Hi everyone! I have recently been contacted by Seymour Investigations about my family’s lost mineral rights. Has anyone in Oklahoma ever heard or had contact with this company? I want to make sure they are a reputable company to do business with.
I cannot comment on Seymour particularly. Any firms like that will charge a fee for their time which may be totally worth it or not. Check out any company on the Better Business Bureau, licensing agencies, etc.
However, you might do some investigation yourself from the state treasurer’s office, the OCC MOEA site for unclaimed monies. MOEA Search
Also check Delaware Unclaimed funds site and any states where you had relatives that passed away.
I do not have experience with this company, however, I think you should be comfortable with their terms. What type of payment structure are they presenting - one time fee, percentage of recovered funds, etc?
Have you given them a call? Sometimes just speaking with someone can give you a feeling of if they are someone that you would like to work with.
As stated above, you might see how far you can get with your research on your own and then hire out if you hit a roadblock. Best of luck on your search!
OK is unique when searching for funds. Check the State Treasurers office searching under abandon funds and secondly the Corporation Commission (oil & gas commission) and search the Mineral Owners Escrow. The later entity is largely force pooling bonus amounts due unlocatable mineral owners.
Next, since you and or the Family may not be OK residents conduct internet searches in each of your states of residence.
In all cases you can search by name.
Now the additional piece or the property generating these funds. If any of the previous pops up you need to file claims that will identify the company or companies escheating the funds to the state. Once this is known the companies need to be contacted to identify the property location, Also search the Grady County site that may allow a search of the deed records. All counties online deed records only trace back a limited number of years so you will need to bring in legal assistance. The legal experts are necessary to bring title down to date.
Be sure to check distant ancestor or relative names.
Oklahoma Unclaimed Property Search
Mineral Interest Escrow Account Search
Other States: If your relative lived and/or died outside of Oklahoma Begin your Search Here.
From personal experience I have been able to investigate on my own without hiring a company to do this for me. It is easier to investigate on your own in 2020 than 30 or more years ago. What you need to realize is that just because your property is located in OK, any money being held for your family might well be held in the state where the headquarters of the oil company is located, i.e. Texas, Colorado, etc. It’s a pure guess where that might be. Each state has its own rules about how long a company can hold it before turning it over to the state. Also, I have acquired money 20 or more years later from various states due to slight misspellings of the family name. Don’t give up.
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I just worked with Seymour Investgations and had a very positive experience. He initially contacted me re: a lost inheritance in my family going back a couple of generations. I negotiated his “finders” fee to 15% of total recovered dollars. After several months it was determined by him that there was $40 k in unclaimed inheritance. I signed the documents and received a check shortly thereafter. I definitely recommend!
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