Mineral deed by a widow - husband failed to include

Ownership and Title
1

My uncle’s widow found her deceased husband’s deed for minerals in Oklahoma. She deeded a portion of them to me. After several years receiving some revenue on that mineral interest, another oil company purchased the operation. They went through the mineral interests and found my uncle failed to include the deed in his will or trust to her, although they had no children and he passed everything else they had to her. The new oil company declared she only had the right to pass along 1/3 of my uncle’s minerals. Isn’t there some reasoning that should exist here? Thanks for any suggestions.

2

It doesn’t sound like he had a Trust. If he had a Will, typically it is not necessary that it mention the mineral interest as it would be considered “residue” of his estate. If he did not have a Will, then the interest would be subject to intestacy. In Oklahoma the distribution would depend upon whether he died before or after July 1, 1985. Here is the statute: Intestacy - Descent and Distribution (oscn.net)

Ask the company what they require with regard to your uncle’s estate. Most likely they will want a probate but some might accept an affidavit of heirship.

This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.

1 Like
3

Richard mentions a “residue clause” which is very important. Older Attorneys (at least in Texas) used to add a clause something like “all of the rest, residue and remainder of my property, real, personal or mixed, I give, devise and bequeath to “XXX”. Later, attorneys got rid of the archaic language and, sometimes any residue clause period thinking everything had been covered when; that wasn’t always the case.

4

Generally speaking, A residue clause in a probate estate specifies how remaining assets, after paying creditors, taxes, and administration costs, are distributed to beneficiaries, ensuring nothing is left unaccounted for.

This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.

5

Many thanks for the information. It is always very informative. Can someone with “decimal interest” calculation abilities add the following pieces to provide a decimal total for all of them combined? 1/2 of 1/6th 1/2 of 1/3rd of 1/6th 1/2 of 1/3rds of 2/3rds of 1/6th

6

.12962963 is the calculation