I have recently (past 2 years) found out that I had inherited mineral rights in both Garvin and Stephens County OK from my father. I was told by the Landman, who contacted me for a lease proposal, that these were in my family for multiple generations. I am working on a genealogy project and was trying to fill in who would have been the original purchaser of these rights. I have used OKCountyRecords.com with no results. These are pretty minor net mineral acres so I don't wish to hire someone or spend a lot of money for this. I also should mention that contact with any remaining family members would be out of the question. I asked the corporation for a copy of the title opinion (like that was going to happen) with no success.
I have the rights in payable condition/form and also don't wish to spend the money to get them into marketable condition/form. I can't see selling them, are there other reasons to get them into marketable condition? This is really a secondary priority.
They are in Stephens 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18 all 2N-4W. and Garvin 31 & 32 3N-4W.
Hopefully this is enough to get a dialog started. Thank you!
Hi Steve, I am on a similar quest but have decided it worth the investment to hire a good Landman to run the records for me to show the chain of title so as I can have it all up to date for adding to my new trust for my children, I'm very new to this whole thing also but this forum is the best thing since sliced bread was invented. ;-) That being said all's I would suggest is READ as much as you can on ALL the different areas in the forum and become as educated as possible before you go to far the wrong direction and regret it. I signed Division Orders before I knew enough about what was going on and now wish I had not because I may have had MANY other options. "Good Luck" on your quest.
Thanks Derek. I did lurk on the site before signing up. That is what helped me get things in payable condition. I never really found anything that assisted from a more genealogical quest.
Go directly to the county clerks office in the counties you mentioned. You'll need the legal description and any names you can provide. The clerk will assist you in searching the record books or microfilm for any information you need. To get them in marketable condition you may need to see if there was a distribution of assets or probate of the estate of your father or his decedents, and of course you will need valid death certificates and possibly other paperwork. But the court clerks office is a start....also go to the courthouse in the county where your father was living when he passed. See if there were any legal filings there.
Hope you have great success,
Steve Davis
No problem Steve, I have been in the trades my whole life here in San Diego, Ca. and the research of title's are another trade that has it's own methods fundamentally speaking. I am learning that if you can spend the extra time it takes in the County Clerks Recording Office to pull and review the documents with basic skills that the Chain of Title can be accomplished, but getting the exact amount of Net Mineral Acre's correct may be a little harder to figure out in some cases, which may be really important in negotiating a lease. The negotiating of leases become even more difficult if you don't know what the legal language should look like or what items you want in the lease to be in your advantage. This site has an enormous amount of information and examples to help fill in the gaps of inexperience. And THANKS to ALL the Professionals that are willing to give of their time to help steer us in a better path to help ourselves and our families, I just can't say that enough. I have tried to start my own discussions with some luck and also join in once you see a discussion that may be helpful about a topic your interested in when you see others getting help has also worked for me as well. I was provided with court doc's from a pooling order that I would have never have found if it wasn't for a professional ( I think ) looking it up on his own time and providing a hyper-link for me to print it and was in my hands in minutes!!! These people that I have dealt with since I joined 2 or so months ago have been very giving people and I wish I could send them all a gift card to the steak house of their choice but it comes from their heart I guess. My wife and I are the same way and when we receive something in return for helping it kind of dirty's the effort I guess. One of our motto's here is to "Pass It Forward" and hopefully that compels others to do the same! Good Luck and keep in touch. P. S. I am NOT one of the wonderful professionals, just a Minerals Owner. Derek
Thanks Steve Davis. I am not really in a position to just go to the clerks office. I live in Kentucky. So onsite investigation isn't an easy option. There was no will and no probate of my fathers estate. He lived and died in Hawaii. Also, not an easy trip.
I have found other ancestors deed/title information when they purchased land from the government when territories were opened up. So for this quest, I am guessing that once the mineral rights become separate from the surface the trail becomes more difficult to trace online or that the counties/states I'm researching aren't up to speed with imaging the information.
That is quite possible, the older the record the tougher it is to find it online as much of that is stored on microfilm these days. You might call the county clerk or visit their web site to see what they have to say.
Regards,
Steve