Mineral rights typically refers to specific real estate ownership. For
every parcel of real estate, there are a bundle of rights associated
with the ownership. This bundle of rights includes most of the
commonly known rights, such as the surface rights, and structures on
the property. An owner of real estate may also own the minerals, oil,
and gas underneath the surface unless these are severed under a
previous deed or agreement. However, the ownership of these resources,
and the rights to extract them, are frequently owned by a company
other than the property owner. This ownership can be sold and
transferred away by a prior property owner, separate from the "fee
simple" property ownership.
Determining the status of ownership of mineral rights begins with a
special type of title search appropriately called a Mineral Rights
Search. This specialized title search involves researching the
historical ownership of the property, to locate any separation of the
oil, gas, or mineral rights from the property ownership. This
separation of mineral rights normally occurs as a transfer which is
not part of a full property ownership transfer. In most cases, the
mineral rights status does not appear on the current property deed.
Mineral
rights transfers are not attached to a property file in the county or
municipal records. The document which transfers the mineral rights is
normally only indexed to the name of the person who owned the property
at the time the mineral rights were transferred.
Mineral rights searches generally range in price from $300 - $1000,
depending on how far back the search is requested. You can order a
mineral rights title search for residential properties using the order
form below:
For a free mineral rights search quote on your commercial property,
call our title experts at 877-848-5337. We will reply quickly with an exact price quote and
ETA.
