I finally got probate complete a little over a year ago and am now getting time off from work to come to Marietta to research my inherited mineral rights. Where can I start to learn if there are funds that have been in an escrow account or something to that effect?
I think you mean escheated. You can start with the unclaimed property division that are a part of a state’s treasury department. I assume the funds you suspect you have were produced in Oklahoma. I would start in Oklahoma. Oklahoma State Treasurer Go to the website and put all the names of individuals you would have inherited those rights from. I just spent a year “working” with Oklahoma to get funds that were escheated to them. What was interesting about my situation is the wells that produced the royalties were actually in Texas. But because the operator who had the lease is headquartered in OK, they escheated it to OK unclaimed property instead of Texas. They were held in suspense for many years because they couldn’t find the owners. They couldn’t find them because they all died in the late 50’s and didn’t drill until the 80’s. They did not do their due diligence in finding the heirs. There was one great Uncle who was issued who had funds issued in his name but he died in the 30’s with no heirs. . His share should have been distributed between his two living sisters and 1 brother. The royalties Devon Energy had in suspense were never escheated to Oklahoma. Devon still had them. Good luck to you!
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Did they pay interest on the money that was held in suspense?
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The State of Oklahoma did not pay interest.
Also check the unclaimed funds in the states where your ancestors lived. For example, you could have minerals in TX, but the last known address for your ancestor was in Arizona, so check that state. Also, check Delaware because many companies have their official domicile address in that state and will escheate to Delaware. Occasionally happens.
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Thank you for the responses. I did start with going to the Love County courthouse. They were very nice and showed me how to scour the records. My mom had been married several times and I was not aware of her name when the mineral rights were given to her in a divorce, so I had to find that out to start. I was able to find some old leases she had signed that I assume just ran out a few years ago. I guess now I need to find out if they ever drilled or not?
You can find out if there are wells by using the OCC well records site if you have the descriptions of the properties.
https://imaging.occ.ok.gov/imaging/OGWellRecords.aspx
Start with the section, township and range. Example 0101N01W or whatever yours is. You need a leading zero if a single digit. Then look one or two sections to the north and to the south and one to the east and one to the west because the surface location is not always in the section with perforations.
“I finally got probate complete a little over a year ago and am now getting time off from work to come to Marietta to research my inherited mineral rights. Where can I start to learn if there are funds that have been in an escrow account or something to that effect?”
Since the probate was completed (if the wells were producing, the sections would have to be listed given they have/had value and distributed to the heirs), what exactly are you trying to find and or do?
Marietta is a nice little town, not much tourist crush in the fall. But you might want to see how far you get with an online search. You can research land records here:
Love County | OKCountyRecords.com | County Clerk Public Land Records for Oklahoma
You might also want to search for ancestor’s probate records here:
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.
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