My siblings and I inherited mineral rights in Leon County, Limestone County, and Freestone County in 1997. The probate documents (Application for Probate of Will as a Muniment of Title) were filed by the attorney (only in Leon County, not the other counties…not sure why).
About 10 years later, the Executor (my brother) was contacted by Encana to lease our Leon County mineral rights. I assume that the probate documents helped the Encana landman locate us, so I’m glad they were on file.
However, based on guidance from an attorney, we did not sign that lease and have not been contacted by anyone since. In order to make sure we were on record as the new owners of the mineral rights, I filed a Stipulation of Interest in 2007 in Leon County.
Is a Stipulation of Interest enough? After doing some research, it appears that the proper legal document to have on file in each county might be a notarized Affidavit of Heirship. If so, it’s my understanding that an Affidavit cannot be filed by an interested party (e.g., mineral rights owner) and would most likely need to be filed by an attorney.
Any guidance would be appreciated. I plan to travel to Texas and will most likely reach out to Wade Caldwell for assistance, but was hoping to get feedback from this forum first.
Many thanks.