Oleze oil production company in Illinois is the company supposedly producing oil on the property in which my grandfather owned. The mineral rights and now they are divided among his grand children. I have called the oleze company many times, left messages and no one will return my calls, would like to know where the royalties went after my grandfathers second wife died until I found them in Texas unclaimed property. Am I calling the wrong people.
Where are the minerals located? If the royalties have been turned over to the state of Texas, you need to find out who the operator really is. Oleze may or may not be the operator.
The oil wells are in Illinois and my grandfather lived in Texas when he died, when I lived in Texas, I found money in the unclaimed department there in his name. The checks were sent to his step sons house and when he died, the step son, the check were turned over to the Texas unclaimed property. But my grandfathers will said everything went to his second wife. It did until she died about 10 yrs after him. Her will states everything divided 1/2 to her son and 1/2 divided among my grandfathers 3 children. My mother was one of his children. So I know her son kept all royalties until he died which wasn’t right. But I need to prove he did that after his mother died until he died, about 1994. So frustrating,
You are probably going to need to get an attorney who can practice in Texas to straighten out the probate first. Then you work with the operator. You need to get the mineral rights moved into the proper heirs names.
In the meantime, you can look up the wells on the Illinois state oil and gas site and see if they are still in production. Collect every piece of data that you can.
Thank you. The wills of my grandfather and his second wife were never probated. I am the one who contacted the lawyer who wrote my grandfathers will to ask about his wife’s will. They found both but they were not probated. I also am the one who gave information about all heirs. I had to do a lot of research and sending of documents to those heirs. My cousins and the adopted daughter of his wife son. They each got their shares and continue to get their share of royalties.
Due to the number of years, it is too late to probate the wills in Texas as it requires that a will be probated within 4 years of death. Therefore, the title would pass in accordance with Ohio state law as that is the location of the minerals. An oil company would continue to issue checks in the name of your grandfather until it was notified of his death. The oil company is not obligated to search death records on royalty owners. It was the responsibility of the heirs to notify the oil company of any change in ownership. Your post indicates that the heirs, including you, are now receiving the royalties and that indicates that title is now clear. The funds for any checks which were improperly cashed by the second wife and/or her son would most likely have to be claimed against their estates. It is not a claim against the oil company. Most states have a statute of limitations which would restrict the time period, aside from the problem that the dates of death were before 1994. You probably need to discuss this with an attorney in Ohio (location of minerals) to see what you can or cannot collect.