My brothers and I inherited mineral rights in Stephens County and Beckham County in OK from my mother when she died in 2018. I am the executor of her estate. Despite spending hours on this site and searching other informational resources, I am still quite befuddled about how all of this works.
I have been unable to find a lease for the mineral rights in my mother’s files, and we would like to be able to sell these interests so I can close her estate. I tried to see if I could find a lease online in the Stephens County Clerk website, but was unsuccessful despite following the search examples. (I am out of state and can’t go to the clerk’s office in person.)
In Stephens County, we inherited an undivided 1/2 interest in NW 1/4 of Section 6, Township 2N, Range 8W and undivided 3/32nds interest in SE 1/4 of Section 29, Township 2N, Range 8W. In going through her paperwork it appears that the last lease for these interests was with Chesapeake Energy, but apparently in 2018 Territory Resources acquired Chesapeake’s assets in southwestern Oklahoma.
I retitled the interests to our family trust and signed division orders with Territory Resources. We are currently receiving royalty payments on the Section 6, Township 2N, Range 8W area.
Having had some challenging communications with Territory Resources (it took well over a year to change ownership), I am hesitant to reach out to them to see if I can obtain a copy of the lease. I am wondering if anyone has successfully obtained a copy of a lease from them and/or would welcome any suggestions on how to see if I can find a lease for these interests somewhere.
The leases should be there if the counties are on that website. Search under her name. (Or various misspellings of her name). I use the Advanced search option.
It is possible that she was force pooled and not leased. Do you know what year she might have been dealing with Chesapeake?
@LollyBelanger Click on the link given by M_Barnes, then click Stephens County on the Oklahoma map. In the Advanced Search section enter 2904 in the Book Box and 256 in the Page Box, then click Search. You should see the Oil & Gas Lease for the Section 6-2N-8W well. I think it costs $1 per page to print. I always print to a pdf file so I have a copy on my computer.
Repeat for the Section 29-2N-8W oil & gas lease. Book = 3225, Page = 153
It is also possible that there might not be a lease. If the interest is subject to forced pooling you will not likely find any reference to it in the land records.
It would be worthwhile to inquire of Territory for a copy of the lease or the forced pooling data.
This post is not legal, investment or tax advice, it is for discussion purposes only. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Don’t forget to check the Oklahoma unclaimed property website – I too had years of confusing and convoluted ownership issues, but once I had proof, I was able to claim the funds that had accumulated in the unclaimed property department of the Oklahoma government system. Good luck, and hopefully all of this work will feel worth it soon!
My mother recently passed away and her mineral rights were signed over to me, the executor of her estate, through the courts. You don’t have to sell them to close out her estate. I was also advised to hang onto the mineral rights, which have been in my family for over 40 years, for as long as possible. I have been curious about their value, but haven’t been able to find out any info.
