My mother did not receive her half of the mineral rights on various wells in Howard County. Her Brother received all of them but has sold them. Is it possible to recover them?
It depends on the facts and the legal documentation. First, what deed or other documentation was recorded which established title in the brother? Was there a probated estate from your grandparent to your mother and her brother and who was the executor and what deed was filed? Did the estate sell the minerals and the brother keep all the proceeds? Or was there a gift deed filed by the previous owner to only one child? Or did the brother establish title by an affidavit of heirship claiming to be the only lawful heir? Second, the brother would only have the legal right to sell what he owned and may have sold only his half. The legal description would be the same for 100% of minerals in a tract or 10% of the minerals because it would only describe the gross acres, not the net acres. Third, how long ago did all this take place? You will need to obtain copies of the legal documents filed which establish title to your mother’s parent, from the parent to her brother and the recorded deed from the brother to his purchaser. These should be available on-line so you can do this yourself and pay for copies, generally $1 per page. Or you can hire a landman to help you. Has your mother contacted the oil companies to see if they are holding her royalties in suspense waiting for her to establish title or whether they are paying 100% to the purchaser? Once you find out more information, then you may need an attorney to help. If the minerals were sold by the estate, with the brother signing as executor, then she may have to sue her brother for an accounting.
Was this an inherited mineral interest? Your mother may have interest that the oil and gas operators are holding in “suspense” until appropriate paperwork is submitted. You can start by contacting the companies that operate the wells in Howard County. It will be helpful if you provide - legal description, well names, mothers name/brothers name and whose name the interest was originally owned by. This way they can review their title work.
If they cannot help you, you can hire someone to review the county records to provide an overview of the history of the mineral interest and how the legal title shows the current ownership to be. This is how an operator will make payments so if your mother still owns an interest then she will need to provide all of this documentation to the company. This way you will have everything on hand to help expedite the claiming process.
Best of luck!
This topic was automatically closed after 90 days. New replies are no longer allowed.