Is there any new activity around section 28 01N 04W?
Continental has a permit for Park Place 3-28-21-16XHM as of 1/18/23. The well spud in late January.
Thank you for your help. I am definitely new at all of this.
Make sure that your name and addres and acreage description plus title information are correctly filed in the Stephens County courthouse. You should have gotten all of the mailings on this if you are a mineral owner. If they can’t find you, they can’t pay you!
Martha, I recently inherited my husbands share of mineral properties upon his death. There are well in two counties, Stephens and Carter. Several of the wells have not been claimed for years for some unknown reason although they were part of a final order on 1954. I have that document and also where it was transferred to his grandmother. It wasn’t sold but was not on her final order to his mother but is still part of the properties originally left to her. I know I have to have these transferred in my name but do I just send a list of the properties to each county in the meantime to get the address updated. His sister tried taking them all but was unsuccessful because she did it herself and didn’t transfer them correctly. So she is no help in getting information.
I would recommend that you get an estate attorney in OK to do the transfer correctly. If your husband and you lived outside of OK, that has another layer of complexity since the probate probably needs to be filed in your own state and then in OK as a foreign probate.
Check the unclaimed funds in your state of residence (and OK) and see if anything is there.
To transfer the properties you must have title to the minerals.
In Oklahoma a mineral interest is an interest in land. After the death of an individual who owned the property in his/her own name (not in trust, transfer on death deed, joint tenancy, or life estate) there are two methods for the heir to be recognized as the owner:
Probate: This is a legal process that can often be handled in a fairly short amount of time (as little as 50-75 days). Many attorneys can handle these on a flat fee basis. For uncomplicated cases there is seldom a need for any of the inheriting family members to travel to Oklahoma. Once a final order is entered, a certified copy is filed with the land records. This transfers the interest from the estate of the decedent to the rightful heirs. Probate is appropriate even if the decedent did not leave a Last Will and Testament.
Out-of-State Probates: Another thing that seems strange is the requirement for a probate in the state where the minerals are located even though there was a probate where the decedent lived. The reason is that the courts of one state do not have the jurisdiction to enter orders that affect the title to land holdings in a different state. That is why an ancillary or summary probate is needed in the state where the minerals are located. This is a simplified process.
Affidavit of Heirship: : This is a document that reports the decedent’s death, the names of decedents and surviving spouse. This is filed with the land records. Essentially this provides notice of the death and identifies those who are believed to be entitled to inherit. If there is a Last Willand Testament, it can be attached. Often heirs are asked to provide this when a lease is signed. However, there are a few problems with this approach. An affidavit of heirship does not provide “marketable title” to the heirs unless it has been on file for 10 years and nothing appears in the land records to contradict the affidavit. If there is a Will, many title attorneys question whether an affidavit of heirship is effective because only a court can determine the validity of a Will. Finally, many companies will not pay royalties on an AOH until the ten years have run. An AOH approach may make the most sense when the royalty payments are too small to justify the cost of a probate. Something that bewilders many is that the same company that took a lease and paid a bonus based upon an AOH will turn around and require a probate before paying royalties.
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