Hi, I have a question about ownership. My Mom expressly excluded some of her kids from her will. There was no mention of the mineral rights. Are those adult kids entitled or not? She did a trust and will. Neither trust nor will were registered with county. Does that matter?
Eve,
You need to take this to an attorney in the state where your Mother died. Not all states have the same law covering inheritance so seek counsel in that state.
You raise multiple questions with multiple possible answers depending upon the specific circumstances. So sorry but this is not the place to seek your answers. If the value of the estate or minerals warrant it seek an attorney's advice.
Eve:
I agree with Eastern MT. Sounds like you need to contact an estate attorney in the State where you reside. Once the mineral rights are assigned to an individual(s), then post whatever questions you have in regards to the lease, etc. of those minerals on this forum.
agree a lawyer may be helpful. same exact thing happened to my mom from her step-mom. so she up and bought the mineral rights through an executor's (a formal judicial) deed from her estate as it was decreed in the will and before the distribution of any assets and final accounting---and the last paragraph of the will said what was expressly left over was to be used for the distribution. The executor's deed was never argued or litigated and was on file with both the county clerk's and the office of the district attorney, open for review any time for the past 37 yrs. But, I suspect I will be hearing something now that oil companies are coming aroung writing deeds.....an estate and oil and gas attorney rolled into one might be worth his weight in "black gold."
I am posting this question here because I didn't get a reply from the last place I posted it. I understand, via Decedent’s separate real property (TPC § 38(b)(1)): In Texas, surviving spouse gets 1/3 life estate. All separate real property will be owned outright by decedent’s children or other descendants when surviving spouse dies. Children take all equally, subject to surviving spouse's 1/3 life estate. Does the surviving spouse still retain life estate of the decendent's separate real property if the the surviving spouse was separated from the decedent at the time of death? I understand the language used is "life estate," but does the surviving spouse still retain life estate of the decendent's separate real property if the the surviving spouse remarries after the decedent dies?
Gerald:
This is matter that I would indeed hand over to an attorney. You are posting on a mineral rights forum and questions or discussions are generally directly related to mineral rights matters. Hope you are successful in getting the correct information in order to resolve your questions.
Gerald Masters said:
I am posting this question here because I didn't get a reply from the last place I posted it. I understand, via Decedent’s separate real property (TPC § 38(b)(1)): In Texas, surviving spouse gets 1/3 life estate. All separate real property will be owned outright by decedent’s children or other descendants when surviving spouse dies. Children take all equally, subject to surviving spouse's 1/3 life estate. Does the surviving spouse still retain life estate of the decendent's separate real property if the the surviving spouse was separated from the decedent at the time of death? I understand the language used is "life estate," but does the surviving spouse still retain life estate of the decendent's separate real property if the the surviving spouse remarries after the decedent dies?
As long as there is no specific bequest of the Minerals and there is no mention of the Minerals in the Inventory and Appraisement, then if your Mother's Will were ever probated in Court, whatever minerals she owned at the time of her death would pass to whoever is the Beneficiary of the Will's Residuary Clause. If there is no Residuary Clause, or if your Mother's Will is never probated in Court, then those minerals would pass to whoever your state defines as her heirs-at-law under the laws of descent and distribution.
So yes, it does matter whether or not her Will is filed for Probate (at least in Texas). If it is filed, then the "excluded kids" get nothing. If it is not filed, then they do, assuming they were her biological or adopted children. But it does not matter whether or not her trust documents are filed in the public record, there is no legal requirement that they be filed in the public record (at least in Texas), and I have seen only a handful that are.