My mom and I both inherited minerals from her sister when she passed. She had it specified in her will that the minerals be divided between the two of us.
My question is, do we need to specifically specify the minerals to a person in our will if our will is already made out to show that a beneficiary is to inherit all that we own? Thank you for your input.
you need an estate lawyer in the state to transfer the mineral deed to you both.
Was your aunt’s will probated and what state? Has title to minerals been transferred to you and your mother in the deed records of each county where the minerals are located? Specific requirements to transfer title vary from state to state. Texas will allow recording of out-of-state probate in county where minerals are located, but other states such as OK and NM will require ancillary probate. If your aunt’s will was not probated, then title to minerals will likely be determined by intestate law in state where minerals are located. Looking forward, do you plan for probate of your mother’s will and your will? Do you live in state where minerals are located? Whether the minerals will pass to your selected heir will depend on the exact terms of written will. Your attorney can best advise you as to the recipient under current will terms, or whether you need to reference minerals in X and Y states. If your will is not going to be probated, then your minerals, like other real property, will probably passper intestate statute. Some mineral owners are filing transfer-on-death deeds, but you need an attorney in state where minerals are located to make sure that this is done correctly under state law.
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Minerals are located in Kingfisher, OK. The deed has already been done for myself and my mom showing the minerals belong to us. At time of passing, my aunt was living in Florida and Will was not probated there has she was in a nursing facility. Did go through probate in OK to prove minerals were ours. My question is, if our will states that all property goes to a heir, is it necessary to state about the minerals also, as a separate line item, as we live in SC and minerals are in OK.
Minerals are already ours. I want to know if it needs to be stated as a line item in our will as our will just states all properly goes to living heir? Minerals are in OK and we live in SC
I set up a separate oil and gas mineral trust inside my personal trust that takes care of distribution of the minerals once I pass. When you inherited the minerals from you mom they should have been titled in each of your names at that time. The exact same thing happened to me with my sister,
We negotiate our own oil and gas leases and we each get lease and royalty income from the divided interests. We work together to on this. Gives you good negotiating power to have two people they must “sell” their leases to!
You should hire an estate attorney to help you get your wishes in order. There are several ways to accomplish what you want. Some can be expensive, some not.
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If the property is in Oklahoma, many companies will require you to do a probate. But to answer your question, if the operator honors an affidavit and the will, the devise (distribution request from your aunt) will be honored because it says all minerals.
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You say you had a probate done. If so, the Order is what is important, not the will at this point. but in any event, if the will says all property, that includes surface, minerals, ping pong balls, everything.
. My question is, if our will states that all property goes to a heir, is it necessary to state about the minerals also, as a separate line item, as we live in SC and minerals are in OK.
If im reading your question correctly, you are now trying to figure out how to pass down the minerals in your own will or moms will now that you have the minerals in your names? Yes, you will need to add a line item to the will(s) for the minerals in Oklahoma to make it easier on your heir(s). You could do this on your own or pay the attorney that drafted your will(s) to do it, it should take no more than 10 minutes of billable time to add a line item.
Thank you! Yes, asking if it needs to be a separate line item in our will, or is our will ok stating all property goes to our heir.
Bob: You are asking the right questions. Generally speaking an estate plan may provide for specific gifts or bequests to certain individuals. This can be accomplished with a Will or a Trust. The advantage of a Trust is that it can avoid probate. Some people set up a Mineral Trust only. However, it is not necessary to create a separate trust just for minerals. When visiting with a South Carolina attorney, let him/her know your wishes. Also, if you set up a trust, the Oklahoma minerals should be deeded into it. This is known as Trust Funding. An attorney licensed in Okalhoma should prepare the deeds.
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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If it were me (Im 78 now), Id add the extra line item to the will since you already have a will and its easy and cheap to do to make a minor adjustment. Your heir(s) will then know of the property in Oklahoma and not have to spend time and money looking into it and the extra line item(s) will eliminate any confusion after you pass away
We have multiple mineral interests spread across 6 counties, so I’ve set up a separate oil and gas trust. If you have just one or a few mineral interests, it’s not as important.
Besides the name at the top and more paperwork for Twinee Oil and Gas Trust, whats the beneficial difference between the oil and gas trust and your own trust/will for your heirs?
Thank you so much for your response. Will be reaching out to my lawyer.
The terms of your will say who is to receive the property in your estate. You indicated that you currently have title to the minersls, so they will be distributed according to the terms of your will.
I have several counties in Oklahoma i own minerals in. The minerals are in my name. i also have a trust that my wife and I have that currently do not include the minerals. i am in the process of creating deed documents to transfer minerals from my name to the trust name. i am mailing those documents to each of the counties and having record the deed in the trust name. i am doing this without a lawyer. I am doing this so if i die my wife as trust owner can handle the leases.
I will contact the oil and gas companies of new the change in ownership after I receive the deeds back from the counties.
Do you see any problems of the way I’m doing this?