My sister recently received a letter addressed to my father,who has been deceased since 1984. (My sister still lives in the house we grew up in, in Calif ) The letter was an offer to lease mineral rights in Oklahoma from my father. We never knew that he was a mineral rights owner. My sister went through my parents old documents and found a copy of a mineral conveyance from 1982 that my grandmother had left 1/9 of a mineral lease to my father and his eight other siblings. My father had no will when he died but everything was inheritted by my mother. My mother passed away in 1991 and also had no will. A short probate was done and my sister and I split everything of value.
So now me and my sister are not sure if we can lease our fathers mineral rights or not.
The other part of this that we are not sure of is that our father was previously married and had four other children. He was divorced in 1963 and had married our mother in 1965. We also found a document that his ex wife signed after their divorce that stated my father owed her no additional alimony or child support and that he had payed her a lump sum of money.
I have read a lot of posts recently and this web site has been very helpful but I haven't seen anything that is the same situation that me and my sister are in. I would appreciate any advice on how to proceed. Thank you in advance.
Jamie, the amount of acreage that you may or may not own certainly is important. If it is hardly any, and in a part of Oklahoma that does not get much action then it probably would not be worth your money to probate it and clear the title (which sounds messy). However if the old documents that you found show that you have a decent amount of acreage (even when split) in a decent area, then it might be worth it. Does the conveyance give you any idea as to the amount? If you friend me I would be happy to take a look at what you have and give you my take.
My compliments on your thoughtful research and articulate post. Hold on to that probate document and the backup that was required and keep it in a safe place that both of you know about. Put a cross convenance agreement with your sister in writing regarding the mineral rights, if any, to sustain their value to industry. Get it notarized.
Personally, I think you have the rights to some minerals in Oklahoma based on your post. I don't have enough information to have an opinion as to quantity or value but the offer of a lease is an indication that somebody wants to control your father's minerals, if any. It is also an indication that the 1982 mineral conveyance was recorded in Oklahoma and your father's name as assignee and CA address listed. The lease request is not proof of ownership.
If you want to proceed with the lease request for some bonus money, get a copy of the lease to a knowledgeable lawyer and make certain you are not warranting title you may not have. (Lease forms are not written in favor of mineral owners as you know from reading MRF so get advise on other lease terms if the bonus is worth it to you.)
If your inherited mineral rights are located in one of the currently active counties, your father may soon receive a legal document that notifies him of an application to pool, set a location for a well, or drill a well. If you do nothing and the application is approved, an Order will be issued and your father will be presented with at least two options and I'll bet the lease offer terms will be the same or better than the one received.
Communications with the grantee of the Order (Applicant) will help to establish your rights and that is when the probate documents you have and backup will be important. At that point you won't have much choice as to who you deal with but you can be assured it is a substantial industry participant.
You could also spend a bundle dong a title search but without a good understanding of the mineral value potential, that could be quite risky. Your father may also have offers to sell but after all the good work you have done, you may want to see the process through in the event the exploration efforts yield ownership confirmation and a true value.