I agree. I think they left Texas because he was either laid off from his job in Fort Worth or was transferred to California. They were dependent on that good government contractor paycheck.
A layoff would explain the foreclosure and bankruptcy. He had a new job in California at the time they filed for BK, but they were so far in arrears and default on their debts that they needed to file BK to get a fresh start.
I'm not sure. According this this article:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/family-mal...ed-trailer-texas-home-years/story?id=52477251
The Turpins moved to Rio Vista after their home in Fort Worth was foreclosed on, records show. The home in Rio Vista sits on land that has mineral rights, so the family was receiving
"nice royalties" off of the gas well on the property while they lived there for more than 10 years, Baldwin said.
From Google:
Dual compensation for Mineral Right Owners
The landowner receives two forms of compensation for leasing his minerals. The first is called a Bonus which is a signing bonus that is paid on a per acre basis. Typically $200-$500 per acre. The bonus will be paid once at the time of the signing of the lease, and it may be the only money the landowner will get.
The second is the oil and gas royalty which is the percent of the money generated by the oil and gas from his property. Traditionally 12.5%, but more recently around 18% 25%. The percentage varies upon how well the landowner negotiated and how expensive the oil company expects the extraction of oil and gas to be.
In the event oil and gas were found and the wells produce, then the royalties kick in. So if the oil well produce 100 barrels a day, and the price of oil is $80 per barrel that month, then the cash flow is 100x$80 = $8,000/day The royalty owner, who agreed to 15% royalty, would receive $8,000 x 0.15 = $1,200/day. Over a month, that brings in $36,000 per month to the mineral owner, who in this case, is the landowner.
I'm not sure if there is any way to find out how much they were receiving in royalties but between his government contractor job and the mineral rights, they should have been rolling in money. I wonder where it all went?!