Attorney recommendations + question on living trust versus probate

Wyoming Mineral Rights Converse County, WY
1

Greetings. I am new to Mineral Rights Forum and happy to have found it. I inherited mineral rights in Converse County and have two questions for all of you with experience and expertise.

The first step for me is getting all of the mineral rights in my name. Before my mother passed away, she arranged for the rights to a parcel under lease (and paying royalties) to be held jointly by the two of us so that I could make an easy transfer to me as sole owner upon her passing. However, she forgot about a much larger amount of land on which she held mineral rights, and I need to get that in my name.

First Request

From my searches and reading on this website, it seems clear that I need an attorney to navigate the process for me (unless folks here suggest an alternative route). Therefore I would like to get from readers:

1. Names of recommended Wyoming attorneys. I think it would be ideal for the attorneys to have Converse County experience, but I suspect that's not essential.

2. Recommendations for how best to find an appropriate attorney.

From reading another thread, I will contact Ray A. von Proctor, who offered his help to another member in a similar situation. But I'd like to hear other folks suggestions too.

If you feel more comfortable sending a PM, please do. If I didn't configure my account properly to allow those, please let me know.

Second Request

In all of my reading about getting mineral rights transferred, there's repeated discussion about going through probate. However, my mother had a living trust that provided for me to be the trustee and specified me as the sole beneficiary. Because of the living trust, I have not had to go through a probate process for all her other assets.

Does the existence of her living trust mean I can avoid probate in Wyoming, or does Wyoming not recognize a living trust in another state (California)?

I welcome any input anyone can give me on these two questions.

Thanks, Steve

2

My situation is: I live in MT. and have Royalties (from Wyoming oil) being held while I gather proof that I am an only surviving relative of my Uncle. I have aquired the necessary Death Cetificates for my Biological Uncle, his wife, but have had trouble aquiring the death certificate of his one and only son. If I am unable to aquire the remaining Death Certificate, there is another way I will be able to claim the waiting royalities and I will have to use a specialized attorney from Wyoning. At this juncture, I have turned over what information I aquired on my cousin to my representative attorneys with Legal Shield so they, as my legal representatives, can work on my behalf to aquire my cousin's death information to ultimately aquire his death certificate. I have used for many years, my membership with Legal Shield (originally Pre-Paid Legal started close to 50 years ago). I live in MT and the representative attorney firm here will refer me to an attorney in what ever state I need and a specialized attorney to handle my situation. Your monthly membership fee (very minimal) covers many services at no additional cost, however, if your needs go beyond those services, My experience is that, you as a member will get a discounted fee from the attorney you are referred to. I have always been pleased with my savings when I have used Legal Shield attorneys beyond my regular services. If interested in looking at a the benefits of Legal Shield, please let me know how to PM you with a link.

3

Thanks for the recommendation Sandra. To give me additional options, I welcome recommendations from any other readers. I'm also interested in any feedback from people on my question about how a living trust can operate in lieu of probate when it comes to Wyoming mineral rights.

4

We had a similar situation, and ended up not having to go through probate in Wyoming, though we did need to file something in Wyoming to indicate that my aunt had passed away. We used Bjork Lindey Little in Denver and were very happy with them and they weren't to expensive. They have several attorneys in their Wyoming office and several in the Denver office are actually Wyoming attorneys.

5

Sara: Thank you for the information. Do you recall the name of the specific attorney you worked with? In using professionals, I find that you need to pick the right person within a firm, given the variability that exists even with the best firms. I also appreciate hearing that probate may not be necessary in my case.

6

Hi Steve, The lady we used is no longer there, but I think Sara Sorem (sp?) also does this type of stuff.

7

Great, thanks.