I inherited a large portfolio of minerals over the last three years when my father passed away and have recently made a significant effort to organize all of the tracts and production. Upon doing this I have discovered several wells that have not been paid, and many of these are wells that have been operating/producing for many years. My father held the minerals in a life estate for 20+ years and I was a reminderman (so I have technically owned them for 20+ years, just did not make money off the royalties as those were paid to my father via the life estate). So my quesions are: Is there a statute of limitations on recovering unpaid revenues in the state of OKLAHOMA? What’s the best way/method to approach an operator with a demand for payment? Assuming the statute of limitations either doesn’t exist or is more than three years, would I be able to recover money that should have been paid to the life estate while my father was alive (because even though it was his life estate, I still technically owned the minerals)? Some of the tracts that are producing appear to have never been leased, how would I approach the operator for unpaid royalties on a tract/section where my father (somehow) never executed a lease? It’s worth pointing out that some of these tracts have a very circouitous history with the title (lots of deeding back and forth between family members decades ago) so I could see how a landman may have missed that we owned some of these, but I’ve done quite a bit of research and am confident we do, in fact, own these minerals in the tracts where there is current and past production but for which there is no lease. Thank you very much in advance for the responses and help!
Check the Oklahoma Mineral Owners’ Escrow Account (MOEA Search) and search by your father’s last name. Helpful hint, you have to actually click the search button as opposed to pressing ‘enter’ on your keyboard or it will tell you there were no results returned.
I believe the statute of limitations in Oklahoma is seven years on unclaimed royalties, though I may be wrong. You can collect the royalties that have accumulated in the Oklahoma Mineral Owners’ Escrow Account by following the instructions found at the ‘How do I claim funds?’ link on the search page.
If the minerals were not leased, but the sections are producing, it would appear your father’s interest was included in a force pooling of the section. The pooling information will be provided on the escrow website next to each entry returned for your father’s name. The operator information will also be provided. You’ll need to contact the operator and let them know that you are the current owner.
It sounds like there will be curative and paperwork needed. It might be as simple as just letting the operators know how to get in touch with you and starting a claim on the funds, but it might also be more complex and involve a knowledgeable landman or title attorney to get things straightened out.
Good luck and I hope this helps!
While it is possible that a company simply kept royalties it is rather unlikely. Instead if they did not know who was entitled to the funds it would be paid in the Mineral Owner Escrow Account. You should also check the unclaimed property in the state where your father lived. Finally,check the state of Delaware as this is were many companies are incorporated.
Unclaimed Property Search
Oklahoma Unclaimed Property Search
Oklahoma Mineral Interest Escrow Account Search
Nationwide Unclaimed Property Links
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.
Definitely recommend pursuing Mineral Owners Escrow Acct search in the OKTreasurers Office. Be patient…
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