My brother left me 80 acres in Duchesne, Utah. I know it is a proven area. My brother leased it in 1985. I believe my question is if there is unclaimed moneys on this, where do I look? Thank you.
One more thing my brother passed away in 1993 & I am a sole survivor. I also have a pretty good suspicion my first cousin who is a bit older than me wrongfully managed to involve herself in the mineral lease. My question is if by chance this happened, whose fault is it? Does the oil company have to pay me & go after her, or do I have to go after her? Thanks.
Virgiann, go to my website, www.westernmineralconsultants.com, then under Resources on the home page you will be able to access the national unclaimed property website.
Best of luck to you,
Dirk
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I am a little out of my comfort zone here. But… hope to change that soon.
Dirk Dieterich said:
Virgiann, go to my website, www.westernmineralconsultants.com, then under Resources on the home page you will be able to access the national unclaimed property website.
Best of luck to you,
Dirk
Virgiann, I am not sure I understand what you feel your cousin might have done but, it has been my experience that heirship is not something you can really manipulate. If your brother died with a will the heirs are only those stated in the will. If he did not have a will the heirship follows descent and distribution as mandated by the state.
Dirk
Virgiann Thompson Zufelt said:
One more thing my brother passed away in 1993 & I am a sole survivor. I also have a pretty good suspicion my first cousin who is a bit older than me wrongfully managed to involve herself in the mineral lease. My question is IF by chance this happened whose fault is it… does the oil company got to pay me & go after her or do I have to go after her??? Thanks.
My brother had received these mineral shares from my late grandfather. It was a real shocker to the whole family considering my brother was 15 maybe 16 at the time. My brother then passed away at the age of 33. Yes, he had a will that included myself, our sister & his minor son. My sister & nephew both preceded him in death. In 2010 my cousin contacted me with this info of Branta oil seeking to lease these mineral shares. She went on to say her & her siblings had leased their 60 of these 80 shares. It was a good deal & I should also sign with them. I was pretty sure they had no legal right to them. But I had already moved to Colorado. My daughter being in Utah tried to research it. Needless to say she stirred up a hornets nest, I left it alone from there Newfield since assumed the lease. The well has hit production. I have been waiting on my payment took forever. Finally received notice I would be receiving papers I would need to sign & notarize & send back. Still nothing. I called to find out.. as they were preparing these papers they found I have another well & more moneys due me & because of the large sum of $ it involves they had to bring in their royalties lawyer who is preparing these documents. Now I admit I am not real educated in this business BUT…I do not think they just discovered a bunch of hidden money owed to me. I would like to believe a major oil company would be a bit sharper than that. Keep in mind I had never legally took ownership in my name. Also my cousin was a person of trust in our small community not to mention a notary and worked at the local refinery through 2 turnarounds for close to 15 years or so. Please let me know if there is a chance that this could even happen. Thank you for your time.
Dirk Dieterich said:
Virgiann, I am not sure I understand what you feel your cousin might have done but, it has been my experience that heirship is not something you can really manipulate. If your brother died with a will the heirs are only those stated in the will. If he did not have a will the heirship follows descent and distribution as mandated by the state.
Virgiann Thompson Zufelt said:
One more thing my brother passed away in 1993 & I am a sole survivor. I also have a pretty good suspicion my first cousin who is a bit older than me wrongfully managed to involve herself in the mineral lease. My question is IF by chance this happened whose fault is it… does the oil company got to pay me & go after her or do I have to go after her?
Virgiann, your writeup is complicated. My bet is that the cousin also received a part of the grandfather’s estate along with your brother. That would explain how they have ownership as well. Just a guess on my part but it seems logical.
You indicate that the cousin signed a lease but I don’t see that you did? I don’t know Utah law but in most states that makes you an unleased mineral interest and you retain your full decimal ownership but the working interest owner(s) would recover their costs plus whatever Utah law allows before you start receiving royalty checks. Your cousin would receive their checks (royalty adjusted) from the date of first production.
Again, without actually seeing the documents filed of record I can’t be sure, but I think you are worried about something you need not worry about.
Dirk
Yes I also signed on to the lease as I stated no one but my brother received any oil shares due to the fact he was the only one who moved in with grandparents and worked the original homestead of these mineral rights until it could be sold due to grandparents’ health and inability to do the needed farming on a daily basis. Oh well I hope you are right about the oil well haha!!! thanks again for your time
Dirk Dieterich said:
Virgiann, your writeup is complicated. My bet is that the cousin also received a part of the grandfather’s estate along with your brother. That would explain how they have ownership as well. Just a guess on my part but it seems logical.
You indicate that the cousin signed a lease but I don’t see that you did? I don’t know Utah law but in most states that makes you an unleased mineral interest and you retain your full decimal ownership but the working interest owner(s) would recover their costs plus whatever Utah law allows before you start receiving royalty checks. Your cousin would receive their checks (royalty adjusted) from the date of first production.
Again, without actually seeing the documents filed of record I can’t be sure, but I think you are worried about something you need not worry about.
Dirk