Hi, I’ve heard from another family member that using a quit claim to put mineral rights into a trust is not usually accepted by Newfield (or other exploration companies). Has anyone had experience with this? If you had a quit claim deed for your trust what other information do they ask for/require? My estate attorney gave me a form to take to Duchesne to be recorded, but now I’m questioning whether or not that’s a good idea.
Thank you,
Hi there. I think the question may not specifically be on the type of conveyance but in the power of the trust or the trustee to accept property. It may be that NFX requires that some evidence of the trust’s existence and a certificate of authority from the trustee. In my experience, that is generally requirements that operator will put on a transfer, but I also don’t purport to know the nuances of Utah real property laws.
We have routinely used all types of deeds (including quitclaim deeds) to pass minerals into a trust in Utah. There is no issue in the conveyance. However, as stated above, an operator can require the trustee to confirm he/she has the property authority under the trust. If this happens, you can either provide the operator with a copy of the trust agreement (which hopefully shows the trustee has the requisite authority) or record what’s called a Certificate of Trust in the county records - I assume that is the document given to you by your estate planner.