In the 1970s our father quitclaimed 5 acres of mineral rights to James A. Smith not knowing his whereabouts and used his own (our father’s) address on the document. No one has ever been able to find this James A. Smith and I suspect he is deceased… no known children and the royalties have gone to the State of Oklahoma forever. Can anyone recommend an attorney who might be able to advise us if the deed can be set aside thus returning the acreage to us?
You should certainly seek the advice of counsel. HOWEVER, due to the fact that 45 years+ has passed doesn’t bode well for getting the acreage back. The fact that Mr. Smith can’t be found or may be deceased isn’t a valid reason for asking a court to return the ownership.
The probate for this James A. Smith was filed in 2025, and is recorded on Book 6518 Page 290 in Grady County, Oklahoma. This included minerals deeded by your father in Section 5-Township 5N-Range 6W, and also other minerals. The unclaimed funds apparently attracted enough attention that he was tracked down. Let’s hope they found the right James A. Smith. The address of Mr. Smith was listed in Morocco, North Africa, and your father’s address (Gordon) was listed in Saudi Arabia.
Thank you for the response. After posting this inquiry I researched Oklahoma law… didn’t find a valid reason to get the property back. I gave information in 2025 to someone looking for Mr. Smith as others have also previously searched with no luck. We think my dad owed him gambling money, but who knows, Dad never told us… yes they both worked overseas on Saudi oil pipeline construction.
Thank you for the information, Mr. Smith is certainly deceased as my dad has been gone 30 years. Now I am very curious to see who was located. I’ll look it up, there was still $60K in lost money when I looked a few months ago.
There are professionals that do nothing but recover these things. Might have to give up half to get it
The money is not lost; it is unclaimed for the Smith succession.