Okay, brief background, my father passed away many years ago when I was very young, no siblings, father also had no sibs, my mother, widowed and never remarried, she passed away a couple of years ago. Right before she died we had received several phone calls from what I thought at the time was a solicitor or bill collector and I didnt return the calls, I finally answered the call after theyd called several times and was told I was speaking with an attorney’s office about mineral rights claims as the heir of my father. My mother was in hospice and died a few days after that call and the name and number got lost in the shuffle afterwards. I have tried to look into this since but I’m at a total loss. This is out of Oklahoma and there are 2 parcels of land that had been granted to my great grandfather and grandfather, one is in Ottawa County and the other is Texas County. Ive been on the OCC site and found there is an active natural gas well on the land in Texas County thats been actively producing since 1946. The API is 3513900471, Operator is. 23138 and name is Lois, well 1. From what I’ve read, you can inherit mineral rights but not actually own the property, at least that’s what I think is a possibility but I really have no clue and I’m totally lost at the present point. I wouldn’t think that someone would have been trying so hard to contact me regarding this if I wasn’t eligible, but I don’t know that for certain. Im sorry for the lengthy explanation but I wanted to get the pertinent details in there. If anyone can please tell me if im wasting my time or if I’m on the right track, and if so, where do I go from here? Thanks in advance for any help or advice at all. To be honest, it would be a much needed bit of assistance if there’s anything from this because after Covid things have gone quite badly and it would be a genuine miracle if there is any money due, although things like this never happen to me so i will not be surprised if there isn’t, but I am ever hopeful and working hard to try and turn the tides of fortune to better days! Thanks to any who may help and hopes that all have a lovely day.
Mineral rights and surface rights are both real property in Oklahoma and in most States. You can own minerals and not own surface as well as the opposite. This is termed a severed mineral interest. Scout Energy is the operator of the well this their owner relations email ownerrelations@scoutep.com. Contact them with your information and ask if they have your relatives as owners and explain your situation. They should be able to provide basic information to get you started. Scout is generally slow to respond, so be diligent. Check for your relatives in OK unclaimed property also as well as the State where they resided. Good luck. Check back if you need more help.
This well is still producing, so you need to check the unclaimed funds at the OK Treasurer’s office and also contact the operator as James has suggested.
OTC Lois 1 info.pdf (428.5 KB)
Sorry for your losses. Reaching out to the companies producing would be a good place to start. Ask what is needed to get your minerals into “pay status”. In Oklahoma this usually requires a probate.
You can research land titles Texas County | OKCountyRecords.com | County Clerk Public Land Records for Oklahoma
and
Ottawa County | OKCountyRecords.com | County Clerk Public Land Records for Oklahoma
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.
Thank you so much for your response and the helpful tips on what else to check. I have checked the unclaimed funds under my name and my relatives and hadnt found anything. Does that mean definitively there isn’t anything? Or I may not be searching under the right person?
Thank you so much for all the great information and I’m going to be contacting Scout right away.
Thank you very much for your reply and the great tips on where to begin. I live in Illinois and I have some of the land information from genealogy research I’d been doing. I’m going to get started with contacting the Scout energy and looking over what records I have on the land. Is this something that I can do myself or do I need to hire an attorney or land man or both? It seems like I could easily get lost or taken advantage of by not knowing the legalities of all that’s required, and where should I start with that? Thank you again for your help, and im sorry to bombard you with more questions! Have a great day.
Probably just no unclaimed property. This must be paid in if in the hands of the producer for X number of years. This varies by state. So there could be money payable currently that doesn’t currently show up in unclaimed property. Check in your relative’s home state as well as Oklahoma.
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.
Learn as much as you can from the land records before engaging a professional. You also may want to search for probate records of ancestors. There are two tools in Oklahoma:
and
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.
No, it doesn’t mean nothing is there. You can call and talk to someone in unclaimed property and they can search. For Oklahoma it’s (405) 521-4273 Office Hours: 8am to 5pm Mon-Fri. Have everyone names and Soc. Sec. numbers if at all possible. (I’ve known them to find things I could not from an online search.) Meanwhile, keep following all of Martha and Richard’s advice.
I was able to find the Petition for Probate of Will for George E. Leonard filed 9/13/1928 in Texas County Oklahoma filed by his widow Sarah P. Leonard. It states he had filed a will on January 26, 1920. There’s an order admitting the will to Probate filed 9/26/1928. There’s a copy of the will, and an order Setting Date for Final Settlement dated 2/1/1929.
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Congratulations on your research skills. Good luck on your journey.
Thank you. I feel like each thing I find brings up 3 new questions. So the Will and Probate records I found are for the original land owner, George E. Leonard, my GG Grandfather and per those records he left everything, including that parcel of land to his wife, my GG Grandmother, Sarah P. Leonard. Do I need to search for subsequent records of Wills and Probate for each consecutive owner then? Search for records of a Will for Sarah, then for whoever inherited after Sarah, etc.? I believe that I have found some of the title records as well, but I am not sure exactly what I am looking for. There are entries showing where the land was mortgaged and then paid off, then ownership transferred to heirs. I’m sorry if I’m driving you crazy with questions, but I really do appreciate all of your help and guidance. I’ve found out more in the past week than I have in the last year. Thank you so, so much.
In order to properly chain the title from four GG GF, then you must follow the subsequent documents until they come into you. You are following the mineral title, so follow those issues rather than the surface once the minerals are severed from the surface rights. On a practical basis, you do nort need to follow mtg related issues for this type of title chain.