Got a Lease Offer or a Letter About Your Minerals?
Before you sign anything, we will read the record and tell you in plain English what you own and what the offer says.
Has a company asked to lease your minerals, run a line across your land, or have you sign a division order (the form that sets your share before royalty checks start)? You do not have to figure it out alone.
We are Certified Professional Landmen. We read the public record for a living. We can tell you what the record shows you own and what the document in front of you says. Just as important, we can tell you what the record leaves unsettled.
We take work across central and western Pennsylvania, including Blair, Cambria, Bedford, Huntingdon, Centre, Clearfield, Indiana and Westmoreland counties, and the Marcellus counties beyond them.
Does One of These Sound Like You?
- I got a lease offer and want to understand it before I answer.
- I inherited mineral rights and I'm not sure what I own.
- A division order came in the mail and I don't know if the decimal is right.
- My royalty check stopped, dropped, or looks wrong.
- A pipeline, solar, or wind company contacted me about my land.
- I'm buying or selling land and need to know about the minerals.
Call us and we will look at it with you.
What Happens When You Contact Us
-
You reach out.
Call, or send a short note. Tell us the county and what showed up in your mailbox.
-
We look at the record.
We pull what the public record shows about your tract and your ownership.
-
We report back in plain language.
You get a clear picture of what you own, what the document says, and what is still unclear.
-
You decide the next step, with us.
If a question needs an attorney, we will tell you, and we are glad to work alongside yours.
Who You'll Talk To
When you call, you reach one of the two Certified Professional Landmen who will do the work.
-
Rickey Matherne, Jr., CPL Certified Professional Landman -
Shannon Matherne, CPL Certified Professional Landman
What You Can Bring to Us
-
Mineral ownership reports
A written report of what the public record shows you own and how it came to you. It also shows where the chain of title (each transfer from one owner to the next) has gaps.
-
Heirship research
Tracing a share through estates and probate when a relative's ownership was never passed down on paper.
-
Lease offer review
We check the offer against the record. Is the land it describes really yours? Does the share it credits you with match the record? Which terms are worth asking about?
See the Report Before You Call
This is the kind of report you would get from us, with notes beside it that say what each part means for who signs and who gets paid.
View the sample fileQuestions We Are Asked Often
- What will it cost?
- It depends on the job. The main factors are how many tracts are involved and how far back the title has to be run. It also depends on whether you need a written report you can hand to someone else or just an informal read of what you have. Send us the details, and we will tell you what the work involves and what it costs before we start.
- How long does this take?
- It depends on the county and on how far back the chain has to be run. Some counties have everything indexed and searchable online. Others mean a day at the courthouse and records filed under a name spelled three different ways. Once we know the tract and the county we can give you a realistic estimate, and we would rather do that at the start than halfway through.
- I inherited minerals and I am not sure what I own. Can you find out?
- Usually, yes, and it is ordinary work for us. We trace the interest back through the deeds and the probate records and report what the record supports. Inherited interests often have gaps: an estate that was never settled, or a transfer that was never filed. Sometimes the gap is several generations back, in a county nobody thought to check. Those gaps are exactly what we go looking for.
- What is a division order?
- The form an operator sends before royalty payments start. It states your share of the well as a decimal, and your checks follow that number, so it is worth checking against the record before you sign and return it. We can tell you how the decimal was worked out and whether it matches what the record shows you own.
- What does a landman actually do?
- A landman works out who owns what, using the public record. Most of that work happens at the county courthouse. We go through deeds, leases, wills, probate files and court records, follow an interest through every transfer, and write up what the record shows. Certified Professional Landman is the credential the American Association of Professional Landmen issues for that work.
- Can you tell me whether the offer I received is a fair price?
- We can tell you whether the offer describes the right tract, whether the interest it credits you with matches what the record shows, and which of the terms will matter most over the life of the agreement. Our job is to make sure any decision you make is based on an accurate picture of what you actually own and what the offer actually says. Send us the offer and we will go through it with you clause by clause.
- What do you need from me to get started?
- Whatever you already have. The offer or division order if you were sent one, any deeds, wills or probate paperwork sitting in a drawer, and the county and state the property is in. If all you have is a letter and a rough idea of where the land is, that is still enough for a first conversation.
What Is in a Lease Offer
A lease offer usually comes as a printed lease, an addendum and a memorandum for recording. The addendum often overrides the printed form, and a few clauses decide most of what the lease is worth to you.
We check the offer against the record and go through it with you, clause by clause, before you answer. Call us, or send it over.
Pennsylvania Mineral Owners
- Surface and minerals are often owned separately here, and old deeds often split off the oil, gas or coal.
- Deeds and leases are filed with the county Recorder of Deeds; estates go through the county Register of Wills and the Orphans' Court.
- Under the Dunham Rule, a deed that reserves "minerals" is presumed not to include oil and gas unless it names them. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reaffirmed this in Butler v. Charles Powers Estate (2013).
- Pennsylvania has no general law that lets a company pool your Marcellus acreage into a unit without your consent (called forced pooling).
- By law (the Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act, 58 P.S. § 33.3), an oil and gas lease must guarantee the owner at least a one-eighth (12.5%) royalty.
This is general information, not legal advice; an attorney can tell you how it applies to your own deed or lease.
We also take leases for oil and gas companies. If we are already working for the company on the other side of your offer, we will not review it for you, and we will tell you so at the start. The AAPL Code of Ethics requires us to disclose conflicts like this.
Many owners keep their own attorney involved, and we are glad to work alongside one.
Send us the letter or the offer. We will go through it with you.
The county and a photo or copy of what you received are enough to start.