Hello All,
I recently received a letter on behalf of my father who has passed away, the letter was from an energy company in OK asking to purchase the rights to my minerals. I called the county and they said they have no record of the right in my fathers name. What is the process for finding and obtaining the legal ownership of mineral rights? Thanks for the help in advance.
You can contact the Oklahoma Oil Comission. You will need all the pertinent information.
Joe, Your father apparently had minerals in a good place. The energy company found his name somehow. They are very clever about fining people. It won't hurt to ask the person who made the offer how he found your father's name. However, as an apparent owner of minerals, avoid signing anything until you know exactly what your father owned. The records must exist somewhere. There are many on the MRF that will be happy to help once you know more about the location.
Gary L Hutchinson
Minerals Managment
Hi Joe, do you have the legal description of this right (did the energy company tell you the township-range-section, etc in the letter they sent you)? And is this in Grady County?
Landmen interested in minerals will try to establish who owns the minerals by researching a chain of title. If they find, for example, a deed showing that land was sold but minerals were reserved, then they will try to contact the seller. The deed selling the land will be the document on record showing ownership of the mineral interest. If the seller is deceased, then they will try to contact the heirs. If the deceased had a will, then they will use the will. If not, then they have to look at the law and see how the minerals would be passed to the heirs. When you see "proof of heirship" documents, then you are seeing the results of that research in many cases.
If your father had a will, then see what happens with any mineral interests that he might have owned. If your father did not have a will, then state law will determine how the minerals are inherited. You may wish to consult a lawyer.
The information I have is Township 25, Section 10N, 6W. Correct, this is for Grady County.
I will reach out to the sender, thank you for the advice.
Mid-Continent II LLC pooled this section in 2016. Your fathers name was probably listed in the pooling. If you want to give me his name either on here or friend me and you can email it to me I can look at the pooling order and get you the contact information or I can print the pooling information and email it to you. I haven't checked to see if they have started drilling, but now would be a great time to get your title cleared so you can receive the money on the well.
This is very good information, I have added you.