Lease Signing when the property is co-owned

Law & Legal
1

This is new to me as I inherited the mineral rights from my mother. Here are my two questions:

My sister and I co-own mineral rights in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. If I have signed the lease and she changes her mind and she decides not to, does that cancel out the entire lease?

Also, I live in Israel and needed a notary to witness my signature on the lease. The notary's license is held in New York but he is living here (it doesn't expire for a few years). Will that hold up as legal as it is only to prove my signature?

Thank you for your help.

2

Not sure what you mean by co-own.

Did you receive it in joint tenancy or equal interest from a probate? Please explain further. Wording from probate?

3

It must be equal interest as it was left to us by our mother after she passed.

4

Without looking at the actual probate no one can say for sure (you might want to have an oil and gas attorney give you a definitive answer) but...

chances are you have the same amount of interest, but do not share the same interest and are able to lease or sell independently of the other. If it were possible for the lease to be cancelled if she doesn't sign I don't think they would pay you for yours.

Any legal notary is fine. I have seen foreign notaries many times.

5

Darla,

I found the Deed and it states that we both have an undivided one-half (1/2) interest in the acreage. I'm not sure what that means. Can you help?

Thank you.

6

Andrea

Your interest is undivided from your sisters. You are free to lease your undivided interest, and she is free to do, or not do, whatever she wants with her undivided interest. It will have no effect on you or your interest.

7

Wonderful! I was always under the impression that we were not free agents. Thank you so much for your help Jordan!

8

Thanks Jordan for jumping in. Didn't mean to abandon you but just now was able to log back in.

9

Not a problem Darla! So next question is . . . if we are separate agents but own half of the land and it doesn’t state whose half is what, how does the oil company know where to drill?

10

You have undivided interests under the whole. Example: If you each have an undivided 1/2 interest in 160 acres you both own 80 acres each, but you can't take a stick and divide.

This can also be said about an undivided 1/2 interest in 40 acres that is inside of a 160 acre tract. You would each have 20 acres within the 160 acres that you can't take a stick and divide...it is in the whole. You could be sharing mineral interests with 100 other people in that 160 acres, but none could stand on an acre and say "this is mine".

11

US Consular and Embassy offices generally have notaries as well. My friend used this to buy property in the US while living in Dubai. http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/judicial/authentication-of-documents/notarial-and-authentication-services-consular-officers.html

12

Thank you for that information Kitchen!

13

Notaries can only act within the boundaries of jurisdiction that issued notary privileges.

Any American citizen can contact the American embassy or consulate in the country in which he is located. The embassy or consulate can provide notarial services by a U.S. Department of State consular official who is authorized to provide services as a “notarizing officer.”

You may also consider a power of attorney with a trusted individual to act on your behalf.

Hope this helps:

Disclaimer: This comment is informational and is not intended as legal advice or to create an attorney/client relationship. Readers should not rely upon such information to take or refrain from taking a particular course of action. The skills of a competent licensed attorney should be consulted as situations in individual cases vary.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE: Any tax advice in this message not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties.