mother-in-law inherited & shared ownership of mineral interest with her siblings....her mineral deed is in her name only. her siblings each have their own deed. She never put her minerals into her trust by deed, nor did she put her spouses name on her deed....but the trustee (her spouse) was given the right to convey, sign leases etc, which he did, in his name only, not as trustee......my husband was asked to ratify, but he didn't......her spouse passed away....he never conveyed the minerals into the trust or into his own name....the deed is still in my mother-in-laws name she passed in 2012, her spouse passed away this year....my husband is his mothers only biological child & is the legally adopted child of her spouse....Her spouse has 3 children, which aren't her biological children.....the rest of the estate was supposed to be passed by trust to all four children in equal shares, with his daughter being successor trustee and in charge of it all.....everything has been done in secret for the most part, with my husband receiving what she said was his part & he was told by her & an attorney he would get a mineral deed in his name, which he hasn't as of yet. we have received a check from the oil co. but there has never been a probate on the minerals & there is an incorrect affidavit of heirship recorded at the clerks office. They refuse to probate the minerals.....now there is a notice in the newspaper where the oil co. is suing mother-in-law & father-in-law because the oil co was due a percentage of the money & is requiring an answer as to who owns the minerals....this is in Oklahoma.....To force probate cost as much if not more than we have received & will likely give her step children 3/4 of it anyway, because the trust & will distributes the estate 4 ways...it may be worth it if theres a possibility that my husband would get a bigger % because he is the only biological child. the spouse was supposed to convey the minerals to the one son (my husband) because they were inherited from the mothers family, but he didn't do anything with them. ...what would filing a correct affidavit of heirship do to the situation and is that the answer that we need to send to attorney of the oil co... The check we received was written after this notice was written & a certified letter went to heirs of deceased which I guess was his daughter.....I was shocked that the oil co wrote a check to begin with, by the way...its just so annoying that those in charge wont do the right thing without us spending the few dollars we've received to make them, yet they have received the bulk of it all to begin with. Is an affidavit of heirship going to get us a mineral deed, which is what we were told by the so-called respected attorney in this area of law when we paid him to find out what to do to get the mineral deed in our name, after the successor trustee said that's what she had done instead of probate. My question is this....why are our parents being sued by the oil co that wrote a check after the notice went out & what would a correct affidavit do to the already huge mess & if probate is the only way this will be settled and will probate place them in the trust to be distributed 4 ways or will they be passed laws of descent & distribution and exactly what would descent & distribution mean in Oklahoma & since the spouse never conveyed the minerals to himself or the trust was he ever even an owner of the minerals....he is a stranger to title, or do marriage laws or descent & distribution make him an owner by default.... what is basically happening now is they aren't paying to have them done correctly, but if we want to pay for it they'll take 3/4 of the payout, but why would they give a damn about getting a deed if the oil co is going to pay out regardless & this way they stay in charge....any insight would be helpful. Thanks
Cashing a can be an acceptance of terms. Get a GOOD lawyer.
DDS,
Mr. Moore is absolutely right. This situation is what screams for a lawyer. You will either need one now or need one later. Hopefully your mother-in-law left a will that mentioned the minerals, (Wills are very important to have)
That will be your lawyer's first question. Next question will be the timing of the actions of her husband and if he took leases under a medical or other limited power of attorney before the power of attorney expired at her death. Without a will, your lawyer may be limited to OK law provisions. Your lawyer will know if there is a valid claim by the other family members. (Did I mention how important wills can be?)
Your lawyer will also help the Oil Co. get out of a tight spot caused by others. That will also open up the money spigot. An oil and gas attorney or mineral attorney is what you may be looking for and maybe one that is associated with an estate lawyer.