My brother and I each received a very unexpected call today. Our estranged father passed away several months ago. We believed him to be destitute. The caller was offering us money for 8 acres of mineral rights in Garvin. My grandmother had apparently left them to my father when she passed. Our father had no will. The offer also includes the probate legal fees to get these and other mineral rights (which they do not want to buy) put in our names. We do not know if the caller is offering us a fair price and no idea where to start figuring things out. This is all new to us!
You need OK legal assistance since your father passed away intestate. Since your father had ownership in the property receiving the offer plus other possible other holdings you need legal records ownership transfers. Garvin County has had a long history of oil and gas production and chances are your father and possibly grandmother never received any royalty payments. Secondly, most offers of this type are far below actual worth.
You can free search for abandon funds, held by State Treasures, by going to the state treasury sites in Ok and the states of your father nd grandmother. Search by name.
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Welcome to the forum. I would recommend contacting an attorney that can handle the probate and has experience with oil and gas. Your father’s estate will need to be probated to move title into your and your brother’s name. As for whether it is a fair price, that would depend on a lot of factors such as if there is current production, where it is located, and how much you own.
If you want to do start your own research you can search Garvin County records back to 1989 online at okcountyrecords.com.
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You will likely need probate to place property into your and your brother’s names. The individual making the offer probably has better information than you. You may want to search your father’s and grandmother’s names through the following sites:
Oklahoma Unclaimed Property Search
Mineral Interest Escrow Account Search
A more in depth search could be conducted to identify wells and operators for the property where the minerals are located. A landman could do this for a fee.
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Thank you to all who have responded. I was able to find a copy of my grandmother’s will and she left my father a mixture of producing and non-producing minerals in Stephens, Garvin and Carter counties. The company offering to buy some of the non-producing locations in Garvin county has offered to handle the transfer of heirship for ALL the mineral rights (not just the ones they want) as part of the package. I know NOTHING about this and hesitate to go this route as surely that would be in his best interest more than mine?
This statement brings lots of questions to mind. Lots. You will be best served by someone with a fiduciary duty unto you.
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Portions of Stephens, Garvin and Carter have been quite prolific. You should do some homework to see if you have back royalties before making any decisions. You would want to claim those first because someone buying wants them just as much. You can find quite a bit on the mineral escrow account listed above. You can look on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission well records site to find out about past wells. Test
The OK tax site is also useful. Gross Production
If you do decide to sell, get someone who works for you and has the fiduciary obligation to support you, not another company.
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What Section-township-range?
Martha Barnes reply was spot-on.
And you have the option of leasing the minerals and getting monthly checks for many years.
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I honestly have no idea. I have a lot of learning to do.
For new minerals owners, you may find the Mineral Help tab above useful.
Go to the BLOGS category for basic info. Read older posts in Garvin County to catch up. Ask lots of questions. We all started at ground zero.
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