My father died in 2001. I was called a while back by a land man, informing me that, as his heir (he was an only child), I had mineral rights in the County in Texas. I did not know about them, but, in a quick search, I did find them in the county records under his name, inherited by him from my grandfather. How would I go about getting them into my name?
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It is important to get these mineral interests in your name or oil companies will not be able to find you when they try to lease these mineral interests, or if the mineral interests are already leased, you won’t be able to get paid royalties unless the mineral interests are in your name.
There are several ways under Texas law to transfer ownership of these mineral interests to you. You will need to talk to a Texas oil and gas attorney who will get more information from you and determine which procedure applies to your situation.
It is important to act promptly because if too much time goes by, you may lose title to your mineral interests through the Texas laws regarding adverse possession.
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Hi,
Did your father have a will? Was it probated in another state? How about your grandfather? You may need to have things probated or you may be able to file an affidavit of heirship in the county where the minerals are located depending on the facts surrounding the estates.
Make sure to check unclaimed property to see if there were funds ever sent under his name or your grandfathers.
You can also find mineral consultants or attorneys under the directory on this site to assist.
Thank you for your help! He had a will. My grandfather’s will is not important, as he moved the asset to my dad’s name just before he died (he had cancer and dad was an only child, my mother had died already and dad never remarried). I have a copy of my dad’s will, leaving everything he had of material value in equal measure to his therein named offspring. He had most of his assets put into a family trust, to be distributed upon his death, but I don’t see any record of that being a part of the Estate, which, of course, was closed out years ago. The country still shows the rights in Dad’s name. It does not appear there is a well there, but how would I check unclaimed property? I have to give the land man credit …he found me because I left virtual flowers on my dad’s grave in Arlington National, note signed “I love you, Dad. MJ” He followed Dad’s old obit to the grave site to …voila!
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If your father’s will/estate was probated in Texas or another state, under Texas law you can file the final order/exemplified copy in the county records and it acts as if the will was probated in Texas. There may be a clause in it that discusses how any additional property not mentioned should be distributed.
Unclaimed property - go to https://claimittexas.org/ and you can search his name. Or if he lived in another state, just google unclaimed property for that state and it should provide you with the link. Also check unclaimed property for Delaware as that is where many companies are incorporated and sometimes are required to escheat funds there.
PS. That is a sweet note you left for your Dad 
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If your father’s will was probated, then an executor or personal representative would have been appointed. The easiest thing for you would be to have a Texas attorney prepare a properly worded mineral deed from the executor or personal representative to you and then file that in the county deed records were the property is located. If the will does not mention the trust, you will need to look at the trust document. It is possible that a trustee could sign a trustee’s deed for the mineral interests from the trust to you and then that deed would be filed with the county deed records.
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