My father passed away in Oregon in 1990. He didn’t own anything and was divorced and had no will. My deceased grandmother had provided the information on his death certificate. I was estranged from my father and his side of the family. I reached out in the last 15 years to my aunt, his only sister. She contacted me a few years back and told me we own mineral rights for land in McClain County, Oklahoma. She informed a landman who was leasing that I was her brothers only child and the landman contacted me. I signed a lease and they had me record an affidavit of heirship with the county clerk. I recently received copies of court proceedings regarding drilling. After receiving this I proceeded to educate myself a little bit on division orders, royalties, etc. On the pooling order I noticed my deceased grandfather name listed under “Respondents with unknown addresses” he is listed as deceased and “Curative” is under his name. Then it lists my father as deceased. My question is, what do I need to do about establishing my rights to my fathers minerals? He had no will when he passed and no probate was done. How do I prove that I am his only heir? I am concerned because I have read several places that sometimes they hold royalties in suspense if it is unclear if you are an heir. There are several descendents involved in this and this is for 76 acres of land. Any information will be helpful…where do I start? Thank you!
I think it would be wise to seek the advice of an O&G attorney.
Good luck,
Pat
Amen!
I don't understand. You said you signed an affidavit of heirship, recorded it, and signed a lease. So the producer should have everything they need to change your proportional share of your father's interest into your name. Sounds like the land department does not communicate with the in-house division order analyst or curative department.
If you can friend me, I may be able to provide you some assistance.
you will need to have an estate administration, ie. a probate done for your father, and possibly your grandmother. The court would establish you as an heir, and, presumably, would distribute all your father's estate, including the minerals to you.
In Oklahoma, you need a probate to establish marketable, or good title.
Thank you Pat!
Thank you Tim. While researching this I have found it depends on the Division Order Dept. Some are more strict about good title than others. I will probably have to move forward with this once i find out if a well is going in or not. I appreciate your response!
Hope you have your issues figured out. If not you may consider a summary probate in Oklahoma. No will is required. As far as proving your heirship if the probate is not contested then the court order will establish it. Also you may look to your birth certificate which should list the name of your father.