I inherited some mineral interests in Texas from my mother. She started receiving tax bills from the county. She says that here family has tried over and over to explain that they never were taxed until recently and that there was no property that they owned. The mineral rights have been passed down through generations with many, many other family member on that one well.
My mother had no estate of any value, so did not leave a will. She said they only had 1/16th of an undivided interest and her brother and her never paid taxes because my grandmother said there was nothing to tax. Her brother passed away and his widow paid the taxes last year to stop getting the letters from a law firm. We were under the assumption that this covered taxes for both interests. Now we have received a notice going back 10 years for taxes.
What we need to know is, will the county seize the royalties from the lease? My mother continued to get royalties for 10 years. These checks were from $50 to $100 dollars a month. Now my sister and I will start receiving this amount divided by 2. This now seems to be that we inherited something that we have to pay instead of receive.
Is it possible for us to sell these mineral rights? I think that we will end up with nothing if they take the past taxes first. Will the county seize the mineral rights? My mother thought "no".
I'm not so sure.
Any advice you can give will greatly be appreciated.
Thanks,
Sherry