Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

You have now added many facts. If your grandmother's husband died before your grandmother, then he and his heirs are out of the picture.

Assuming in a worst case scenario that grandmother had no will, then her property would pass to her spouse, if any, and her children. If her husband died before then his heirs get nothing - they do not have a right to inherit from your grandmother unless she adopted them. If your mother was the only biological child of your grandmother, then she would inherit anything and everything your grandmother owned at death.

This would include any drilling rights retained by your grandmother when she conveyed the surface of the property. The only possible exception would be if your grandmother's husband was alive when the property was conveyed. In such case, both he and your grandmother would have the drilling rights. Land owned by a husband and wife as a tenancy-by-the-entirety means that when one dies the land automatically passes to the survivor. What I am not clear on as I have not had to research the issue lately is whether the conveyance of the surface destroys the tenancy-by-the-entirety.

If the tenancy-by-the-entirety is destroyed, then the drilling rights would be owned by your grandmother and her husband as tenants in common (unless they specifically provided for rights of survivorship). In such case, 1/2 of the drilling rights would have passed to the husband's heirs upon his death, which would have included your grandmother and the husband's biological children. When your grandmother died, her heirs would have received 1/2 of the drilling rights plus 1/3rd of the drilling rights of the husband.

If the tenancy-by-the-entireties continued in the drilling rights, or if the drilling rights were owned as a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, then the husband's share of the drilling rights would have passed to your grandmother. When your grandmother died, 100% of the drilling rights would have passed to your mother.

Take all of the deeds to an Oil and Gas attorney - there is a very good one in the Greensburg area, but I am sure there are some in Washington County too. Have him review the deeds and the situation and express an opinion as to whether the drilling rights would have passed solely to your grandmother. I'm sorry that I can't answser your question but an Oil & Gas or real estate attorney familiar with drilling rights will know right away whether the rights would be owned as tenants in common or by the entireties. You can see if another attorney here answers the question but Oil & Gas law is a specialized area and you are not going to find too many attorneys here with that kind of knowledge.