Welcome
Thank you for visiting the home of Lawrence D. Brudy & Associates, Inc. on the World Wide Web! We are group of Pittsburgh-based professionals providing services in Real Estate, Oil & Gas, Litigation, Tax / Accounting, and Estate Planning law.
- We provide legal representation in conjunction with title insurance.
- Excluding legal representation, it costs the same for us to close a transaction as it would for a non-lawyer, title agent.
- All of our files are managed by paralegals & lawyers.
- We travel to closings at no extra cost in a wide variety of counties.
- Proven track record of independent work with all lenders & real estate companies.
- Our office is open 7 days a week.
- We offer a wealth of additional services and expertise in areas of business formation, estate planning, and mineral interests.
-
We are also located on Facebook
Changes to the Dunham Rule
Butler v. Charles Powers Estate, 2011 PA Super 198; No. 1795 MDA 2010
In Pennsylvania, a reservation or exception of “minerals” in a deed without specific mention of natural gas or oil creates a rebuttable presumption (an assumption of fact accepted by the Court until disproved) that the grantor did not intend for “minerals” to include natural gas or oil. Dunham v. Kirkpatrick, 101 Pa. 36 (1882).
In Butler v. Charles Powers Estate, the Butlers are owners of 244 acres in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. The deed of conveyance contained the following exception reserving;
“[O]ne half the minerals and Petroleum Oils to said Charles Powers his heirs and assigns forever together with all and singular the buildings, water courses ways waters water courses rights liberties privileges hereditaments and appurtenances whatsoever there unto belonging or in any wise appertaining and the reversions and remainders rents issues and profits thereof; And also all the estateright, title interest property claimed and demand whatsoever there unto belonging or in any wise appertaining in law equity or otherwise however of in to or out of the same....”
Butler complained that a reservation of “one half the mineral and Petroleum oils” included the Marcellus Shale and all gas contained therein. The Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the case. On appeal, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania reversed and remanded Butler for further proceedings to determine:
i. That Marcellus Shale is a mineral consistent with the reservation of rights in the Butler deed;
ii. That previously decided cases are distinctive from Butler as those cases dealt with conventional gas (defined as gas that is the most practical and easiest to mine) compared to Marcellus Shale gas (containing unconventional gas reservoirs) and;
iii. That the owner of the Shale should own the gas trapped within it, following the U.S. Steel Corp. v. Hoge, 503 Pa. 140, 468 A.2d 1380 (1983) case which provides that the gas present in coal belongs to the owner of the coal. (Said case remains good law today)
The Natural Gas Age present and growing in Pennsylvania which has followed well settled law regarding the treatment of oil and gas may be in a period of flux until Butler is finally decided.
As stated in previous Newsletter editions, careful drafting of documents involving the conveyance or exception and reservation of minerals, oil & gas, coal and associated hydrocarbons should be reviewed by an attorney prior to execution and recording. Language in deeds that have required analysis and opinions based upon the holdings of Dunham, Highland and Hoge need to be quarantined until Butler has a final decision. Certified Title Opinions involving Butler issues will most likely contain qualifying disclaimers as to subsurface interest marketability.
Read more about the case at www.leagle.com
News Brief: On the Tee
As part of its community involvement, Lawrence D. Brudy & Associates, Inc. has become a corporate sponsor of the Mylan Classic, a Nationwide Tour tournament at Southpointe Golf Club, at the Southpointe Business Park near Canonsburg, Aug. 29-Sept. 4. The tournament, sponsored by Mylan, the pharmaceuticals giant, brings in rising professional golfers from all over the world, and benefits a host of charities.
Earlier, Lawrence D. Brudy & Associates, Inc. was a sponsor of the Northwood Charitable Foundation golf tournament at the Hidden Valley Resort June 27.
