TRACE THE MINERAL SERVITUDE
TEST THE PRESCRIPTION HISTORY
The source deed and each later reservation, sale, or acknowledgment establish whether a mineral servitude was created, divided, extended, or returned to the surface owner. The abstract records the parish, instrument number, legal description, parties, fraction, depths, and operative language instead of treating a royalty statement as a substitute for title.
Louisiana's ten-year nonuse rule requires a dated event trail. Drilling, production, certain operations, or a valid acknowledgment may interrupt prescription; a lease by itself may not. The review places each event beside the servitude language and tract description so the current ownership position is visible before value is discussed.
A useful Louisiana mineral review connects parish conveyance records, mineral servitudes, prescription events, successions, unit orders, paid decimals, and written sale terms.
CONNECT SUCCESSION AND UNIT RECORDS
Judgments of possession, affidavits, trusts, entity records, and later conveyances must connect every present owner to the recorded interest. The legal description is then placed inside the controlling spacing, drilling, pooling, or compulsory unit order and compared with the lease, well records, and division order.
RECONCILE THE DECIMAL AND DEED
Gross acres, net mineral acres, tract participation, unit participation, lease royalty, and burdens create the paid decimal. The proposed mineral deed, assignment, closing exhibit, settlement statement, and payment instructions should describe the same parish, tract, depths, fraction, effective date, included proceeds, and reserved rights.