Is it a good idea to register with the Oklahoma Mineral Owner Registry? It is $35 a year to keep all your information current such as address and phone and e-mail. Do landmen use this registry often? I could very well own mineral rights in various counties in Oklahoma, but I don't know which counties or if I actually do. My dad did a lot of drilling in Logan County in the 70's.
This has been discussed before and I believe the majority thinks that as long as your information is current, recorded in the courthouse, you should be fine. If your address/contact information is not current, an affidavit of identity with your current information, recorded in the courthouse should be sufficient. Then if by some chance they did not find you, it would be their fault and you should have options. If you were constantly moving and had no place you could use as a permanent address, then I would consider the registry, but I would probably consider a PO box first. The next time I update my information I will include my main e-mail address also, that has not changed since I first started banging on a keyboard.
Keep in mind, the affidavit you file must include each of the legal descriptions you own in. If you don't know them all, then the affidavit will have no effect. This is especially true for properties you inherited but know little or nothing about.
Also, where the author above says "it would be their fault, and you should have options". While true it may be their fault if an affidavit is filed against the section in question (not just at the courthouse), you have no options if they can't contact you, you will be force pooled when it's time to drill. Once you are force pooled and you get the default 1/8th royalty because they could not contact you, you have no options at that point - you are stuck with it for the life of the well.
Unfortunately, there is not any other way. Fact is there are hundreds of thousands of owners who don't know what they own - they are all in the same boat you are in. Most people only find out about mineral rights after companies have done the research (which can only be done by hand), have your name (or someone you inherited from) on a list and then try to locate/contact them. This is the role the registry plays in helping make those connections.
Answer me just one question please? If the mineral owner does not know or is unsure of what they own, I believe they would not be able to tell the mineral registry what they own. How precisely would the mineral registry help landmen find the mineral owner if the mineral owner could not inform the registry of where they own?
Dean M said:
Unfortunately, there is not any other way. Fact is there are hundreds of thousands of owners who don't know what they own - they are all in the same boat you are in. Most people only find out about mineral rights after companies have done the research (which can only be done by hand), have your name (or someone you inherited from) on a list and then try to locate/contact them. This is the role the registry plays in helping make those connections.
Once listed, your record covers all interests statewide. Keep in mind, the registry is keeping a record for you the owner, not your mineral rights. Landmen already know what you own prior to using the registry (they have already done their research in the county deed records). They utilize the registry to get updated contact or inheritance information.