I am the administrator of my deceased husband’s estate. He had inherited a portion of mineral rights from his mother. He never received his deed of ownership. Neither have I. Until I do, I cannot finish probating his estate properly. I cannot document the distribution of his mineral rights to his beneficiaries. Recently, I was informed by the executor of the mother’s estate that my husband’s mineral rights were finally transferred into his name. I obtained a copy of the “mineral rights distribution deed” and his name does not appear on it. Furthermore, another name appears on the deed that doesn’t belong there. When I contacted the executor to ask her to correct it, she told me that it was just a mistake and I should call an attorney to get it fixed. Correct me if I am wrong but isn’t this part of her job as executor, her fiduciary duties? She claims it is not her responsibility to have the deed corrected. As I understand it, only she has the legal right to alter that deed. Certainly I don’t. I tried to explain this to her and got nowhere. Now what do I do? She outright refuses to cooperate in getting this deed corrected. Consequently, she has turned a simple task into a monster challenge for me to deal with. The is not an issue of ownership. She knows full well that my husband owns the mineral rights. It’s simply an issue of a faulty deed that needs to be corrected. Initially, she had hired an attorney to draw up the deed and have it processed. Now, all she needs to do is call him and have him correct it, but she won’t do it. This executor is also one of the beneficiaries who appears on the deed. She is my deceased husband’s sister. This is all very frustrating and I don’t know what steps to take to get the situation resolved. Any input would be appreciated greatly.
Run to an attorney. As described the tile is another person’s name and he could sell. This is very serious.
As TennisDaze and others know, I rarely suggest hiring an attorney even though I am one, but you need to hire an experienced oil and gas attorney this week especially if the property is generating income. If I wasnt out of town Id draft a statement of claim for you, to atleast clout title for awhile for you to file tmw as family members screwing eachother makes my blood boil.
Thank you so very much, TennisDaze and Bob77. Your support to move forward on this, quickly, is invaluable. I have reached out to two attorneys in ND, one by email and one by phone. I received brief responses from both, (one, a paralegal) promising to look into it. I am hoping I will hear back, and within a reasonable amount of time. A few weeks ago I thought I had secured someone to help me, but after a few conversations and giving him a lot of information, he never bothered to contact me again. I also contacted the attorney hired by the executor. After a few words, he babbled something about conflict of interest and hung up on me. I don’t know what that was about! He didn’t seem to realize that he was actually representing me as well, albeit indirectly. Then I wrote to him, twice, in exacting detail describing the incorrectness of the deed and it’s potential ramifications. No response. Ugh…so much time and energy wasted. Frustrated and feeling alienated down here in Florida. Thanks for letting me vent.
You may need to get an attorney or law firm that is not in your immediate area. What you described happens a lot of times, especially in small towns. There are always someone that is like that executor.
Sorry for your problems. You are not correct that the Estate attorney works for you even indirectly. He does have a conflict. You were correct to advise him of the error. He has a duty to research that error and report to the Executor. Since these parties do not want to address the issue, you should follow the advice of @Bob77 and @TennisDaze in order to protect your interest and minimize damages. This action will not be free of cost to you.
Your problem is not a look into it problem. Assuming you have located a firm near or in the county in which the estate is being administered, you want to hire that attorney or firm, which means an engagement letter and paying a retainer. That attorney or firm should be provided with a copy of the deed, your correspondence, and the correspondence you have received. Your legal counsel likely will send a letter demanding that a correction deed be issued and may demand your attorneys’ fees be reimbursed–keep in mind Executor has breached fiduciary duty for failure to correct and if attorney has drafted an incorrect deed, attorney has made an error aand likely committed malpractice, especially if refusing to correct. Once dust settles you will receive new division orders and can inquire if producer has made payments based on wrong deed and, if so, demand damages from executor.
Be careful about ending up with assigned taxable value. A lot of times you don’t want a negative working interest there can be expenses