I would appreciate some advice concerning some courses of action to consider doing(or not doing) in addressing the following: Four deceased sisters, each owning equal net mineral acres; an active oil & gas well with each company making regular suspense payments; accumulative suspense amounts are significantly different between the 4 sisters; sisters were deceased many years before the well became active. The suspense payments have obviously been miscalculated. I am an heir to one of the sister’s and I know who are the heirs of the other three sisters. If the State Treasurer’s Office awards these potential claims with these apparent monetary discrepancies, an unfortunate mistake will occur. I hope this can be avoided but who can be trusted to untangle this series of errors, both past, present, and future?
A good land man can trace the title as it obviously needs to be cleared up. Or a good attorney with oil and gas knowledge can help you clear up the heirship and get the proper documents files. Several are listed in the Directory above.
Thank you Ms. Barnes for your prompt response. I have begun the legal process to clearly establish my line of heirship. I have also contacted the Operator of the well, giving them enough information so that they realize that mistakes have, and are being made concerning the royalty payments. Should I also contact the oil & gas purchasing companies who are paying the royalties? Can they correct the discrepancies they’ve made with the suspense payments being held by the State Treasurer? Can this be corrected without litigation? I have talked to most of the heirs; I believe that they are in agreement with me, we just want what we are legally entitled to, nothing more and nothing less - And you are exactly right, it is our responsibility to file the proper documents. Had that been accomplished by each of us beforehand, this issue would be moot no doubt.
Both the Operator and the state will need the correct documents in order to release the funds, so start there. You may not need litigation, just a clear title report and the proper probate or substitute documents filed in the county where the minerals are owned. Good to get legal help to make sure everything is done properly. Some operators will take affidavits of heirship, but some will not.
Thank you again Ms. Barnes. I have one more question for now. The suspense payments that the State Treasurer’s Office are holding for the heirs are listed also with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission under " Mineral Owners Escrow Account ". Would you consider it advisable to contact the OCC so they can assist in the process of resolving this issue?
The reason for the discrepancies could simply be each sister leased their respective mineral interest in the well at a different royalty rate than the others?
I’m sorry Rick but I’m not following you or maybe you missed part of the discussion. All of the heirs whose names have suspense payments assigned to them were all dead before the well went into production. There was no lease. These royalty payments are presumably being generated based on the " Failure To Elect " clause in the Pooling Order.
For what its worth, i had a probate done 2 yrs after the wells started producing. Funds where sitting in suspense , i started a probate,final scenario = received funds in suspense , and became active on the monthly pay status. Depending how the areas and mineral rights where devided up may explain the different numbers showing up. Best of luck. D.Kay
I doubt the OCC would get involved. It is between the operators and the State Treasurer’s office. And Rick is correct if the leasing was done at different royalty rates. You can ask the operator for copies of the leases.
Thank you Darrin for sharing your experience and for your encouragement.
Thank you and Rick for for your service to the members of this forum and to NARO, Y’all’s willingness to give of your time, exrpertise, and energy is invaluable. I appreciate you both.
If the funds for any of the sisters is over $10k the unclaimed property division will likely not release unless there is a probate order. Also going forward, companies will likely still place funds in suspense, then turn over to the treasure unless there is a probate completed. If there are discrepancies, the probate order should resolve those.
By the way, sounds like a good family. It is amazing how many bicker when oil is involved.
Oklahoma Probate Options
See this posting:
Thank you Mr. Winblad for commenting and for taking an interest in helping my family to " right the ship "; also, I really appreciate you providing me (and the forum) with the link to your post entitled Oklahoma Probate Options - Your explanation of the remedies to establish ownership was outstanding. I had overlooked this category, e.g. Ownership and Title, so I’m so glad you responded to my post - Thanks to you, I have another arsenal of insightful and relevant resources to aid me in my quest for knowledge.
Could you or someone in the forum explain “escheatments”? The Operator informed me that their Title Attorney produced a " Division Order Title Opinion (D.O.T.O.)" when the well started production; and it is the document from which the mineral purchaser’s refer to in calculating the disbursement of revenues, i.e. royalty, and that it supersedes the pooling order data - The Operator said that based on the D.O.T.O., my family’s mineral ownership has a decimal interest assigned to it that is used to determine the amount of disbursement.These disbursements are going to the State Treasurer as previously mentioned. The Operator referred to these disbursements as “escheatments”. I looked up the word “escheat”; some of the meanings listed were: ‘the reverting of property to the state or some agency of the state when there is failure of persons legally qualified to inherit or to claim’;‘the right to take property subject to escheat’;‘confiscate’.
I’m not familiar with Oklahoma O&G laws but have had many issues to resolve over many years in New Mexico. I would recommend attorney Brad Brikell in Norman, Oklahoma or Derek Larson, Albq. NM. (Both have done class action work and I believe that both take on other client issues, too.) I would definitely get legal or objective knowledge from O&G experts before proceeding. Another good choice is Argent Mineral Management in Louisiana (they represent mineral owners all over the U.S.)—Contact, David Smith. Argent will tell you if you need an attorney before using them. And they do not push their services. We want to think the best of everyone, including producers, however when negotiating the details, there are too many ways even for knowledgable non-experts to unknowingly lose out. Good advice is worth the cost. And you will save money in the long run.
Your points are well taken Ann. I know that " I don’t know, what I don’t know" and there are experts that can help. Thank you for offering me specific recommendations that you trust; that is a huge blessing to someone like me who is a ’ babe in the woods’. Many kudos to you for your contribution to all of us in the forum.
My suggestions may be a start. It is essential for you to thoroughly understand your asset before you begin to make decisions and sign papers. Having reliable information from reliable sources is key. One NARO book that is helpful is: “Oil and Gas Law in a Nutshell,” by John S. Lowe. I have the 6th edition and there is a 2014 date on the Amazon listing. You might check with NARO, they may offer a better price.
BRUCE- the only thing that escheats in Oklahoma is the revenue. The operator or purchaser pays the revenue accumulated to the state and that is held in an escrow account for the rightful owner. The underlying minerals still belong to the rightful owners. The state will keep the revenue after a specific period of time.
Thanks Ann for your suggestion; I looked up the book on Amazon and read some of the excerpts…very comprehensive but readable. I noticed that the 7th Edition is due to release on July 4, 2019. Thanks again(
Thank you Todd for clarifying the OK usage of the word; I appreciate you taking the time to respond.