Are You Adversing?

Adversing is a topic that is so basic to running title, that I almost hesitate to cover it, but over the years I have seen a surprising number of landmen with quite a bit of experience that don’t seem to fully understand it. I remember the first time I ran title and a fellow landman explained that all I needed to do was run it back. I thought about it a little and then confirmed with the title reviewer that I also would need to run it forward or else it wouldn’t make any sense. I thought maybe my co-worker had just neglected to tell me that next step, but when I reviewed his title a couple years later, I saw that there was a mineral reservation that he had failed to run forward, and I realized that he didn’t fully grasp the concept of adversing. Anyways, getting back to the topic, running title without adversing is useless. You already know who the surface owner is; that was the first thing you established. Running the chain back just to see where he or she got it from doesn’t really tell you any valuable information. Adversing, or running it forward, is what allows you to determine the mineral ownership and leasehold history. Let’s break it down like this. You know that A is the surface owner because you checked the tax statement. Your next step is then to run the title back: A got it from B who got it from C, etc. That really just sets you up for the third step, which is to adverse, or see what each person/company did with the property during the time period that they owned an interest. So, for example, you need to check to see what A did during the time period she had an interest, what B did while he had an interest, and so on. If you find that he or she conveyed any type of interest (surface, mineral, lease, royalty, easement, lien, etc.), you need to adverse that new party as well. For most of you, hopefully this is just a refresher. If not, make sure you include adversing as a part of your title process going forward. As usual, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.