I recently found out my Grandfather had land in North Dakota for which he owned an oil lease or leases? May still own the land?? One of my uncles has been receiving checks in grandpa's name and apparently not cashing them as he can't, just putting into a drawer as they aren't much money? I don't know how much, but Grandpa died in 1980. The uncle didn't think much about this and thought it was probably more expensive to have the ownership changed than it's worth. Grandma passed away along time ago so not in the picture. Maybe the checks only recently started coming in?? I don't have all the info on that.
Question is: How do we go about finding out his true ownership and transfer the ownership to the siblings? How much does it cost to find this info, and where to start?
There were five siblings at the time of his death, one passed away. I assume ownership would go to the four and 20% split by heirs of the deceased sibling.
Jim:
The information on the ownership of the minerals would be on record at the County Clerk's Office in the county where the minerals are located. You may have to either make a trip to this location or hire someone to do this research for you. You didn't specify where these minerals are located but someone on this forum might provide information about who to contact in regards to the records research. I would first gather this information before taking the correct legal action to transfer these minerals.
Jim, You need to determine the potential of what you own before you start throwing money at the situation. In finding out what is at issue you may find that more wells have been drilled. If you have one of the checks with the legal description/ name of the well it will give a clue as to where the minerals are located and a search can be made to see if any more wells have been drilled using the Gis server map which you can find on the NDIC Oil and Gas Division site. Even if no new wells have been drilled 30 years worth of small checks might make it worth doing the probate. If your grandfather inherited his minerals as my grandfather did there may be old wills or probates that will provide information. In your place I would also search unclaimed property for the state of ND. The NDRIN Recorders network can also be a good source of information and I think worthwhile at the cost of $25 for one month considering the cost of other ways of gathering information such as going to the courthouse to check yourself or hiring a landman to do it for you for hundreds of dollars per day. Good luck.
Call the county clerk and try asking her/him for help. Sometimes they take the time to help and even mail you a copy. I tried that one time in Limestone county and she did and I mailed a check to cover the very small expense of copying /postage. She actually sounded anxious to help me.
They can say "yes" or "no." Doesn't hurt to try.
Good luck.
Pat