Reagan County Mess

Texas Mineral Rights Andrews County, TX
1

My late spouse had some mineral rights in Reagan County. I have done the paperwork to change the title to my name.

Recently, the operator changed hands from Earthstone to Diamondback. We (the heirs of my late spouse’s father) recently learned that there is oil property in the Father’s name in Reagan county. The gentleman passed in 1968.

Diamondback is pressuring us to provide documentation to Reagan county to transfer minerals to our names in Reagan county and provide notarized copies to them.

By the time we provide all those certified/exemplified copies of death records, wills, certificates of heirship (not all exist that will be needed), etc. to the county, you’ve spent some money. Then there are the filing fees. In addition to the cost, it’s also going to take significant time and effort to gather and produce all those old records.

No monies have shown up in the Texas Unclaimed property records for the father in many years or from Earthstone operating, ever. I asked the ownerrelations group from Diamondback about that and she replied that “it hadn’t matured” (I think that was the term she used.).

I’m not sure how to proceed with this. She won’t tell us what/how much monies are there until we do the paperwork. I’m wondering if it’s worth it to spend several hundred dollars for all this paperwork and end up with 25 cents for our money and effort.

Any advice? bkay

2

If you give the abstract number folks on the forum may be able to help you with activity and pending permits. It is necessary to transfer the title properly in order to receive your royalties. Diamondback has an aggressive drilling program in the Permian Basin, so depending upon your area, it could be good for you in the long run.

3

I have some experience in this realm. Diamondback can be very difficult…they said, I’d think it’s worth your time to record everything in Raegan County, as there could be interest you don’t know about. From what it sounds like, it may not have his $100, which is usually “maturity” to companies. Do you have a clue how much of an interest he owned? There could be stuff that’s not worth much today, but a good amount in the future. You may want to hire a landman or someone to look into this for you.

4

I’ve been confused. I’ve conflated two different oil companies. My late spouse’s assets are with Permian. My late spouse’s father’s assets are with Diamondback.

My brother-in-law passed last week. His wife passed a few week’s ago. Since they have been pressuring us to clean up the records, I informed them of the deaths and explained it would take a while to get the probate finished and that we would not be able provide requested actions.

A different rep replied to me with forms to claim unclaimed TX property (with incorrect details), a certificate of heirship and some other stuff.

The filled in form included the following information. Is that of any value? I know some is incorrect as they have conflated Jr. and Sr. into the same claim form.

Legal description, well, county and survey name, and any other relevant information. Property ID(s): 11802686, 11807578, 11807582, 11807586, 11807592, 11807596, 11807602, 22291084, 22291085, 22361203, 2265918, 37133068, 37134489, 38516142, 38523595, 54504019, 54811002, 58377835, 64907477, 7314396, 7314830, 7315425, 7315813, 76331309, 79742898, 86687153, 88837344 Mineral Property Info A copy of the division order showing royalty interest in claimed property. The claim amount may change to reflect additional current production payments. Property ID(s): 11802686, 11807578, 11807582, 11807586, 11807592, 11807596, 11807602, 22291084, 22291085, 22361203, 2265918, 37133068, 37134489, 38516142, 38523595, 54504019, 54811002, 58377835, 64907477, 7314830, 7315425, 7315813, 76331309, 79742898, 86687153, 88837344

5

It would be in your interests to record the probated estates in Reagan County, Texas. Unfortunately the Legal description and well IDs appear to be an internal system, and I can’t do anything with them.

I wouldn’t mind helping you out and taking a look, but I’d need something to go off of. What was your late father-in-law’s name? I believe using that, I would be able to assess your position.

6

Well Diamondback finally provided some information after I got a little bit ugly. It’s not Reagan county, it’s Andrews county. The assets are in both Sr.'s name and in Jr.'s name. I had already provided Andrews County with the probate documents for Jr. They’ve been recorded and returned to me. So, I am now providing copies of those documents to Diamondback.

I will purchase and provide the appropriate probate documents to Andrews County for Sr. Once filed, I will provide copies to Diamondback The other heirs will have to decide how they want to proceed.

Thanks for all of your help.