Mineral rights my grandmother owned, questionable probates done 21 years after her death

Ownership and Title
1

I know that I need to speak to a good Probate/Estate Attorney. Unfortunately, I know that finding one that is available isn't easy at this time and I am not sure that the cost will be worth it. I would appreciate some thoughts from people on this rather unusual case. My grandmother owned some mineral rights in Williams County, North Dakota. The property description is TOWNSHIP 157 NORTH, RANGE 103 WEST, 5th P.M. SECTION 21: NW 1/4. My grandmother passed away in 1992, and was survived by her spouse, my step-grandfather.

My mother and her sister were my grandmother's only two children, my mother passed away 25 years ago, and her sister, my Aunt Beverly, died this past December. It seems that my Aunt Beverly's passing was the factor that spurred all these probate cases as far as timing. The bottom line is that "out of the blue", I received paperwork that my sister's husband (my brother-in-law) was filing paperwork seeking to become the Personal Representative in my grandmother's probate case which was being done In Intestacy. He was also probating my step-grandfather's estate, whom had a Trust and had passed away 10 years ago and for which he was the Trustee for. The same goes for my mother's estate, and who passed away almost 25 years ago. I should mention that my brother-in-law is a licensed (Calif)Attorney specializing in Personal Injury Cases.

I didn't oppose my brother-in-law's seeking appointment as the Personal Representative in my Grandmother's Estate/In Intestacy even though I was a direct descendent.

The bottom line is that I did do some research and found out that Marathon Oil Company has been operating an active well on the property for over 12 months.

Last week, I received a Certificate of Service notice that Probate had been completed. I contacted the attorney handing the Probate paperwork on behalf of my brother-in-law to let her know that I believe an error had occurred. I never received any inventory and the affidavit with the completed probate paperwork said that there were no assets in the estate. Upon further communication with this same attorney, I received copies of paperwork in which the 100% of the mineral rights from my grandmother's estate have gone to my step grandfather, and now, my brother-in-law, the personal representative.I was estranged from my step grandfather and as such, not included in his trust/estate which I could care less about. It doesn't seem right that my brother-in-law can have manipulated all of these probates 20 years after my grandmother's death, and 10 years after my step grandfather's death to basically cut out myself, children, and grandchildren from any mineral rights and the financial blessings that might come with them. I was very close to my grandmother, and she would be appalled.

Because I am already dealing with an attorney, my brother-in-law, I am wondering if this case is such a tangled web, cost a fortune to litigate,etc. that it wouldn't be feasible to hire my own attorney. Or, is even what would be a small share of active mineral rights like this worth fighting for in the long run. The family had talked about mineral rights that were left to my mother and Aunt Beverly for years,... I had never given them a second thought and to be honest, was shocked initially when I starting getting paperwork work on these cases.

Somewhere along the line, my Aunt Beverly, who was the one who was originally left the mineral rights, signed them over to my grandmother. (She lived with my grandparents for most of her adult life) My mother supposedly inherited different mineral rights than this property, but of course my brother-in-law has her heirs listed as on this property which is another questionable thing.

Too many questionable things,...I would appreciate a few thoughts from other people knowledgeable in Mineral Rights/Probate Cases just to give me some "food for thought" as to how/whether I pursue things farther. THANK YOU SO MUCH

2

Kirsten, what you described may be proper. However, nobody can give you a precise answer without reading the documents (probates, step Gfather's trust agreement, etc...). The cost of legally contesting it could be significant. The amount of minerals involved, and the validity of any challenge on your behalf may indicate what action (if any) you should take. So start by learning the facts before thinking of any legal action on the matter. Paying an attorney to review the documents would be a logical first step.

Probate of these old estates by an heir is common. It doesn't give a Personal Rep carte blanch to do as they wish. They need to comply with inheritance laws. That may be the case here. Based on what you wrote, the first question I have is how did "100% of grandma's mineral rights" go to the step Gfather.

Did grandma leave a will specifying this? If so, the minerals belonged to his estate (or trust). If Grandma didn't have a will, the laws determining the disposition of her estate vary by state. In some states the surviving spouse (step Gfather) would inherit everything. In other states 50% would be divided among her children with the remaining 50% going to the spouse. So first learn by what means did the Gma's minerals go to step Gpa. It may be a case where your sister and/or brother-in-law legally own them. Though perhaps for the sake of family unity (memory of Grandma, etc...) they'd be willing to share a portion with you. You're on the right path gathering information first. I hope you can work this out.

3

Kirsten, I hate to say this but, when you didn't tell them you wanted to be co-representative and let them cut you out of the loop, you were pretty much done. An, oh no you don't, at the appropriate time can save tens of thousands of dollars later in legal fees. 40 thousand barrels, total production for the well not just your part, in the first year is not going to be alot of money compared to possible legal fees. I guess it would be worth finagleing it away from you because stolen goods are never sold at a loss. If you are going to fight, do not let any time go by, consult a good lawyer immediately. It shouldn't matter legally if a couple of months go by but in real life it does seem to matter. You have my sympathy and I wish you the best.

4

Sorry, this is confusing. I reread my post which which done when I was tired and stressed, it was not very helpful to anybody,..least of all, myself.

Orginally, the mineral rights were left to our Aunt Beverly, one of two daughters that my grandmother had. Beverly apparently signed over her mineral rights to my grandmother. I have not had a landsman research this, but from what I can gather,....Beverly deeded her rights to my grandmother around 1969. None of us have seen any of these records. The family was a large one that originally came from North Dakota, and apparently it was a wealthier Aunt Ruby who left Beverly the mineral rights to this property. Mineral rights to another property in Williams County were left to my mother. It is also apparently on productive land. The minerals went from Beverly deeding her rights to my grandmother, who then died without a will, survived by my step-grandfather. He was a real piece of work,.... Beverly lived with him and my grandmother for most of my adult life and had emotional/psychological problems. To be fair,....I would have been insane myself if I had to live with him. She was always overmedicated/it was a sad situation and when my grandmother died over 21 years ago,....Beverly moved out from the roof of the stepfather and lived in group situations. The last time I saw her she was the most lucid/best I had ever seen her but never-the-less, she had lived a hard life. The biological father was killed in a hit and run accident when she and my mother were younger teenagers, which is why I believe that my Aunt Ruby left them these mineral rights/to help.

Grandfather acquired the mineral rights since he was the spouse who survived my grandmother until his death about 10 years ago. He and my brother-in-law were on the same page in that a Living Trust was set up for his estate/my brother-in-law convieniently being both the Trustee and an attorney. Beverly just died this past December,....she trajicly is the one who needed and deserved any assets from these estates. If, it was not clear in my original confusing post,....it is strange in that it is shortly after her death that all this activity began to probate my grandmothers estate, saying there was no will, probate my stepgrandfather's estate, which was never probated at his death since he had a Trust, my mother's estate, who held different property's mineral rights (was never probated/she died 25 years ago) So, I did get some bad legal advice in regards to being told that I didn't need to worry/bother as far as applying minimally to be a C0-REPRESENTATIVE in my Grandmother's Probate Case that recently was filed/completed in Williams County. I was told that being the Personal Representative involved a lot of work,...let him do it/despite being an attorney himself, he did pay an attorney licensed in North Dakota to represent him. I was told that the laws would require my brother-in-law to disclose everything/leave little that could occur and boy,..was that advise I'll always regret taking. It is a lot easier to be on top of things before they become problems/lawsuits/then everyone looses.

Most of all, I am deeply saddened that Beverly had such a hard life. I have had many blessings in life, a good education/profession even in this economy, and I surround myself with good/loving people. The people and estates that all this manipulation have involved are not part of my life for that reason. A lesson hard learned, but I have two wonderful daughters, a brand new first granddaughter,....both are educated with good professions and EVERYONE HAS THEIR HEALTH. I never counted on these mineral rights, expected them, and in fact was blindsided by all these activity. Oil, Mineral Rights, North Dakota,...that's a whole different ballgame as we all know. I believe that we are headed for some hard times, and was hopeful in trying to fight for what ever small portion of these mineral rights might been blessing to my Children and Great/Grandchildren.

My grandmother and Aunt Beverly just adored my daughters. Regardless, I do know what is important here and what is not worth being dragged down by. I should have been/am usually wiser at my age . I appreciate those people who read/tried to make sense of/ and commented on my confusing post. Thank you very much!



Pete Wrench said:

This is extremely confusing. First of all, there is mention of Grandma's Probate "in Intestacy?" Since the brother-in-law appears to have been appointed a Personal Representative and not an Independent Executor, perhaps this Probate case did not involve a Will, just Administration of the Estate? Who knows. But did Grandma have a Will or not? If so, was it filed in a Probate Court? And, if so, did it specifically mention these minerals?

Also, Grandma might have acquired the minerals as a joint tenant with rights of survivorship with either the grandfather or the step-grandfather. Absolutely nothing is mentioned about the grandfather. But this scenario would explain how 100% of her mineral interest might have gotten into the step-grandfather's Estate, and would make her Will, if any, and the North Dakota laws of descent and distribution, if applicable, irrelevant as to this one particular mineral ownership. So the person initiating this discussion should endeavor to find out exactly HOW her grandmother acquired this mineral interest in the first place (deed, court case, inheritance) and then analyze that instrument very closely. The method of acquisition and the specific wording utilized might explain everything.

There were several other confusing items. For example, the poster mentions how mineral rights "were left to my mother and Aunt Beverly for years," but mentions later that Aunt Beverly "was the one who was originally left the mineral rights," so it's not clear to me if the minerals mentioned in the first paragraph were left to mother and Aunt Beverly or just to Aunt Beverly, and left BY WHOM? Also, the way I read this posting, Aunt Beverly did convey THESE minerals TO Grandma, which leads me to wonder how on Earth Aunt Beverly got them if Grandma was still alive, and if she did acquire them from Grandma while Grandma was still alive, then how did the minerals go from Aunt Beverly to the step-grandfather's Estate? That makes no sense.

There's just way too much missing or confusing information here. All that I will GUESS is that the step-grandfather acquired the mineral interest as a joint tenant with rights of survivorship when he and Grandma originally bought the property, but that is obviously a pure guess not having read a single instrument involved.

Of course, the poster and you guys following this topic could wait for a "real landman" to come across this discussion thread and offer you rock solid advice without having to ask any follow-up questions and without having everything explained to him. I understand that there are a few landmen out there who are that good.

5

Kirsten, I was thr Personal Representative on my fathers probate and it involved about 2 hours of reading and 20 e-mails. Call it about 4 hours work over a seven month period. The funny thing is that immediately after my brother accused me of stealing his birthright, he'd had a few. Has since apologized and he cashes his checks which are the equal of mine. If you were my interested relative I would have forwarded/cc you on every e-mail, made copies of everything for your records, paper and ink are cheap, just as I did with my brother and let you decide whether to read any of it or not. If the holding were substantial, you need the advice of an attorney. If your part would have been just a few acres, you know who you can stop sending Christmas cards to, not that they will miss them, or so it seems. I wish you the best in the future.