My siblings and I each inherited an acre of an 80 acre property in Grady County OK.It is the north half of the southeast quarter (N2, SE4) of section 17, township 8 North, range 8 West. We are currently receiving royalty checks (small amounts) from Bretwell and Kaiser Oil & Gas. Recently, we were contacted with an offer to purchase all rights to the property for $1250 per acre. The property has been passed down through generations and was owned by many other extended family members. The buyer has managed to purchase 60% of the 80 acres from other family members. I have just been told that my siblings and I, along with other non-selling family, will be sued in a forced sale of the property and that we will incur court costs, appraisal fees, etc and will end up with less than the $1250 per acre. We live outside Oklahoma and are all older, ages 55 to 96. We have no idea what the value of the property is or what we should do in this situation that we’ve been put into. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Do you have surface and minerals or just minerals or just surface?
I believe that I have both. The land was passed down from my great grandfather. This is what I know: The Land was won in a land lottery when the Indian Lands were opened 1901 and 1902, by a man with the name of Michael Horan. He was living in Pawnee Oklahoma at the time of the drawing. In 1908, he married a woman by the name of Georgia Bird (Byrd), sister to my great grandfather. She and mister Horan had no children and that is how I think that the land came to my great grandfather. When my father died in 2009, the 4 acres were passed down to my 3 siblings and I. We have all been getting the royalty checks for the mineral rights. The buyers contract just states that for $1250 I must waive all rights to the property. No mention of acreage, mineral rights, etc.
In Oklahoma there can be multiple owners of surface and/or minerals. It is possible to sell your surface rights and retain the minerals.
A person who owns a fractional interest in real property can file a partition action in which each individual would receive either their own plot of the land or, more likely, a cash payout based upon that fractional interest. This is known as a partition action. It is rare, but not impossible, for mineral interests to be partitioned.
It is important to know what the buyer is after. Is it surface only or surface + minerals. If it is just surface it may be worth exploring a transaction.
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.
Richard, can you comment on the “sued for a forced sale”? How can one be forced to sell? Aren’t mineral owners independent? I can see a sale of surface, but not minerals. I would hate to see the minerals abandoned and sign away all their rights. Maybe the surface was not severed-yet.
There are quite a few permits for horizontal drilling in 8N-7W just to the east so someone might be eyeing the township to the west. Citizen is drilling for Miss/Woodford. Section 17 is part of the North East Verden Unit so shallow production may be holding the current wells.
Yes. The person contacting us, who works for a broker/agent land company, now owns 60% of all rights to the 80 acres and says that we will be receiving a partition suit. Per the warranty deed contract that I would have to sign to sell, I would receive $1250 for all right, title and interest in and to the following real property and premises…and the location is listed (as seen in my original post). I have never seen an appraisal of the property but feel that the offered amount is very low even for a property owned by multiple owners.
I was told that if the property could not be partitioned off, it would go to a Sheriff’s sale where it would be auctioned off.
Is Consul the name of the company that wants to buy your surface? Are they threatening a lawsuit if you don’t sell to them?
Consul is not the name of the company.
In Oklahoma in a partition action there are commissioners appointed. Their job is to see if the property can be divided equitably between the co-owners. I had a case where two parties were involved with a 320 acre tract and each got 160. However, sometimes there is not a way to partition fairly for a variety of reasons. For example, if two people co-owned a home a partition would be inequitable and impossible to divide. Other times the property has features that would cause one party to get the a useless property even if the acreage was even. Imagine a 10 acre tract co-owned by 43 people. When a property cannot be partitioned “in-kind” by carving out tracts, then the commissioners set a valuation on the property. Any of the owners can elect to take the whole property by paying that amount less their pro-rata share. The non-electing owners receive their proportionate share of the proceeds (less costs and fees). But if none of the owners elects to take the property or if two or more elect to take the property; then property goes to sheriff’s sale. Any owners or non-owners can bid on the property. The highest bid (of 2/3rds of the appraised value or higher) becomes the owner.
So, a partition action can result in the forced sale of property.
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.
Thank you for that very helpful information. I now have a better understanding of the Oklahoma Partition Suit process.
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