My father passed away and oil and mineral rights went to me and my two other siblings. Two of the three siblings has completed all paperwork and tax forms. One sibling is refusing to sign anything and says they don’t care to receive any royalty money. Our first check is supposed to be deposited on the 25th. My question is if one sibling has not filled out the paperwork yet will that cause a stop or delay in our payment?
You did not say what state you are in. The laws of the particular state will prevail.
Condolences on the death of your father.
The answer to your question may depend upon the wording of the probate documents as to whether you each inherited individually or as a group. In many cases it is individual unless you are in a trust together and the mineral rights go into the trust. You need to contact the operator and find out what they require and you need to file the probate documents in all of the OK counties where you have minerals.
As to the person that does not want the royalties, the funds (unless they have to go to all of you as a combined unit) will be collected by the operator and held in suspense for a certain number of years and then turned over to the state. They could sell their mineral rights to those of you who do or to an outside party if they wish to do so. If selling, it is a good idea to get a value of the minerals as of the date of death due to the possible capital gains tax. Easier to do closer to the date of death than 20 years down the road.
@M_Barnes Thanks so much for the info. I do know it is individual that was explained when we signed the division order.
Make sure that you file the title documents in the county of minerals. Also, if you are doing direct deposit, download the check stub run statement that goes with the deposit. Watch it like a hawk to make sure they have the correct division order decimal amount. You have to save those stubs for seven years to match your IRS filings and 1099s. You can store them digitally. Do not assume they are correct.
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