Can anyone offer me some assistance please. I just discovered some parcels belonging to my mother's Trust in Gaines County Texas. My mom had passed away back in 1992, and now I have just become the Trustee of this Trust by court order. What i have just found out over the last 48 hours is that someone has somehow been receiving my mothers royalty checks for over 20 years now that was not suppose to. How might I be able to stop this person from receiving any more money, and how might I be able to recover over 20 years of royalty checks that were suppose to have been cashed by myself ? There is only a PO Box that they are currently using in Omaha Nebraska, and a reference to a Farmers National Company Bancfirst Trust. Any assistance or guidance how to handle this situation would be much appreciated.
First, you need to send a certified letter to whoever is paying the royalties. Second to need to contact an Oil and Gas attorney for advise on collecting any back royalties that might be owed. Third you need a a Landman to do a quick mineral/royalty take off to back up your position.
Hi Chris!
I am not an Attorney and, like Charles Cunningham, advise that you always consult one experienced in oil and gas matters of these kinds. The Forum does not allow for solicitations, but if you do not have one in mind, there are several very qualified Attorneys that respond to Land and Mineral Owners' questions here on The Forum - perhaps one of them can help.
If you can't find one here, I can recommend a few.
Having said all that:
You appear to have the name of the party presently receiving the royalties, which is very helpful. But I have to ask how it came to be that they have been receiving royalties that were due your Grandmother for the past 23 years?
The reason I ask is that under certain circumstances it may have been your Grandmother's responsibility to arrange for any changes in the oil company's Royalty Division Orders, not the other Party's. And, if the other Party owns a number of income producing properties (enough to have placed them in a Trust at Farmers), they might not be aware that they are receiving royalties due your Grandmother's Estate.
If you are certain that the royalties are being paid to the wrong party then, again, Charles Cunningham is correct in that you need to contact the party(ies) paying the royalties and challenge the ownership of the royalties. They may require a Certified Letter, although a telephone call may do. You will have to see.
Either way, they will immediately suspend any future payments of the subject royalties until they have been provided evidence of who the royalties rightfully belong to.
The Royalty Division Order Department of the company Operating the Well(s) is typically who you will need to contact but, alternatively, it may be the company(ies) buying the oil and gas produced from the Well(s) - there are several ways disbursements (payments) of royalties are handled in the industry.
I have sent you an invitation to become A Friend on The Forum. If you will accept my invitation, you can privately send me what information you have on the subject properties and wells. With that information, I should be able to identify who you need to contact in order to have the payments suspended. They will also be able to provide you with a list of what they will need from you to clear up the situation: Source Deed(s) for your Grandmother's Interests, Probate and Trust Papers, Court Orders, Certificates of Death - whatever they need.
If you need to contact Farmer's National, I have a friend that works for their Trust Department here in Fort Worth, Texas (the Omaha address may just be where the Royalty Checks are sent). She is extremely knowledgeable about these sorts of matters and I am certain she would be happy to help you in any way she can.
Hope this helps -
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas