Are these valid in Oklahoma?
I thought the purpose of dresser drawer deeds were to transfer ownership to someone the Grantor wishes after the Grantors death. I always heard the person was to hold the deed in safe keeping, then file after the Grantors death to notify any 3rd parties of the conveyance. Now I am hearing that these Deeds are invalid if they are filed after the Grantors death even if they were legally executed years before death in front of a notary public. Any one have any information on this? Thanks.
Jay,
Take the deeds and will if you have one, to an Oklahoma law firm that works for some operator you know. The law firm will know what is necessary to get the grantee into the chain of title. Since you know the business, you can measure if the investment is warranted.
Gary L Hutchinson
Minerals Managment
Thank you, there was no will. Grantor only owned the undivided mineral interest and has no other assets.
It kinda depends. There are five elements of a valid conveyance. One (or two) of them is delivery and acceptance. In other words, was the deed delivered to the grantee and it just wasn't recorded. Or was it kept by the grantor and never delivered. The delay in the recording, by itself, doesn't invalidate the deed.
Oklahoma law presumes there was valid delivery of the deed.