You own land. Maybe you inherited it. Maybe a gas company has already contacted you about a lease. Maybe you have been receiving royalty checks for years and are not entirely sure the numbers add up.
Whatever the situation, one thing is true across the board: the decisions you make about your mineral rights have long-term consequences, and the paperwork involved is not written with your interests in mind.
Gas company leases are drafted by attorneys who work for the gas company. Royalty statements are calculated using methods buried in lease language most people never read. Division orders get signed and filed away without a second look.
If any of this sounds familiar, a legal review of your situation is worth your time before anything else moves forward.
These are not rare situations. They come up constantly for landowners across Washington County, western Pennsylvania, and the surrounding region. And the cost of getting them wrong, meaning signing away rights, missing out on royalties, or leaving your heirs with a legal mess, can far exceed the cost of getting proper legal guidance upfront.
No pressure. No commitment. Just a straight answer about where you stand and what, if anything, needs attention.
At Kostrub Law Firm, PLLC, our work in oil and gas law and estate planning puts us in a position to help landowners at every stage of the process, from the first lease offer to estate administration involving mineral rights.
Here is what a legal review with our team covers:
If you inherited property in Pennsylvania, the mineral rights may or may not have come with it. Mineral rights are frequently severed from surface rights through historical deeds, and tracing ownership requires a title review. We give you a clear answer about what you own so you are not making decisions based on assumptions.
We also help property owners who are planning ahead. If you want to make sure your mineral rights transfer properly to your heirs without confusion or legal disputes, we can help you structure that in a way that actually works.
Before you sign a lease with an oil or gas company, we go through it line by line. We look at the royalty calculation method, pooling clauses, surface use provisions, the primary term, and any deductions the company is permitted to take. If there are terms that put you at a disadvantage, we tell you, and we can negotiate on your behalf for better ones.
Leases are long-term commitments. Some run for years, with extension options that can keep the company on your land long after you expected. Knowing what you are agreeing to before you sign matters more than most landowners realize.
If you are already receiving royalty payments and have questions about the amounts, we review your statements against the terms of your lease. We look at if the deductions being applied are actually permitted, or if the production volumes appear consistent, and if the pricing used to calculate your royalty reflects what your lease requires.
Underpayment is more common than it should be, and it often goes unchallenged simply because landowners do not know what to look for.
A division order establishes the percentage of royalties you receive from a producing well. If your acreage was miscalculated or your ownership interest was recorded incorrectly, you may be receiving less than you are owed on every single payment. We review division orders before you sign to make sure the numbers are right.
If a company wants to use the surface of your land for roads, pipelines, well pads, or equipment, a surface use agreement governs what they can do and what they owe you for any damage. We review these agreements and negotiate terms around access, compensation, water protection, and restoration before any equipment arrives.
Kostrub Law Firm, PLLC has practiced oil and gas law and estate law in southwestern Pennsylvania since 2006. Our attorneys are admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia, which matters in a region where mineral rights and energy transactions frequently cross state lines.
We work with landowners, families, and small businesses across Cecil, Pittsburgh, Bethel Park, Upper St. Clair, South Fayette, Bridgeville, McDonald, Canonsburg, Washington, and the surrounding communities. We know the history of land and energy activity in this region, and we know how to work through the issues that come up for property owners here.
Our approach is simple. We give you clear information about your rights. We review the documents that affect those rights. And when something is not right, we take action to fix it.
You are not going to get a runaround or a wall of legal jargon. You are going to get a straight answer and a clear picture of what your options are.
The time to call is before you sign, not after. Once a lease is executed or a division order is filed, your options narrow considerably. Getting a legal review now costs far less than trying to correct a problem later.
Call us now or schedule your free consultation. We will tell you exactly where you stand and what steps, if any, need to be taken.
(304) 982-1586 www.kostrublaw.com
Pittsburgh, PA | Cecil, PA
Call (304) 982-1586 or visit kostrublaw.com to schedule your consultation with Kostrub Law Firm, PLLC today.
