Father died, we've inherited a small amount of mineral rights, how do we put them in our name?

General Mineral Rights Discussion
#1

Hi, totally new to this. Dad passed in 2006, in 2012 we got notice that the small (1/64th) share of mineral rights he owned was coming under lease for a three year period (expired last year) and we received monies under my dad's name to my brother who is the Trustee of his trust.

While the mineral rights never were put in his trust, we're now trying to finish up all the loose ends and want to divide up the share between the 6 of us kids and move on.

My question is: How do we go about transferring the share to us? None of us live in or near Oklahoma.

This is what we own:

It is an undivided 1/64th, one sixty-fourth, interest in 160 acres at this location:

The Northwest Quarter of Section Twenty-five (25), township Eighteen North (18N), Range Three East (3E) of the I.M., Payne County, OK.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I don't know where to start, who to contact or what to do.

#2

Barbara

Your father owned 2.5 acres(1/64th of 160A). Divide that by six and each would have 0.41667 Net Mineral acres each. The wells drilled in that area on a 640 Acre spacing, so each would have 0.00065104 interest and if it is leased at 3/16th each would have 0.00012207 Royalty interest in the well.

It may very well be producing? Go to the Payne County, OK Mineral forum and get better advice.

Best Regards,

Tom Ed Moore

#3

Thanks Tom!

#4

At the very least, you should file an affidavit with the County Clerk that ties your name and address to your father's minerals. Best to get a lawyer to help.

Looks like Calyx already has a horizontal well crossing that section, and possible plans to drill another. The METCALF 25-1MH Well appears to be dry.

Call Calyx and ask for the landman working that section. :(918) 949-4224

#5

Appreciate that bit of info. I just got off the phone with a mineral rights lawyer in Stillwater. Basically we have to decide if it's worth the 3k to get all the stuff filed to change it over to us. Since my dad didn't have a will (he had a trust that he failed to put the rights in), it becomes a bit more convoluted and more expensive.

#6

If there is no production, ask the lawyer what it would cost to do just an affidavit.

#7

I will, thanks!

#8

It is always worth the fee to get it filed with the attorney for the change of ownership. Do not let it go to the wayside, ever. It is a gift very few people have, no matter how small, handed down within the family for generations.

There is always a possibility that your attorney may be able to find other mineral rights, that you were not aware of, that you are rightful owners of. They have access to information the general public cannot retrieve. That's what happened to us in Texas and New Mexico.

Aloha, Iris

#9

Faced same situation last year. As I understand it, here's what you're facing: If there were no probate proceedings for your father stating that the interest was given to the trust, then it will pass to his heirs at law according to the intestate laws of Oklahoma (i.e., to your father's surviving wife if he was married at the time of death or, if not, to his living children - you, your brother and any other siblings - in equal shares). If you want the interest in the trust, you will have to file the trust documents in Payne County, OK, and list this mineral interest. Alternatively, as suggested above, if the heirs want the mineral interest in their names, you will need to file an Affidavit of Heirship (AOH) as to your father, along with a certified death certificate. The AOH must have the legal description of the mineral interest in it and must be signed by an attorney or friend of the family (not an heir) that can attest to the names and addresses of the living heirs of your father. Simple, eh? If you don't want to go with a lawyer, perhaps a landman may be able to provide you with a form for the AOH.

Good luck.

#10

So filing the AOH and death cert in the Payne County all we need to actually transfer the ownership to the siblings and I? If so the 3k I was quoted seems a bit high for all of that and maybe it would be worth trying to do ourselves.

#11

Frank, can you tell me where y'all find the information pertinent to a particular mineral right section of land?

#12

I had the same issue with mineral rights that my mother owned in WVa. I worked directly with the clerk of court for the county who provided the instructions and all of the paperwork I needed to execute. Finally, after 2 years of working back and forth, the property is in my siblings and my name. My point is: work with the clerk of court of your county for their specific procedures.

John A

#13

Like any other database, you have to learn the proper data fields, and it is always a few months behind, but this site will give you production volumes:

https://www4.oktax.onenet.net/GrossProduction/PublicSearchPUNbyLegal.php

You can pay $20 on the Oklahoma Tax Commission sitge and they will email the $ and volumes if you are an owner under the unit:

https://www.ok.gov/tax/All_Taxes/Gross_Production/Obtaining_Crude_Oil_and_Natural_Gas_Production_History_Information/

#14