Unclaimed Property in OK

Ownership and Title
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Several years ago we discovered our grandfather had some unclaimed property in Oklahoma. I contacted the OK Department of the Treasury to learn what to do to claim it. Five years later, two lawyers and several required documents to prove we are the heirs, Oklahoma is still coming up with more documents they want!! The company that was involved has accepted all the documentation but OK hasn’t, yet. Has anyone else dealt with unclaimed property in OK? We know they are holding our money but we have no idea how much. We’ve spent a few thousand on the lawyers and I’m getting concerned we’re paying out more than we’ll get. Anyone out there with experience with this? Suggestions?

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I suspect some of the problems are:

  1. You might need an Oklahoma probate. At some level of money, the unclaimed property fund wants a probate. An affidavit of heirship is not sufficient. Don’t know on this one.
  2. You used an Illinois attorney to try to navigate Oklahoma real estate/oil and gas law.
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The OK Unclaimed Property Office will sometimes give you a ballpark estimate of the value of what they are holding. I suggest calling the Contact Person listed on your Claim form. Several of the employers there are very helpful and can at least tell you if the funds are in the hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands.

In addition, you search the Oklahoma Mineral Owners Escrow Account. You can order the CD for just $20 or you can search online at: Mineral Owners Escrow Account The MOEA will show you the amounts that the energy companies have turned over to Oklahoma. However, I have found that the MOEA may be missing some funds that were turned over decades ago and/or that were turned over as “checks” instead of as royalties.

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Oklahoma Unclaimed Property is very cautious when processing claims for oil and gas. This is because there is so much fraud involved, some of which has made the news. If the sums are over $10k a probate will be required. In addition to a probate and various forms of identification from the claimants, they will also want a deed or other document that demonstrates that your ancestor had an interest where the minerals were produced. It is also good to show how you are related to the ancestor.

This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.

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