Joe:
It now sounds as if there was some ambiguity in the language of the conveyance from the ladies to your grandfather. You might ask your brother to send an email back asking for the entire title requirement.
Phyllis
Hey, Joe -
Just read this reply from you from yesterday, so I guess I’m responding backwardsly.
Phillis’ idea of requesting a copy of the requirement from the Title Opinion is not a bad one and not uncommon. In most title opinions, the examining Attorney will set out in his/her “Recitals” the specifics of what he/she sees as a title defect before setting out a Requirement for curing it.
At least with that, you would understand why they need the Stipulation and Cross-Conveyance.
But you are still going to have to wait for the other people to get their paperwork straightened out before anybody can sign.
Charles
What about instances when the people who are familiar with the facts are deceased? Who can do an affidavit then?
Dirk Dieterich said:
Quite often I have been able to get oil companies to place interests in pay status when there are issues like this by drafting an Affidavit of Heirship, having it signed by a disinterested person familiar with the facts, and recording it and sending it to the company.
It does not perfect title, but can often get your interest in pay status.
Call them and see if it is acceptable.
Dirk
A Landman can gather as much information about the family as possible through public and private records research and interviews and prepare such an Affidavit. Sometimes you even have to use Church Records, Family Bibles, even Cemetery Records to reconstruct family histories. One time I had to walk through a small cemetery in East Texas gathering names and dates off of tombstones.
Like Dirk said, Affidavits do not perfect title, but are sometimes the only way to work around situations.
Joe,
It would appear from your description of the assignments that the two women from whom your grandfather received interest both received assignment of a straightforward 1/2 of 1% participating royalty in land in Rosebud County, Montana. You say that your grandfather then used the template of the assignments to the women to make assignment of 1/6 of 1% royalty to himself and your grandmother as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Are there identical assignments from each of the ladies to your grandparents?
If the above is the case, the owner who assigned to the two women held at least 1% royalty at the time of the assignments to them and there are no intervening assignments of record in the County out of them before they conveyed to your grandparents, then your grandfather and grandmother properly received assignment of a royalty interest in whatever lease was valid at the time of the assignments.
The interest they received was an interest in the royalty created by the oil and gas lease, and not an interest in the minerals. If the lease that was in effect at the time your grandparents received their assignment has expired, and it was not the intent of the parties that your grandparents own a fee title interest to the minerals, their interest would have expired with the lease.
This may be the issue, but again I urge you to get a copy of the title requirement.