I inherited some mineral rights from my father after he passed away that are currently paying royalties. I have no idea how to find more information about my mineral rights such as how many acres how much the area is worth or really anything. My question is how I would go about finding the answers to these questions. I also know i have more mineral rights in Oklahoma but I don’t know anything about that either since I had almost no contact with my father since I was very young. Any advice would be appreciated.
Victor,
Go to the Midland County CAD here: Property Valuation
Type in your name starting with your last and it should come up. I just searched your name real quick and had several results. This will give you an idea of what the size of your interests are.
Thank you for that. After searching I found several properties in my father’s as well as my grandfather’s name (he is deceased as well). What should be done about those properties?
I have a couple suggestions.
One is to join NARO and go to one of their conferences for mineral owners. (https://naro-us.org/) That will give you a better understanding of everything.
Second is to find an experienced landman to review title and explain what you own. It will cost you a small chunk of change, but maybe if you have siblings or other co-owners all of you could split the cost. Knowing exactly what you own is very important. Unfortunately, I do not have a recommendation on how to find a good landman. Maybe another poster can help you with that.
NARO on the forum: https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/c/naro
Victor - I’d recommend contacting a local oil and gas attorney and having them write up an Affidavit of Heirship, or something of that nature, that you can file with the county.
Victor,
I would start by notifying each of the operators in writing of your ownership or right to said interest. They will ask for Probates documents so I would go ahead and get that in order. Also, minerals are only taxed if producing and therefore only show up on the appraisal list if their is reported production on the associated property. Given that your grandfather is listed on several properties I would be willing to bet they’re (the operator) holding his share of revenue (which you are entitled to) in suspense. Long story short, you may have some back pay from royalties waiting on you.
1 Like
If you have properties in Oklahoma, a good place to start is www.okcountyrecords.com Not all of the counties are listed there, but most are. Search under his name. You will also need to get legal documents in order to claim them in OK. Search the OK Treasurer’s site for unclaimed funds. Also the state in which he lived. Perhaps Delaware as well since many companies are domiciled there.
2 Likes
You have two main options.
-
Hold onto the rights and get yourself “in pay” on the existing production. Often times the operator will tell you what they will require to get the royalties put into your name. Then, you may or may not need a landman and/or attorney to bring ownership up to date, it just depends on the complexity.
-
Sell the rights, and the buyer will tell you how they want the title cured so the minerals are legally transferred into your name. The buyer will often carry all of the costs necessary to do so.
It is possible to do name searches in most Oklahoma Counties.
Richard Winblad
Victor, did you figure out what you needed?
Many operators require an “Affadavit of Heirship”. If you are lucky you can be instated into “pay status” with a new “Division Order” (use the latest NADOA form on NARO).
Above advice is sound. So if not as easy as I mentioned above, run as much of a title search as you can in each county. Cross reference with names accurately spelled, misspelled, property description and variations of property description (ex. Township - 3 -South might be T3S or T-3-S). Search for probate records whereever your father and grandfather died and in county and in the counties where each property is. Then take what you have to a landman as explained above. Worst case is you may need to have title cures performed with an attorney, possible title opinion (I have one in process) to achieve a Perfected Title.
Hi Mr. Winblad,
I found out back in June that I have inherited 2 1/2 acres in Garvin County. From my understanding Continental and Triad want to drill a horizontal well on the property. I’m not interested in selling. The problem I am facing is how do I go about getting this property in my name? My father passed away years ago, my uncle was the one to contact my brother and I with this information. He has no other information for me. It initially was under my grandmothers name etc. I appreciate any advice you can give me. Thank you.
To be done properly you need to have probates done to vest you or the rightful heirs with marketable title. Mr. Winblad can help you with that process. Usually takes 60-90 days.
You likely need a probate to get the companies to begin paying you and any siblings.
Thank you for responding Mr. Winblad, can you tell me what I need to do to go through the Probate process? I have my Grandmothers information/Fathers information. I know which County the land is in. I know how many acres I have. That’s it. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thank you.
See below. Often time and money can be saved by combining one or more estates into one case.
Thank you for responding.
It’s been my experience that mineral title and a well-composed heirship affidavit will allow the OG companies to pay bonuses on leases once it’s been determined who the heirs at law/devisees are. However, the OG companies won’t pay any royalties on production to the heirs until probate and/or ancillary probate actions are performed by a Court which will transfer mineral ownership out of the estate(s) and into the heirs. It’s important to know that an heirship affidavit doesn’t vest mineral ownership into the heirs. It only provides information on the deceased and his/her heirs.
For the affidavit you’ll need to know/furnish the following information (and then some):
-Date and location of death of the decedent. Provide a death certificate.
-Was decedent’s estate ever probated? If so, in what county and state?
-Did the decedent leave a Last Will & Testament? If so, furnish a copy.
-Is administration pending on the estate?
- Was an Administrator/Executor/Executrix ever appointed for the estate?
-Was decedent married at the time of death? Is so, name and address of the spouse.
-Is the spouse still living? If not, date and location of spouse’s death. -Was the decedent married more than 1 time? If so, how and when did those marriages end? -Were any children born to decedent? If so, provide their names and addresses. -Are all children born to decedent still alive? If not, provide dates and locations of death. -Any children born to the deceased children? If so, provided names and addresses. - Were the deceased children ever married?
If you have access to recorded instruments in county courthouses, you’ll probably find a slew of heirship affidavits of record.
Hire a landman to run mineral title on the properties and also provide you with an heirship affidavit that can be recorded in the counties where the mineral rights are. Both Oklahoma City and Tulsa have landmen associations you can contact to find a landman to run the title for you. And then you’ll most likely have to hire an attorney who will get the probate done.
It’s very likely that the operators/OG companies on producing lands have title on the lands and know what % of the minerals the deceased owned. You might try calling them and asking them if they’ll furnish you that information. On producing lands royalties still in the decedent’s estate are most likely being held in suspense. Meaning, the burden is almost always upon the heirs to prove and provide updated information to the OG companies on the deceased’s heirs. The operators/OG companies themselves may provide you with names of landmen and attorneys who you can contact.
Good luck! It sounds a bit complicated and burdensome, but it’s usually quite worth it once it’s all been sorted out.
3 Likes
Sounds mostly like what we had to do. The key is, IS IT WORTH WHILE! Be sure to figure out the approximate cost of all the work, landman, lawyers, court costs, etc., and then decided what the minerals are going to be worth and how they are held. Are there any leases, any production, etc. Sometimes the value won’t support the costs involved.