The Mineral Deed for the minerals rights I sold says “…TEN DOLLARS ($10) and other good and valuable consideration…” and does not list the actual agreed upon price. Where can I find some sort of official documentation saying that this is standard practice in OK and that the actual amount of the sale is not recorded in public records?
I am being asked to provide an explanation as part of a financial review/audit and am hoping to find something I can use to show people that the language in my Mineral Deed sale is standard practice in Oklahoma.
Any attorney, title company, banker, etc should be able to verify it was standard practice not to list the actual sale price but the $10 language instead.
Review Oklahoma law. It states any consideration for any transaction must be at least $10.00. If on an oil & gas lease, anything above 1/8th royalty is in excess of $10. If a mineral sale, the seller is required to pay documentary stamps that represent the sales price. The stamps are paid at a rate of $1.50 per thousand dollars of consideration. Most people think the buyer is to pay the documentary stamps but it is the responsibility of the the seller. Just like selling real estate. If you did not pay documentary stamps, you can be held liable for the same by the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
@Wade_Caldwell, thank you for confirming it’s standard practice. I think will just provide the name/contact of the relevant County Clerk’s office and suggest the people who want the explanation contact the County. They should be able to easily confirm that this is how things are done.
@TODD_M_Baker, can you tell me how to check to see if these documentary stamps were paid?
I don’t recall this term coming up at all in the transaction. I do know that the Mineral Deed was properly filed with the County – would that indicate that the documentary stamps were purchased?
This whole transaction was pretty small in the scheme of things… less than $15,000. So, if I understand the right, it would about $22.50 in documentary stamps?
The filed deed should have the correct amount of documentary stamps shown reflecting the purchase amount. If not, the seller is liable for that amount. Again, state law says the purchase amount MUST be greater than $10.00.
@TODD_M_Baker, on the copy I downloaded from the County, the top right corner has a stamp that has the Book information and also says: Fee: $27.00 - Doc: $0.00.
@TODD_M_Baker, no need to reply. I went to the County Clerk’s website and look up the transaction. It clearly has a item called “Document Stamps” and there’s a dollar amount listed. The amount paid works out a bit higher than $1.50 per thousand, but I don’t suppose higher is often an issue!