My mother's deceased husband has mineral rights in Richland county. She wants to sign the rights over to her family. A lawyer was hired to work on this but hasn't done much so I am working on this for her. Where do we start? Would the county recorders office be able to change the ownership? Thanks for any information on this. Diane
You need to view it as trying to put together a chain of title. To answer your last question first, the county clerk does not do anything in regard to changing ownership. They only accept pre-prepared instruments for filing. You need to start with the deceased husband. If he had a will probated in Richland County and your mother was the beneficiary, that would suffice to put the minerals into your mother. If his will was probated in another county other than Richland, you should file a certified copy of the probate proceedings in Richland County. If there was no will, file an heirship affidavit listing the heir or heirs of the deceased husband. If record title is firm into your mother, have your mother sign a mineral deed which contains a valid legal description. Do not use a quitclaim deed form. That is for a limited purpose. You might be able to find a mineral deed form online, but there is some risk of messing it up if this isn't your thing. The wording will matter, as will the legal description. It will also need to be notarized, or they won't accept it for filing.
Thanks you very much for the information Dave. Will give us a good start to the process.