My mother inherited mineral rights from her mother who inherited them from her mother’s mother because they are cherokee. Interests lie in Pittsburg County Oklahoma, two parcels, nine Wells. She left a will, signed and witnessed, sitting my name is the person inheriting those rights. We did not probate the world because there were no assets and the cost is not worth it. She was married at the time she died, I left my brother and I as the only surviving children. We were notified by two different operators of unclaimed royalties it’s got the ball rolling on transferring ownership out of my mother’s name to my brother and I. We filed an Affidavit of heirship, a death certificate, and a copy of the will with the county clerk in Pittsburgh county. Oklahoma. We then provided a copies of the recorded documents and W 9s to the five operators. We are starting to hear back from them. We’ve heard back from two, one is saying that will have to split the interest between myself, my brother and also her husband. Equal thirds. Unless we have her husband sign a mineral deed conveying his 1/3 interest over to my brother and I which we would split equally. The second operator let us know they will be sending equal checks to my brother and I after they received the copy of the affidavit, death certificate w9’s Etc. No mention of the need for a mineral deed. To this point I’ve done everything myself, and put in hours of research to make sure affidavit was filed properly, and lots of time locating Wells and operators and notifying them as well. Just a lot of time had a lot of learning, but that part is done. Question is, is that correct, her husband is entitled to 1/3 of her interest because we didn’t probate, even though it’s Indian related, or is the second operator correct in going strictly off of the affidavit of death and heirship?
Anniebbme, it sounds like you at least have decent communication going on with a few of the operators, or their agents, which is a good start. If there are parts of the succession from your family that you are uncertain about, you can absolutely ask the operators to explain and substantiate what they are telling you and/or requesting from you so you can better understand how the suspended funds are being distributed and how future revenues will be paid.
Without a much more thorough review of the title, probate issues, tribal status, and the specific nature of the mineral interests, etc., the best advice I can think to offer is to maintain good communication, ask questions, and do not sign or proceed with anything you do not fully understand or feel comfortable with.
Different operators sometimes take different title positions and actions depending on their internal requirements, the value involved (how much money is in suspense), or the level of risk they are willing to accept without a probate proceeding or going through the courts. THis is all in addition to other factors that we don’t know about. It sounds like you are already doing a lot and if something sounds off - don’t be afraid to ask for clarifications or for them to explain further.
I hope this helps and maybe others will chime in with more ideas or good information…
Thank you Canadian Tuxedo. Its good to hear the operators dont necessarily process things all the same. That was throwing me off. Ive gone ahead and drawn up a Mineral Deed for moms husband to sign using a template and actual recently recorded deeds from land records online from Pittsburg County for guidance. I sent the deed, with legal descriptions of properties, etc to him with a letter to explain via USPS today. Not sure that he will respond as we do not communicate, but I have hopes. I finally decided to do this because after everything else that I have researched and processed what’s one more piece of paper. Thank you for your input, I appreciate the support in the area of asking questions and making sure we know what we’re doing before we make any permanent decisions. I will post how this goes, hopefully soon.
Make sure that you have the required margins on the deed as the county clerks are very particular and you do not want to have it returned and have to do it all over again.
Thanks for the reminder to check for proper formatting.