Oil and Gas Valuations
It’s always surprising for us to see how our major practice areas come to overlap. Oil and gas law doesn’t have an obvious nexus with estate planning and the probate process. However, given that estate planning typically involves carefully allocating assets to maximize their utility for family or friends, it shouldn’t be a surprise that valuable oil and gas rights might enter that equation.
Nobody could have predicted the recent surge in oil and gas activity in Ohio. That’s why many of our clients receiving oil and gas money come in for us to re-evaluate their estates. How can oil and gas payments affect your estate? Because mineral rights (which includes oil and gas rights) have recently seen an explosion in value, it makes sense that estates are valued to reflect that change. How are oil and gas rights valued? There are many factors that can influence the value of an estate’s mineral interest. Much of it depends on where the minerals are located. Another part involves the exact nature of what the estate owns. Johnson & Johnson often is asked to make these valuations on behalf of our client’s estates. Please contact us if your current estate plan does not take into consideration oil and gas or other mineral rights.
