Please forgive my legal ignorance on this, but according to the Oklahoma intestate laws of descent and distribution, in the event an owner dies and his/her will is not probated, the spouse of the deceased inherits 50% of the mineral interest and the other 50% is divided equally among the children of the deceased.
Am I correct in assuming that (ultimately) mineral ownership here–for all intents and purposes–is decided/created by individual oil companies as they drill new wells on land lacking filed probate, who can then either choose to accept an Affidavit of Heirship (defaulting to the will’s original heir) -or- refuse to accept it, and choose the Oklahoma intestate laws of descent and distribution, resulting in a split of property ownership among family members?
Your assumption of a 50/50 split on intestate laws is dependent on the date of death and how many children there are. The operator can decide to accept an Affidavit with the Will attached or can require probate. Totally up to them. The operator doesn’t get to choose between testate/intestate as that is a matter of fact, but they can suspend all revenue until the rightful owners take the actions necessary to obtain marketable title for the interest in question.
Choosing not to clean up the title with a probate is the equivalent of kicking the can down the road for the next generation. Proceeds may be being paid improperly.