I am the executor for my mother's estate that was probated in Texas. She has an oil and gas lease in San Juan County, UT. Anyone know how I can transfer ownership or at least file the estate in that county. I spoke with the County Clerk there and she said I would have to contact an attorney for that information. Really??
Hi, Vanita -
First let me offer my sincere condolences on your having lost your Mother. I sometimes wonder what God was thinking when he came up with that one.
Count Clerks are not allowed to give legal advice. To many liability issues there - they could even be sued for illegally practicing law.
I am not an Attorney and every State has differing laws, but typically you will need to obtain certified copies of your Mother's Probate papers, possibly along with a Certificate of Death (with her SS# redacted) from whatever County here in Texas all of those things were filed, and send a set of them to every County where your Mother owned any surface, mineral or royalty interests.
If there are several Counties, you can either obtain a set of certified copies for each County or you can file the same set in each, sending them off to another County each time you get them back.
When requesting your certified copies, make sure and tell the Deputy Clerks that you are sending them out of State. It might not apply in all States, but there may be additional requirements regarding the certification of the documents, such as the Clerk him or herself and a County or District Judge required to sign as well. I have heard that process call a "Triple Seal", but do not know if either Texas or Utah require it.
Once those papers are filed in the County Clerk's Office(s) in Utah or wherever, then request certified copies of the same from that or those Counties and submit those to whoever is disbursing the royalty checks from the oil and gas production.
They may require additional paperwork from you as well. Every company is different.
You can send them to the Operating Company(ies)' Royalty Division Order Department, but they aren't always who is sending out the checks, so you need to clarify that with them. And sometimes one company is buying the natural gas and it related liquids and another company is buying the crude oil, so you may have several companies to send certified copies to.
Once they are satisfied you are who you say you are, then the company(ies) will either send you a new Royalty Division Order or possibly a Transfer Order to sign. Once they get that paperwork back and have had a chance to process the paperwork, they will release your royalties with the next payment cycle. Payment cycles are usually 30 days, unless your royalties fall under $100.00. Then they will pay your royalties when they add up to more than $100.00.
Some companies will allow you to request only two checks a year, if that would be something you'd be interested in. One right before Tax Day and another right before the Holidays begin or one right before Christmas and another right before your annual vacation or something like that.
Hope this helps -
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas
No, NOT really. You do not have to contact an attorney in order to file an instrument at the San Juan County Clerk's Office. That's just their stock answer so nobody can say, "Well, THEY said in the County Clerk's Office...." You are the Executrix for your Mother's Estate. Fine. Once you are able to do so, get a Certified Copy of your Mother's Probate and send it along with the appropriate filing fee to Utah, U.S. Mail. They will record it and should return the original to you if you provide a SASE.