I have inherited some surface acres with some mineral rights from my mothers estate thru a court probate. I have a court decree declaring the ownership. Should I also file for a deed for the land and the mineral rights? Any comments would be appreciated.
Yes you should file a deed. When I probated my fathers estate my lawyer recorded the personal representatives mineral deed of distribution, I think yours should have recorded a like document. What is the point of a probate except to determine who owns what and to give title to the new owners? If you don't file a deed you have not given constructive notice that you own the property, the wider world does not know you own it, a recipe for trouble down the road.
What state was the probate order from? What state are the mineral rights located in?
In California the Decree of Distribution, which is the document received from the court, is recorded. Landmen will pick it up as a transfer document in the title chain.
Yes, the proper thing to do is sign and file an Executor's Deed or Distribution Deed or whatever the technically accurate designation would be for your Probate case. But it's not mandatory, probate cases are still part of the public record (at least in Texas), so why would there not be constructive notice from a Probate case alone, absent a corresponding Distribution Deed? I would estimate that about 2-3% of Probate cases that I have inspected over the years had a corresponding Distribution Deed, and no title attorney ever mentioned the lack of one as a Curative issue.
Pete,
I contacted the local county recorder's office and I was told the Court ordered Decree serves the same as a Deed
William