I’ve looked at a few of the discussions regarding probate already, and I think I’ve gleaned together some helpful info, but I have a few more questions regarding my Dad’s inherited mineral rights and the probate of his estate. My Dad died in Missouri; his mineral rights are all leased and located in Blaine County, Oklahoma. He died without a will or trust. I only know he inherited mineral rights because he sold some in 2016, and I ran across the paperwork when I was cleaning out his house. I know there are more, but I don’t know anything else. I live in California. The attorney helping me with the probate in Missouri has no idea how to deal with mineral rights. He asked me if I wanted to include them on the inventory of the estate? I don’t know… do I? Can I get the rights put in my name if I don’t include them? I don’t even know how to include them on an inventory, and I’m not even sure where they are located in Oklahoma or if they have been sold or not. Deadline to file the inventory with the court is Monday. Yikes! I’m so lost. Sorry for the novel. Should I hire another attorney in Oklahoma?
Occurred to me if I include the mineral rights in probate inventory, I might lose them if my Dad had serious debt to pay!
Nicole:
Your Missouri attorney needs to coordinate with an Oklahoma attorney. Probate statute 677 requires “if the decedent died intestate, by attaching a duly certified copy of the order appointing the personal representative and an order distributing estate from the domiciliary estate.”
If this is done, an Ancillary Probate can be quickly done in Oklahoma. Otherwise, a slightly longer Summary Probate is needed.
See my post:
Thank you so much for your response. I spoke with my attorney, and he wants to include the mineral rights on the estate inventory then move forward by contacting an attorney in Oklahoma. He has no idea how to place a value on the mineral rights though.
Unless there is an estate tax issue, I usually use a rule of thumb. That is 3 times the most recent year’s royalties paid to the last owner, if known. Generally, if I am handling a probate and there are minerals in another state, I may list the minerals and state “subject to the administration of X state.” In Oklahoma, a firm appraisal is usually not required.
Look for your dad’s name in www.okcountryrecords.com and see if he is listed. They only go back so far, so might not catch everything. Absolutely include in the probate as you need that “step up value” recorded. Also add a clause about any other future discovered minerals. The attorney should know how to word it. He may have minerals that are not leased that need to be included. If you want to share his name, I have another source to hunt through to catch some more possibilities.
My Dad’s name is Dale Tautfest. He inherited the rights from his mother Beatrice Tautfest, who inherited them from her father William Fisher.
He also inherited some from his father’s side. Father’s name was Edward Tautfest, and that line goes back to the last name Jantzen. I’m not sure how far.
Thanks so much for all the help. I’m so glad I stumbled upon this forum. I’m sure it’ll be very useful once I get this stuff settled and hopefully am able to get these mineral rights transferred to me.
Am looking at the royalties paid in the past and it seems very low. So I’d value my mineral rights at about $700 total using the 3X royalties formula. Sound right?