Just found out my father in law is signing over his deeds to his mineral rights to several locations in Dawson County TX, OK, KY and IL to my husband. We have no idea where to begin to find out if these are producing anything? He hasn’t done anything with them since they were willed to him in 2001 from mom. He said he never had the time to look into it. Can anyone tell us where to start. We’re very overwhelmed with all the info we’re trying to read through and google search. Thanks in advance.
Welcome to the forum!
The first thing to do is make a list of the deeds and descriptions of the minerals-Excel is a nice software to use. I put them in order by State, County, Township, Range, Section or Abstract. Copy the description on the deeds and put that into a cell. You will need them.
The deeds will have to be filed in each county where the minerals are held. It would be a good idea to get an attorney involved so that they are filed properly as each state has separate laws.
Then you need to find out if there is production for each set of minerals. If so, then you have to contact the Division Order department of each operator and get the pay status changed to your husband. Most of them will need a copy of the filed deed in order to do that changeover.
Read the Mineral Help Tab above to get a feel for the business. Start collecting the website that are free to access for each state. You will need them. The oil and gas division for each state government will have excellent information.
If “Mom” held the minerals, you might check under both her name and “Dad’s name” in the Unclaimed Funds at the Treasurer’s office for each state. They may be holding money for Dad. Dawson County, TX and many parts of OK have had quite a bit of drilling since 2001.
Check out the BLOGS area of the forum as there are some really good resources there. Also, you might consider joining NARO (National Association of Royalty Owners) which has chapters across the country. Between the forum and NARO, you have access to many wise folks who can walk you through getting organized and informed.
Once you have your list, you can read up on the forum by area. For example, you have already landed in the Dawson County, TX category. Read the topics and see what is happening. For OK, do the same thing by county. KY and IL are not as active on the forum, but maybe you can start a trend.
Ask tons of questions! We all started at zero.
Then
I kind of got started the same way, and have found this forum to be very helpful. Keep in mind that you can search this forum to see if someone had a similar question before.
Learning how to locate your properties is a big step. Oklahoma and Illinois use the PLSS system which is a grid of Townships, Ranges and Sections. Texas has its own system where abstract numbers are helpful along with blocks and surveys. Kentucky also has it’s own system.
All of these states have oil and gas gis maps that are free to access. Once you can locate your property, you can see if any wells are, or have been active on that land.
NARO has a good starter video series and other good resources.
Be patient. There is a lot to learn, and none of us are born knowing about mineral rights.
The good thing is, if you get stuck, you can ask here and get straightforward answers!
Thank you both for taking the time to respond with such helpful info! It’s definitely overwhelming but we appreciate y’all giving us a starting place!! Looks like we have lots of work to do. 
Here are some to get you started. some links may be older so if they don’t work Google the Oil and Gas Division of the State you need.
Kentucky -NPMS Public Viewer
Illinois- Oil & Gas OK https://datamining.occ.ok.gov/rbdmsweb_ok/OCCOGOnline.aspx
This is great! I appreciate so much!
Here is the best one I could find for Kentucky: https://kgs.uky.edu/kygeode/geomap/?LayoutID=2
For Illinois: https://prairie-research.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=af7f150b9ec348d3860b1d225bffb035
Great! Thank you! I appreciate the help!
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