Latest Legal Insights

The difference between ownership of mineral rights and leasing of mineral rights is one that often confuses landowners and even lawyers. The ownership of the minerals beneath your land is usually part of your ownership of the land as a whole.

The questions deals with the land-owner’s royalty interest in production from an oil and gas lease. Historically, this interest was 1/8 (12.5%) of the net production from a well or wells leased by the landowner. Note that the royalty is a net amount. This allows the producer to subtract production costs from the gross or total production before dividing the proceeds with the landowner.

Most of our families have family doctors, dentists, chiropractors and other professionals. But why should a family have a lawyer? Most of us want to avoid lawyers and only hire one if absolutely needed.

Judge Robert Rinfret's decision was the culmination of a civil lawsuit filed in Holmes County Common Pleas Court by Darrell and Dortha Helms against Thomas Whitney and Donald Ridgeway, who lease land and own a well on the Helms' Brinkhaven property.

Previously I wrote about the problems when parents name one of their children as trustee of the family trust. This month, we deal with some tips if you are one of the children who have been named as the trustee.

Last month, I wrote about the decision many have made to form trusts as their plan to transfer property within the family. This month, I am writing concerning one of the most common problems stemming from a poorly crafted family trust: Who is going to be the trustee after Mother and Father pass?

Judges are sheltered creatures. Fed only what the lawyers bring to them in the Courtroom. When I retired as a Judge in 2010 and started a law practice, one of the things I noticed had changed since I became a Judge in 1989, was how different the plat books looked.

To Trust or Not to Trust, That is the Question... Judges are sheltered creatures. Fed only what the lawyers bring to them in the Courtroom. When I retired as a Judge in 2010 and started a law practice, one of the things I noticed had changed since I became a Judge in 1989, was how different the plat books looked. Instead of a farm being owned by the eldest generation, I saw plat maps sprinkled with the names of family trusts. Evidently, a lot of my neighbors were taking adva