# Free Mineral Owner's Guides, One for Every State We Buy In | Berlin Royalties > Free plain-English mineral owner guides for all 20 states we buy in: deductions, payment deadlines, forced pooling, taxes, whether you can lose your minerals, and ten questions for any buyer. Source: https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/ Publisher: Berlin Royalties, a veteran-owned oil and gas mineral and royalty buyer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, buying for its own account since 2014. Call or text 918-984-1645. License: free to quote and cite with attribution to Berlin Royalties and a link to the source URL. Free · Nothing Gated · One for Every State ## The mineral owner's guide. Ten chapters, plain English, published in full on the site rather than hidden behind a form: what you own, what can legally come out of your check, whether your minerals can be taken from you, what happens when they drill, what you owe when you sell, and ten questions that make any buyer squirm. Written separately for each of the 20 states we buy in, because the law is what decides most of it. ## What's inside Mineral interests, royalties, and decimals explained. The four letters every owner eventually gets. Forced pooling without the panic. The real valuation math buyers use, producing and non-producing. How to read a royalty statement. The heir's playbook, including the stepped-up basis. When not to sell, written by a buyer. And the ten-question checklist to use on everyone, including us. Written by Stephen Clayman, career landman and publisher of The Oil Scout since 2015. Useful whether you ever sell or not; that's the point. Your Name Email County where you own minerals (optional) Send Me the Guide You'll get the guide instantly, plus the occasional Oil Scout update. Unsubscribe anytime, and we never share your information. Read any of them free, right now ## A guide for every state we buy in The universal chapters are the same everywhere. The parts that decide what actually lands in your bank account, deductions, payment deadlines, pooling penalties, dormancy, and taxes, are different in every state, and that is where these differ. Nothing is gated. [### Oklahoma Forced pooling, the 20-day election, and 12 percent late interest](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/oklahoma/) [### Texas No state income tax, Fasken and Van Dyke, and almost no compulsory pooling](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/texas/) [### New Mexico 18 percent late penalty, and withholding taken from your monthly check](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/new-mexico/) [### Kansas Your minerals lapse after 20 years unless you file a statement of claim](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/kansas/) [### North Dakota 20-year abandonment, a cost-free 16 percent, and the lowest income tax we see](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/north-dakota/) [### Montana Why 6 percent is withheld from your check before you ever see it](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/montana/) [### Wyoming Deductions barred by statute, and no income tax when you sell](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/wyoming/) [### Colorado The 45 percent pooling threshold, and 2 percent withheld at closing](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/colorado/) [### Louisiana Mineral servitudes prescribe after ten years of nonuse. Only state where that is true](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/louisiana/) [### Arkansas Strohacker and the lithium question, and why your spouse must sign](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/arkansas/) [### Mississippi 20 days to answer a pooling order, 300 percent if you miss it, 5 percent withheld](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/mississippi/) [### Alabama The 8 percent privilege tax, and an election deadline that runs off the spud](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/alabama/) [### Kentucky Royalty owners do not bear severance tax, and dower and curtesy still apply](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/kentucky/) [### Michigan A real dormant minerals act, and the strongest no-deduction statute in the country](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/michigan/) [### Utah Private parties hold 22 percent of the Uinta, and a 150 to 400 percent pooling band](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/utah/) [### West Virginia Tawney, the most owner-favorable deduction rule anywhere, and 2.5 percent withheld](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/west-virginia/) [### Ohio Two separate statutes let a surface owner take your severed minerals](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/ohio/) [### Pennsylvania The Dunham Rule, no severance tax, and inheritance tax that follows you anywhere](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/pennsylvania/) [### California Kern is the biggest oil county in America and nobody will quote it](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/california/) [### Alaska Rare private interests, overrides on North Slope leases, and no income tax](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/guide/alaska/)