We inherited mineral rights in Oklahoma but do not have a complete listing of them. Recently we received an offer on mineral interests we were unaware of. How do we research whether or not this is ours? Thank you, Virginia Henley
Dear Ms. Henley,
The less expensive way to do so is to ask the offeror of purchase to provide you with a runsheet (a listing of instruments affecting title to your land), along with copies of those documents.
Caveats is that if you choose to sell, make sure that you have a broad disclaimer of warranty so that in the event of title failure, you do not have to return monies.
A further caveat is that you should always assume that the potential purchaser knows much more about this property than you do -- and that could involve future plans for drilling and development. Also, you could already have a well on the property and you have not been paid for it yet. Research is imperative.
Best,
Buddy Cotten
There is no easy foolproof way to find all the rights. But, some counties have their land records online. typically, the owner/heir will have their mineral rights in the same or close by counties. In other words, if the decedent died with mineral rights in Oklahoma County, the other interests will be found in Oklahoma county, or a close county. For what its worth Naro-Ok has a convention coming up with one of the speakers talking about how to locate minerals online.