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Ohio is one of the few producing states where inherited mineral rights can genuinely be lost to the surface owner through inaction. The Dormant Mineral Act sets out exactly how that happens — and exactly how heirs can stop it. If your family once owned minerals in eastern Ohio, the time to check is before a notice arrives, not after.
Read more →Mississippi mineral interests — Tuscaloosa Marine Shale royalties along the southwestern fairway, legacy Mississippi Salt Basin oil and gas across the south, and shallow conventional production scattered statewide — pass through estate proceedings under the Mississippi Code (Title 91) in the chancery courts. The defining institutional feature of Mississippi mineral practice is the chancery-court system itself: equity-rooted, county-based, and procedurally distinct from the common-law probate courts found in most other states.
Read more →Arkansas mineral interests — dormant Fayetteville Shale royalties across the Arkoma fairway, legacy Smackover oil and brine in the south, and the contemporary lithium-extraction pivot in the Smackover — pass through probate under Title 28 of the Arkansas Code Annotated. The defining feature of Arkansas mineral practice is the gap between the play’s 2008–2016 Fayetteville heyday and its current low-activity baseline, which routinely surfaces unaddressed succession gaps in inherited interests.
Read more →West Virginia mineral interests — dominantly Marcellus and Utica royalties in the northern panhandle and north-central counties — pass through estate proceedings under Chapters 41 (wills) and 44 (decedents’ estates) of the West Virginia Code. The defining feature of WV mineral practice is the layered nineteenth-century severance history: an estimated 1.3 million distinct mineral interests, many traceable to severances recorded in the 1880s–1910s, generate disproportionate curative volume per estate.
Read more →Montana mineral interests — eastern Bakken/Three Forks royalties in Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan, and McCone counties, plus Powder River play interests in Big Horn and Rosebud — pass through probate under Title 72 of the Montana Code Annotated, which adopts the Uniform Probate Code. Federal and Crow/Northern Cheyenne tribal acreage overlays recur in the southeastern counties and route portions of the curative path through BLM and BIA rather than purely state procedure.
Read more →Louisiana mineral interests — dominantly Haynesville Shale gas in the northwestern parishes plus legacy Tuscaloosa Marine Shale and Gulf Coast production — transfer through succession under the Louisiana Civil Code and Code of Civil Procedure. The defining substantive law for the mineral interest itself is the Louisiana Mineral Code (La. R.S. 31), which differs structurally from the common-law treatment used in every other producing state.
Read more →Kansas mineral interests — Hugoton gas field royalties in the southwest, Mississippi Lime interests along the southern tier, and shallow Central Kansas Uplift production — pass through probate under Chapter 59 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated. Kansas is a non-UPC state and offers a distinctive shortcut, the Determination of Descent under K.S.A. § 59-3201 et seq., that clears real-property title without opening a full estate.
Read more →Wyoming mineral interests — Niobrara/Turner/Parkman royalties in the Powder River Basin, gas interests across the Greater Green River Basin, and federal-leasehold overlays that recur in nearly every WY title chain — pass through probate under Title 2 of the Wyoming Statutes (which adopts the Uniform Probate Code). The defining feature of Wyoming mineral practice is the percentage of acreage held under federal lease, which routes income reporting and many curative steps through BLM rather than purely state procedure.
Read more →North Dakota mineral interests — dominantly Bakken/Three Forks royalties in Williams, McKenzie, Mountrail, Dunn, and Divide counties — pass through probate under the Uniform Probate Code. Informal probate is the typical vehicle, the small-estate procedure reaches personal property only, and the North Dakota Dormant Mineral Act (NDCC § 38-18.1) creates a 20-year lapse mechanic that recurs in inherited title chains.
Read more →Ohio mineral interests — dominantly Utica Shale royalties in Belmont, Carroll, Harrison, Monroe, Guernsey, and Noble counties — pass through probate court in the county of decedent’s domicile. Ohio has no statutory affidavit-of-heirship vehicle for minerals, and the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act creates a separate lapse risk for severed-mineral interests not "used" in the prior 20 years. This guide is the workflow.
Read more →Colorado mineral interests — dominantly DJ Basin (Niobrara/Codell) horizontal-development royalties in Weld County and Piceance Basin gas in Garfield/Mesa/Rio Blanco — pass through probate under the Colorado Probate Code. Informal probate is the typical vehicle; the small-estate affidavit reaches personal property only and does not clear mineral title. This guide covers the workflow, forced-pooling overlay, and the curative work that recurs.
Read more →Pennsylvania mineral interests — dominantly Marcellus Shale royalties in Bradford, Susquehanna, Tioga, Lycoming, Washington, and Greene counties — pass through probate via the county Register of Wills. PA has no statutory affidavit-of-heirship for minerals, severed-mineral title chains commonly stretch back to the 19th century, and the PA inheritance tax applies to in-state mineral DoD value at lineal- and non-lineal rates. This guide covers the workflow.
Read more →Texas property tax on producing minerals is not a market number — it is a statutory calculation run each year by the county appraisal district under Tax Code §23.175. Here is who actually performs the appraisal, why the values sometimes look higher than what your minerals would sell for, and how to protest when the number is wrong.
Read more →In Texas, an operator can produce from a neighboring tract that drains your minerals — and the rule of capture means you usually have no claim against the operator. But when the same operator holds your tract under lease, or when an allocation well crosses your unleased acreage, the analysis changes sharply.
Read more →North Dakota has the most aggressive dormant mineral statute in the country. After 20 years of non-use, an unpreserved mineral interest can revert to the surface owner. Owners with inherited or absentee Bakken-area minerals are routinely surprised to discover their interest has lapsed — or is about to.
Read more →If you own unleased minerals in New Mexico and an operator has filed a compulsory pooling application with the NMOCD, the order it receives will dictate your economics for the life of the well. This guide explains the process, the elections, and the risk-penalty math.
Read more →Oklahoma has the country's most aggressive forced pooling statute, and SCOOP/STACK operators use it constantly to assemble drilling units. If you own unleased minerals in Oklahoma, the OCC pooling order you receive will offer three elections — each with very different economics.
Read more →Unlike Oklahoma and New Mexico, Texas has no broad compulsory pooling regime. The Texas Mineral Interest Pooling Act exists, but operators rarely use it — they use allocation wells and aggressive voluntary leasing instead. Here is what every Texas mineral owner should understand.
Read more →New Mexico's Uniform Probate Code offers efficient options for transferring mineral rights. This guide covers informal probate, summary procedures, and the unique complications of federal and state mineral ownership.
Read more →Texas offers several pathways to transfer mineral rights through an estate. This guide covers muniment of title, independent administration, affidavit of heirship, and practical considerations for estate attorneys handling mineral assets.
Read more →Oklahoma has unique probate rules and forced pooling laws that affect mineral rights transfers. This guide covers the key probate methods and practical considerations for attorneys handling Oklahoma mineral estates.
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