sold, they are separately filed, and often indexed only by the name of the then-current landowner.
If your property's mineral rights have been sold, or if you intend to sell them, read the contract carefully and have an attorney review it as well. The details of the sale can make or break your future use of your property and the amount of compensation you will receive if something goes wrong.
References
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