I’m needing advice on I guess title issues I didn’t know I had. I signed a lease with Citizen Energy III, LLC, in June of 2023 and it seems that there has been a well drilled which has been producing for awhile now. I have been in contact with Validus Energy and (1) they cannot find my lease and (2) they say the minerals are not mine.
These have been in the family since Oklahoma became a state, passed down from my grandmother to my father, to my mother and now to my sister and I.
I just filed a Deed of Mineral Rights with the county today, but Validus is still refusing to release the funds.
My father had a will (not probated) he owned nothing, he didn’t even recall the minerals from his mom, but willed everything to my mother. Mom passed without a will, but she had signed a Deed of Minerals to my sister and I.
This is not a lot of minerals, basically 10 net acres between the two of us.
In all likelihood, Citizen had a title opinion and your ownership doesn’t show up. Validus took over Citizen’s interest, so they are relying on the same ownership.
Is it possible that you only asked about your interest? did you inquire whether your father is shown in title?
If you still strike out, your next options are 1) hire a landman to run the title for you, or 2) give up.
I would suggest that ten acres is something worth pursuing.
Have you looked on www.okcountyrecords.com to see if your lease was filed? They have almost all of the counties in OK. Did you keep a copy of the signed lease and the certified mail receipt that you send it? Every once in a while, a lease does not get filed in a timely fashion. Even with a new deed, you can’t deed what you don’t own if an ancestor didn’t really own it, the title still may have a cloud. If your dad’s will was not probated, then you have an issue with you mom actually receiving the minerals. You may need an attorney to clear this all up.
My lease is filed at the county, the will is another issue. My father passed in 2008 and my mother never probated his will, they were not very financially sound and they never realized the minerals from my grandmother was even something to be taken care of.
I guess I need to get an attorney, but have no idea what kind or where? Locally to the minerals, locally where my dad passed or locally to me?
If your grandmother was Velma Hildreth, you stated your father (James) had a Will leaving everything to your mother (Jane). There is a deed from Jane to Pro Mineral Partners in 2014 wherein she sold all her interest. The fact that Citizen took a lease in 2023 warrants further examination, but a cursory reading of the tea leaves would indicate your mother had already sold this prior to the deed to you and your sibling.
Be careful of my advice, every situation is different. I am a Royalty Owner for 40 years with many NMA (Net Mineral Acres) that were acquired from surface acres from the 1930’s and passed down through 4 generations. This post will agree with Mrs. Barnes with a small twist. I have struggled with probates not being completed or filed at all. Not an easy fix. IMHO, you have two issues: *What went wrong. *Fixing the problem. Our family (Cousins with equal ownership) are in four counties in Oklahoma. In every “area” (county) there is at least one (or more) law offices that have expertise in gas and oil minerals. In those law offices, there is a expert paralegal that goes to the county court house with title work on a regular basis. My suggestion to you is do some time consuming extensive on line research to find that stand out law office. The Paralegal will know how with little effort, to go back and trace the mineral acres in question. The attorney will know how to tix the problem. For real, every time I go through this, maybe 20 times, I send flowers to that paralegal. Her phone number is on my speed dial. With the new Horizional Wells going in which are producing huge amounts of gas, your ten acres is worth the cost of getting this straightened out. It is my thought, you need to assemble all your knowledge, copies, notes, in a PDF file, do extensive research finding the law office that has the knowledge of the county court house where the minerals are located and let them have at it. I have one of our larger production companies, which we have fractional ownership in 13 wells with them, that when I call Royalty Relations, nothing happens. When I write the letter, send it to the attorney’s office, and they put it on their letter head and send it, there is an immediate response. To paraphrase, you are looking for an expert plumber that knows all the tricks to fix your plumbing at a fair price. Good luck and welcome to the club of what I call “Always behind the eight ball Royalty Owners.”.
You are almost correct, she only sold 10 mineral acres (rounded for clarity) my sister and I still have 5 each since my father had 20 from my grandmother (Velma).
I’m in the middle of gathering all my documents and will be following this advice for sure. I’m in the process of trying to find that expert for Kingfisher County as I type this.
If your father died in 2008 leaving everything to your mother and your mother deeded it away in 2014, I’m not sure how you still own anything. But you should secure legal advice to verify whether this is correct or not.
Your advice has been read, and you don’t know the whole story surrounding the mineral rights. You see as an outsider looking in and have no clue about the family dynamics surrounding the situation.
So you have peace,I will throw this at you to ponder. My mother signed a lease for her 10 mineral acres and you can imagine that the two children did as well for their 5 acres. This was all before the will was discovered and the mineral acres were divided by what the State of Oklahoma would do, 50% to surviving spouse and 50% split between children.
Chesapeake Energy was the ones who did all the leads work on this.. So we all know they are not really in the business anymore so this is an issue in its self..
Fast forward a few years, mom decides to sell HER minerals and my sister and I do not since they were leased and not causing any problems.
So now you know the rest of the story Paul Harvey or at least all that I’m will to discuss with you. Hopefully this will clear the fog and you will realize that life is more complicated than reading something and giving your opinion multiple times over something you don’t have all the information to make a well informed decision about.
Tim and others posting responses can only base advice on the information provided. Frequently, the post does not contain all the facts, and advice needs to be taken in that context and used as a starting point for more research and consultation with an attorney as to ownership, lease drafting or next steps. In that context, you should accept responses graciously and move forward, rather than criticizing someone who has not been presented with 100% of the facts.
Your father’s will is, presumably, valid as of the date of his death. Therefore, your mother owned 20 mineral acres. The fact that it hasn’t been probated doesn’t make it invalid if it was executed properly.
Real property, which includes mineral interests must be owned 100% at all times by some person. Therefore at the moment your father passed away, your mother owned all the interest.
You say that your mother only deeded 10 mineral acres. However, your mother didn’t limit her mineral deed to 10 mineral acres. The 2014 md says “all.” Therefore, she deeded all her interest.
Your initial post says Validus says you don’t own any interest. If you choose to ignore the findings of myself and LandOKCman, okay.
Agreed, one of my producing wells has changed hands.. there is vertical drilling I can’t find much info on and my husband is getting cold calls on rights I didn’t even know I had. I have tried contacting a few landsmen that I have worked with in the past as well as some other people on various sites that seem to have great insight to the business but seem to be too busy for more work. For me when it gets down to paying someone for real info/business I’d prefer to be able to call them direct and work with them one on one. If you are able to share reputable contacts I’d be greatly appreciative!!
Cally, What state are your minerals in? You would need a landman that knows your area. You can try using the AAPL search. A CPL or RPL are the two top levels of training.
This is kinda funny, I’ve talked about how many offers I get a month.. I just called by vanguard again and it was the same but this time I asked him a couple questions and his answers helped me a lot of my stuff still comes up under my Grandfathers name with me as individual executrix. That may help with my deed search. We shall see “Wayne L. Cundiff”
a lot of my stuff still comes up under my Grandfathers name with me as individual executrix. That may help with my deed search. We shall see 
“Wayne L. Cundiff”