It dawned on me yesterday that my current mailing address is not the address that is on the legal document filed at the county courthouse that transferred ownership of minerals to me. Ooops! So I called the oil company who is soon to send out division orders and royalty payments. Sure enough.....they had the old address. So first thing I faxed and snail mailed a copy of the old legal document that transferred ownership to me with a current change of address to the oil company. Then in order to not fall through the cracks in the future, I drafted an "affidavit of address change", had it notarized, wrote a check and mailed that out to the county clerk. It is so very important to be sure a current address is recorded at the county clerks' office in every county you own minerals. I realized my procrastination and downright laziness could have possibly cost me a few dollars.
As I have read posts by members, it seems to me, that the first and foremost action we can take in managing our minerals is to take an inventory of exactly where our minerals are and then verify that the county clerk in each county has a recorded affidavit of our most current address. The affidavit I drafted, titled "Affidavit Change of Address", had my name and former address as it appears on the old mineral deed (from 15 years ago) with the new and current address. I have the county name and legal description next. Finally I have lines for my signature and date signed then spaces for the notary to witness and notarize.
In Oklahoma, county clerks want $13 for recording the first page and $2 for each page thereafter. Some clerks have varying stipulations about recordings so its beneficial to call and ask them about specifics as well as their mailing address. The notary I use charges $2 per notary. All total I spent $10 for notarizing and $65 in recording fees for affidavits in 5 counties.