My Dad died almost 10 years ago (lived in Texas) only mineral rights in Oklahoma. Affidavit of Heirship is sufficent for leasing. Mom has coveyed her part to us girls. If we want to sell we have to do a probate. Now I've spoken to an attorney in the past and told summary adminstration should be sufficient if we choose to sale. I've heard also heard we have to do ancillary probate. How do we know which would be acceptable to a buyer? Both should make the titles marketable? Anyone know of an attorney who is actually fair and won't want & arm & leg to get this done?
Similar situation for us. Live in CA with mineral rights in OK. We had to go through summary administration probate last year to be able to sell our mineral rights although we were already receiving royalties through affidavit of heirship. The probate was simple, fairly fast (as these things go), and affordable. Now I'm in the process of marketing the mineral rights. Can't comment on ancillary probate as that wasn't considered. I'm just glad to have that part of our troubles behind us. Oil/gas in OK can get real complicated, real fast. I'd suggest you check with other members of the forum and get an attorney who is VERY FAMILIAR with oil & gas. The first attorney we had was not and it cost us dearly in time and money.
1 Like
Kristy,
I sent a friendship request with a note.
Tom
We've been approached a couple of times. Came close one time last year. But the wording we I look at it didn't agree with it. So we didn't proceed. Those that have reached out to us like to offer low $ as some type probate is needed to make the mineral rights marketable if we chose to sell.
Yes, that is pretty much the case. It is exactly what we had to do. In California we had a family trust so we didn't need to probate our parents estate and we had already done Affidavits of Heir-ship to get the mineral royalties to be passed/paid to us (the children) BUT when we found more mineral assets in Oklahoma AND we decided to look for buyers we found that we had to probate our parents estate in OK which was more costly than expected. My best advice to you is get recommendations for reputable, KNOWLEDGEABLE lawyers, preferably one who is an expert in minerals/oil it can make a very big difference. I made the mistake of hiring an attorney recommended by a relative in OK who I assumed knew something. Unfortunately it turned out the attorney knew nothing about oil and the who thing turned into an expensive mess and we lost a lot of money in the process. 20/20 hindsight can be costly! Be sure you get some kind of agreement with the lawyer before you sign anything. Get a cost quote in writing and beware of any clause that says you will pay more if they run into "unexpected" problems. I hate to see anyone get screwed by an attorney. And be sure the lawyer explains and lists "court costs" and anything else that may come up like investigating the title. Make sure it's clear who pays for what as you may end up with an investigator, landman, etc., that is also getting paid.
1 Like