A landman has offered to “clean up the deed” for the mineral rights associated with one property I own in Lincoln County. What exactly does that mean and what is involved. The mineral rights were inherited from a deceased family member who passed them to my father and his siblings; then my father passed his share to me when he passed. The landman is not interested in leasing or purchasing the Lincoln County mineral rights. However, we are discussing the purchase of the mineral rights I own in another county for which the deed also needs to be “cleaned up” and was passed through the family in the same sequence of succession. Seems a little “fishy” to me since he is not interested in leasing or purchasing the mineral rights to the Lincoln County Property. Your thoughts please.
Better to get an attorney to clean up any deed. It may be a simple Quit Claim, but always better to get professional legal help for legal documents.
Jim: I take it as he is trying to help you with other problems while fixing the problem on the property he is negotiating with you to purchase. His hope is the additional work will get him the deal he wants.
Thanks, your reply makes sense.
A landman might be able to identify a title defect, such as an unprobated estate. However, a landman cannot “clean up the deed”. I have never heard that term used before. You cannot “change” a deed to add missing interests.
Thank you Richard. Turns out there is missing documentation of probate action for a revocable trust in the line of succession that the landman’s attorney will handle at the buyer’s expense.
Is it correct that Oklahoma law requires a revocable trust to be probated? I seem to recall reading that revocable trusts in the line of succession do not have to be probated before selling the inherited mineral rights.
He may mean clean up your title, for which I would recommend going through a title analyst not an attorney. An attorney will charge you hundreds of dollars sometimes even for consultation… title analysts do this for a living and usually charge way less than attorneys.
Ask your landman if his company does title work, if they do not then I am not sure what he means.
Even though your minerals may have gone through the same sequence of succession does not necessarily mean they will both have a clean chain of title. To become marketable, mineral rights need to have a clearly defined chain of ownership, if any pertinent document is missing along the way it could require you to have title work done.
Thanks voak, good advice.
No, but often people forget to put their minerals into the trust. If they were not deeded into the trust, a pour-over will will require probate to get them into the trust. This same thing happened to Bing Crosby.