How to make claim as survivor of deceased lease holders?

Ownership and Title
1

Pooled lease.

8 members are listed as deceased with no known survivors.

4 of those are distant relatives, and only one of those has a surviving sibling, Leaving 3 with none.

Is there a way have our side of the family declared the survivors since no one else has stepped forward? Would it cost much money to do that? This appears to only be a .03125 share, that would then need split between the remaining 5 original named,family members survivors.

These people all died many many years ago, and from cemetary records, they either had no children, or their children have since now passed as well.

The land where the lease is at, was a non producing Natural gas well. Since July, it is now producing oil. We have yet to see a royalty check, but understand it does take some time after coming online.

2

First, the State where the minerals are located will possibly play a major factor in how the laws apply. I would contact an oil and gas attorney in that State for assistence in this matter.

3

It also depends on what it is a .03125 share of. If its of 1 acre you are talking next to nothing, 100 acres would be another story. Small amounts of royalty are usually paid yearly.

4

Hey JJin -

I agree with Mr. Mallory - you will need to learn more about the state laws in whatever state the property is located in. And you should definitely consult an attorney on anything like this.

And I agree with Mr. Hutchison in that the amount of land and potential income would certainly be effective issues in justifying the potential expenses involved. But would like to add that the location of the subject land(s) is also very important.

You will need to determine each of the parties' last place of residence and whether any of them left a Will that was probated (or if any Administration was had on their estates). If so, you will need certified copies of those matters to file in whatever county the subject interests are located in.

In most states, Probate law for Intestate Succession (no Will) allows for the interests to first go back to the deceased person's parents. If they pre-deceased the decedent, then the interest goes to their siblings and their siblings' heirs, per stirpes (each gets their fair share). If they had no siblings, then there is a system for the interest to go to cousins, but I'd have to look that sort of thing up.

Minimum, you will need an Affidavit of Marital and Family History or an Affidavit of Heirship on the entire family or on each of the separate families to establish who you are in relation to the various deceased parties.

I hope you like genealogy, because if you have to hire someone to do it, this sort of thing can get expensive. It could take months to gather up all of the necessary information and prepare whatever documents you need to clear title into you. I know, because I do it for a living. I prepared a family tree on my Grandmother's family one time (she was one of nine children) and it took me 3-1/2 years to gather all the information and prepare all the documents. The final report (we didn't need affidavits) was over 100 pages long.

The least expensive way to do what you want to do is to wait until a Landman comes along wanting to lease your interests. Supply him with what information you have on your distant, now deceased, relatives and he or she will gather up the certified copies and prepare the Affidavit(s) for you for FREE, 90-Days Same As Cash.

And request duplicate originals of any affidavits they prepare - sometimes those just get stuck in an oil company's files and never filed in the county records. If you have a duplicate original, you can file it/them youself.

Hope this helps -

Charles

Charles Emery Tooke III

Certified Professional Landman

Fort Worth, Texas

5

The lease is 40 acres in Oklahoma, right on Kansas/Ok Boarder. The entire bunch was born ,raised , died, and burried in local cemetaries.

The least expensive way to do what you want to do is to wait until a Landman comes along wanting to lease your interests. Supply him with what information you have on your distant, now deceased, relatives and he or she will gather up the certified copies and prepare the Affidavit(s) for you for FREE, 90-Days Same As Cash.

We are already leased. Like I said, it was a non producing gas well. They bought out that lease and proceeded to drill it for oil. Trying to find production reports, all I have found so far is Notice in Tulsa world of successful drill.

2749-20120820016.jpg (832 KB)
6

That's one fine looking pumpjack. The largest I've seen in years!

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) should be able to tell you everything you want to know about it.

If you have the Operator's name, the well's name and API or Serial Number you may be able to look it up on their website.

I'm not familiar with it, but I think it's been mentioned on the Forum. Isn't there a resource page with links for that sort of thing?

7



Charles Emery Tooke III said:

That's one fine looking pumpjack. The largest I've seen in years!

Thanks! Its huge.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) should be able to tell you everything you want to know about it.

If you have the Operator's name, the well's name and API or Serial Number you may be able to look it up on their website. I have all the info and actually found it listed on the occ website, but, it has no data attached to it.

I'm not familiar with it, but I think it's been mentioned on the Forum. Isn't there a resource page with links for that sort of thing? I am slowly going through all the links I can find on the forum here.

Thanks for responding. I appreciate it , all!

8

Hey, Deloe -

Have you checked with the County Clerk's office to see whether the documents you described have been filed? You would have needed to have sent the Attorney either notarized originals or certified copies of all of the documents for filing.

And, have you paid him for his services? If so, and you are not satisfied with his performance, you can file a complaint with the State Bar Association and they will look into the situation for you.

You really don't need an Attorney to straighten out the title. You can file the documents or certified copies of them in the County Real Property Records, purchase certified copies of those documents andsend them to whatever company(ies) is/are buying the products (the oil and/or gas).

Do you know the name(s) of the well(s)? API Numbers, State Serial Numbers? Who is operating them?

If you will send me what you can, I'll see what I can dig up for you - it might not be much, but I'll be happy to try.

Hope this helps -

Charles

Charles Emery Tooke III

Certified Professional Landman

Fort Worth, Texas



deloe hubbard said:

We have almost the same situation in Iowa, but can't seem to get any further information. We know who our deceased relatives are, sent all information and documents to an attorney/landman/ old "family friend? who bought some land from them when they left the state. Lives in the same small town, has interest in some of the wells or whatever, on our section, but will not even file the papers at the courthouse, so that we can recieve the suspence funds due to us from the oil company! We thought we were so fortunate to have him listed as one of the attorney's from that county that was so informed about our situation. Don't know what to believe since he won't return our phone calls, no emails, never available when we try to contact him to talk to him... Last correspondence said "You'll get a letter or a call from me. This back and fourth has been going on for over a year now. Our question now Is WHY won't he communicate with us. Any help will sure be appreciated.

9

Just to update a bit, looking at the documents, the pooled lease is for 160 acres, not the 40 I typed.

Also, looking at the oklahoma land records for Kay County in Oklahoma, online, they only go back to 1996. Guess a trip to the courthouse will be needed to dig deeper. I have no idea when these mineral rights were purchased nor by what original member of the family, ie, I know it was handed down by Grandparents, but, not sure if it was Grandma or Grandpas original families.

On another note, some years back, an original of Texas minerals rights descriptions was found and somehow or another, the original was mailed to a landman to research, and never heard from again. Doing a research of unclaimed monies for Texas, none of the names come up. I can only guess that perhaps this was an expired lease, or the land has never been explored. At this point, we don't even know what part of Texas this was in . In my recollection , she mailed it to someone in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Anyone here from that area or have any landman contacts there?

10

Never loan original papers to anybody.

There are only 4 Landmen listed in the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL)'s 2012 Directory with Stillwater, OK addresses:

Gary Bond

Special Energy Corporation

PO Box 369

Stillwater, OK 74076-0369

405-377-1177

[email protected]

-

Justin D. Carpenter, Registered Landman (RL)

Independent Landman Resolutions, Inc.

7702 S Washington St

Stillwater, OK 74074-8211

405-880-4246

[email protected]

-

Kara Gray

Special Energy Corporation

405-377-1177

405-612-9675 cell

[email protected]

-

Charles Lumley

Special Energy Corporation

405-377-1177

[email protected]

Not all Landmen, however, are members of the AAPL. There may be additional Landmen in Stillwell.

Hope this helps -

Charles

11

Thank you so much Charles!

I also found a response from the Texas unclaimed property, that stated they would return her documents ASAP, with a claim number. Contacting them, they are telling me they have nothing associated with that number. Its dated 2003. How confusing is that? The number is on the letter they sent her.

12

I take it you mean that you found a 2003 response from the Texas unclaimed property people in your family's papers. And that the Texas Unclaimed Property people are now telling you that they don't have anything on that Claim Number.

The only reason I can imagine that the Texas Unclaimed Property people would return papers to an Interest Owner would be that the papers did not prove ownership well enough to clear title into the Claimant. Either that, or the papers weren't properly submitted - you are supposed to only send Certified copies of any documents to the Unclaimed Properties people.

Have you searched the Texas Unclaimed Property website to see if anything is listed under your deceased family members' names? It may just be that the Claim Number was dropped from their system - after all, 2003 was 9 years ago.

The key would be to see who is listed and, if so, to file a new claim.

13

Yes, they had ask for proof of mineral rights, and a copy of the original was sent.

On the actual unclaimed property sight, no, I did not find any of the names . The surname is there in many variations, but, first names do not match up.

In going to land records for various counties in Texas, mostly the ones that boarder Oklahoma, I did find some interesting mineral type of activity, including an actual oil company with the surname and a charity. I love researching stuff like this.

14

Be careful, it is addictive...

Whatever originals were sent, you can obtain certified copies of from whatever courthouse - they are just as valid as evidencing ownership.

15

I made contact today with a Landman, woman, who works for this outfit that drilled, Trek Resources. The company we signed the lease with, resold over to them and they had our names, but no other contact info. Glad I called today!!

Kinda confusing, but, I am confident, we are on a good path.

I scanned in and emailed copies of all the names and addresses and phone numbers of our family members that are on the lease.

And for those that are deceased and still named on the lease, I am confident, their landwoman , is on top of things now.

Half of our share is in suspend mode, due to a death, and when Mother, signed a quit claim, she signed it over to herself and us. Leaving herself as 50% owner. To remedy this, the landwoman, sent me a form to fill out and file with the courthouse, that will free up the other 50% .

The good news is, the checks are ready to go out as soon as all paperwork has been mailed, signed and returned. I was told its a good sized check!

16

I was just offered a job as a researcher, because , I was able to locate some info on a deceased person that they have been looking for over two years.

17

Congratulations and welcome to the Land industry. If you have been hired, you are now a Landman (there are no Landwomen). Did they offer you a salary or a Day Rate?



JJinNewkirk said:

I was just offered a job as a researcher, because , I was able to locate some info on a deceased person that they have been looking for over two years.

18

Thanks but no thanks is what i said. Not looking for a job.

19

You might want to reconsider the opportunity. It's a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun. Experience has shown me that it's not something just anybody can do, and if you are one of the better ones at it, they pay you a pretty fair amount of money. Want to get paid to see the country over the next 5-10 years with all expenses paid? The beginnng of a new career is a phone call away. That's not the type of opportunity many people have, you know. But be forwarned, it's addictive. Once you experience it, you won't want to ever do anything else again.

20

It sounds wonderful Charles. I may give it some further thought.