No Mineral Deed in Hand

My wife inherited mineral deeds from her mom. In Blaine Co., S11, T14n, R13W, there are 2 wells, "Rolling Thunder " and “West Farms 1-11”, however we don’t have a specific Mineral Deed in hand for that Section, Township, Range. She’s getting checks from Paloma Partners for Rolling Thunder and has a Division Order. Her mom had a Division Order from Universal Resources Corp for West Farms from the '90’s, but nothing since. So, I’m assuming, she has a mineral deed on record. I went on OKcountyrecords.com but I’m not finding a copy of her mineral deed. Is there somewhere else I need to look? Thank you.

Did you find any deeds into her mother for this section of land at all? The reason I ask is because it could be a warranty deed, quit claim deed, etc., or she could have inherited it from someone. In those cases it wouldn’t be a mineral deed. I would first focus on locating any document that involves the mother with the land and build from there. It’s possible she purchased the land, and then kept the mineral rights when/if she sold later on. If the minerals came from a mineral deed or any other kind of deed, it will be recorded in the county records. Some counties have all their records online, others don’t, some only have more recent filings. If you can’t find it online, you’ll have to physically go to the courthouse and search through the indices there, or hire someone like a landman to do it for you. Please be aware that in order for you or anyone to be able to verify the ownership interest, you have to run the minerals for the mother from sovereignty. That could get costly if you hire someone, but they can find your source deed, build a title chain, and provide you a detailed ownership report and copies. However, if all you want is a source deed for your minerals to keep on file, you will likely be able to find that yourself, you may just have to go to the county to do it. There are a lot of resources online and on this website about how to build a chain of title, and how to run mineral interest.

Thank you for the info…let the journey begin!

There are at least two alternatives. The first is that a probate was done. The probate has language in it that says that the interest is distributed to A, ,B and C. In other words, your wife and her siblings. If so, the final order in the probate serves as the transfer of ownership. No deed is actually executed. It is a court order. The second alternative is the companies were sent an Affidavit of Death and Heirship that recites that A, B and C inherited the property. In that situation, no deed is issued either. A deed is only executed and recorded in the event of, typically, a gift or a sale, not an inheritance.

You can also request a copy of the paragraph in the title opinion that pertains to your wife’s mother. Both of the companies that are currently paying have one. They will not give the entire title opinion, but I have found that if I ask nicely and say that I am trying to update my records, they will sometimes be willing to give me one.

Thank you Tim. That’s great information. Much appreciated.

Thank you Ms. Barnes. I’ll have to try that.

Ron- there are 2 Rolling Thunder wells producing with Paloma as the operator. The West Farms well isn’t producing any more. I have a working interest in this unit.

Awesome, thank you Todd. I wasn’t aware of 2 Rolling Thunders. My wife has a Division Order for Rolling Thunder 11-14N-13W 1H. I didn’t think West Farms was doing anything as her mom had no paperwork for it since the 90’s. Thanks again!

Some tips while searching OKcountyrecords.com:

  1. Click advanced search for the county where the minerals are located. Note that online records may be limited.
  2. Search by ancestor’s last name + Section, Township Range.
  3. Search by Document Type (See suggestions below) + Section Township Range
  4. Search by Section Township Range then review for ancestors, Affidavits, Heirships etc.

Your search may not be conclusive because of several reasons. These may include an unfiled probate order, an omitted name, an omitted legal description and or other clerical errors.

Remember that online records only go back so far under the search capabilities. From the Blaine site “INDEXED DATA AND IMAGES FROM June, 1999”. Documents before that are not searchable but if you have book and page of the document you can retrieve it that way, in Blaine County at least.

I seem to get more info when I call , ask for clerk and have her search info, one lady was so nice she looked , looked all into it, told me what quit deed i needed, and was nice enough to email me the deed. The deeds could be in storage already you have to mention that, hope it helps .

Must be because of the virus and the clerks have more time on their hands than work. In the years that we’ve had minerals I have NEVER had a clerk search for anything. They have always required that we get a landman (or other person) to physically go into the County Clerks offices and search all the records. You’re very lucky!

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