Valentine v. Sugar Rock, Inc.

The underlying case involved oil and gas wells owned and operated by four separate partnerships. The partnerships owned mineral interests in the form of leases to extract oil and gas from real estate. The partners themselves, however, owned no part of the mineral interests. Plaintiff alleged that he owned an interest in the partnerships. A federal district court determined that Plaintiff’s assertion of an interest in the four “mining partnerships” failed because he could not produce a written instrument in conformance with the Statute of Frauds showing his ownership interest in the partnerships. Plaintiff appealed. Because of the vagaries of West Virginia law on this issue, the U.S. Court of Appeals certified a question of law to the Supreme Court. The Court answered that (1) the Statute of Frauds requires the partners of a “mining partnership” to show their membership through a deed, will, or other written instrument establishing they are co-owners of the mineral interest being mined; but (2) because the real property of a general partnership belongs to the partnership entity and not to the individual partners, no written instrument is required to establish a partnership interest in a general partnership. View "Valentine v. Sugar Rock, Inc." on Justia Law