# How to disclaim inheritance of working interest in lease?
**URL:** https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/how-to-disclaim-inheritance-of-working-interest-in-lease/73064
**Category:** Ownership and Title
**Created:** [November 15, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/how-to-disclaim-inheritance-of-working-interest-in-lease/73064 "2023-11-15T18:58:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@filmore](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/filmore)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/how-to-disclaim-inheritance-of-working-interest-in-lease/73064/1 "2023-11-15T18:58:10Z")
[I’m sure I’ll have to talk to a lawyer about this at some point, but for now I was hoping to get a general idea of what’s required.]
I’m helping with an estate which has a small working interest in a lease in New Mexico. The costs are low, but they are still more than 10 times what the royalties have been. None of the heirs are interested in taking ownership of this working interest. With traditional assets, the estate could file a “Disclaimer of Inheritance” to state that no one was willing to take on the asset. How does that work for a working interest in an oil lease?
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### Author:  [@jw1984](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/jw1984)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/how-to-disclaim-inheritance-of-working-interest-in-lease/73064/2 "2023-11-17T18:02:36Z")
I’m not sure if you can do that (if someone ever has, I’ve never heard of it). If you could share some general information (i.e., legal description, name of wells, interest level), maybe there is the possibility of someone taking it over from you for no consideration and the assumption of plugging liability.
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Winblad](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/Richard_Winblad)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/how-to-disclaim-inheritance-of-working-interest-in-lease/73064/3 "2023-11-17T19:07:10Z")
I suppose the question is whether the WI owners are personally liable for expenses. You should visit with a New Mexico O&G attorney. I suspect that someone inheriting would not become personally liable for expenses. Instead, they would not be entitled to revenues until the costs + (costs X factor) have been recouped from sales. But like I said, visit with a New Mexico attorney.
_ **This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.** _
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### Author:  [@Bob77](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/Bob77)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/how-to-disclaim-inheritance-of-working-interest-in-lease/73064/4 "2023-11-17T21:32:56Z")
> [@filmore](#):
>
> [I’m sure I’ll have to talk to a lawyer about this at some point, but for now I was hoping to get a general idea of what’s required.]
>
> I’m helping with an estate which has a small working interest in a lease in New Mexico. The costs are low, but they are still more than 10x what the royalties have been. None of the heirs are interested in taking ownership of this working interest. With traditional assets the estate could file a “Disclaimer of Inheritance” to state that no one was willing to take on the asset. How does that work for a working interest in an oil lease?
What exactly do you mean by the costs are low? Instead of giving the “asset” away, why wouldn’t you just sell it?
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### Author:  [@r\_w\_kennedy](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/r_w_kennedy)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2023, 11:21pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/how-to-disclaim-inheritance-of-working-interest-in-lease/73064/5 "2023-11-17T23:21:10Z")
If you had the operating agreement, the answer to getting out from under this interest is possibly in there.
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### Author:  [@filmore](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/filmore)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/how-to-disclaim-inheritance-of-working-interest-in-lease/73064/6 "2023-11-22T00:02:03Z")
We get JIB invoices that have to be paid. It’s not too much, but the royalty is a lot lower than what is paid for the JIB. The heirs aren’t really interested in taking this over. It’s just a small fractional interest. I’m not sure we could get very much for it. The estate has a few of these tiny interests and it’s been more of a hassle and more costly to deal with them than they seem to be worth.
I’ll see if I can track down the operating agreement and see if there are details in there. Thanks.
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### Author:  [@system](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/how-to-disclaim-inheritance-of-working-interest-in-lease/73064/7 "2024-02-13T18:58:21Z")
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