Need help on direction to go- dad signed deed land/minerals to step-mom but in trust wasn’t put in her name and she never signed it back. Short story now dad died, she passed and all her siblings have also passed, the mineral rights in question are in limbo and never put in her name… does that mean it goes back to our family? Need a Mineral rights attorney name in Oklahoma.
@tbb1 I’d ask @tim_dowd for advice or guidance. Tim is a great O&G attorney and should be able to help answer your questions and recommend options moving forward.
Best of luck!
It kinda depends on at least a couple factors. You say it was put in a Trust. Was the deed to a Trust? Does anybody have a copy of the Trust agreement? Was it ever recorded or is the original deed still around?
Step mom had a trust so did my dad, deed was not in trust name. We have original recorded deed (after dad put her name on farm deed) and have his trust. My dad had asked her to sign paper to deed back minerals- she didn’t. She passed in 2009, her son passed a year later, she has no living siblings. She only one grandson. Dad passed last year. Mineral checks started in 2014/15ish in her name and dad’s. So Oil and gas co has kept her checks- we let her trust person know - they can’t do anything evidently. Can we get the minerals put back in the our names and get the back money?
Was there a deed deeding the property to the such and such trust?
If the property was never deeded into the Trust, the record title owner is your step mom. Since she is now deceased, her Estate is the owner of the interest. There are several different scenarios that can be played out here, but mean nothing. You need to hire an attorney that can handle a probate for all of those involved. In addition, you need to check the Oklahoma Unclaimed Property office to see if any revenue has been turned over to them to be held in trust until the rightful owners are determined. Good Luck.
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What Todd said so well.
No, trust was dated 2005, Deed was done in 2000 and never put in trust name. The oil company were the ones who decided due the deed to divide the minerals.
Without looking at any document, and based solely on what you said, the interest belongs to stepmom’s heirs. However, if it is pre-1978, part of the interest could come back to Dad’s heirs. The heirs could be cousins, second cousins, etc.