Three brothers inherited mineral rights. One doesn't care at all

Landman Discussion
#1

The brother who doesn't care tends to vote on the side of the one who is executor of the will. Do all three of us have to vote in unison before doing something? I called the executor brother to tell him we had a better offer than Landman X offered. I wanted to go with the better offer. The executor brother who hasn't been "IMO" very honest in the past, said he had given Landman X his word and he would lease to him. I told him I wasn't voting for that. Does the will executor in Texas have absolute powers? When we first inherited the minerals we all agreed to vote on everything. Now executor brother is trying a heavy handed approach, talking about splitting the minerals 3 ways to put 1/3rd them in each of our names, making a 5 acre lease a 1.66 acre lease which is almost worthless. Any info would be appreciated.

Wes

#2

I believe the answer is that even if you don’t divide it into 1.66 acres, each of you can still do whatever you want with your 1/3 share–unless someone has executive rights (not to be confused with being the executor). You can each lease to a different company. I think this must be the case, as there are some lots that are owned by dozens of individuals–to get unanimity would probably be impossible in such situations. Once the estate is distributed, taxes paid, etc. the executor should no longer have any powers. Is the estate not wrapped up yet? An executor does not have absolute powers. The terms of the will devising the mineral rights is probably important as to whether or not he has the right to divide them. If you’ve got time on your hands, look up the Texas revised statutes. What you’re looking for will probably be under the title of Probate. The powers of an executor are probably laid out. However, if you think that your two brothers are going to cause you repeated trouble over your joint ownership, maybe division wouldn’t be such a bad thing. I wouldn’t think that dividing it three ways is going to make the rights worthless. Granted, I’m sure Texas is a whole different animal. If nothing else, your brother will have to hurt himself if he really wants to use the heavy handed approach. It could be fun to call his bluff.

#3

Dear Wes,

Assuming that the property is in Texas and title is still in the Estate and the executor was appointed as an independent executor, the executor has broad powers. However, he may be liable to the estate or devisees if he makes a bad or stupid decision. Being named an executor is not really the honor it once was due to liability issues.

The smart thing to do from the executor's standpoint is to convey the mineral interest out of the estate and let everybody control their own destiny, A 1.66 acre lease is no less worthless than a 5 acre lease.

#4


Hi Buddy,

Actually, most of our leases are in CO, ND, and MT and NM. Everything is still in the estate. I'm doing the grunt work of searching through the leases finding the ones that are valid. My Dad spent the last two years of his life in a nursing home. One day he told my step-mother to bring the mineral rights out to the nursing home. He had Parkinson's, and didn't realize what he was doing. When I walked into his room he had all the folders open and was randomly putting leases in folders, even folders that said "sold" on them. So, I've had a huge mess on my hands and it's just now to the point where I can make some sense of it. Not to mention the fact I had never seen a lease before taking this job on.

Everything I know or think I know is self taught by asking questions and talking to people like you who are nice enough to help me. I believe, now that I've seen Lisa's and your replies, it wouldn't be a bad thing to either split them up or negotiate separately. I do appreciate you taking time to help. It means a lot to a novice.

By the way, I asked to be your friend on the forums. I've received an email I think is spam and I want to discuss it with you. Thanks in advance.

Wes

#5

Each party is entitled to ther 1.66 acres which is the 1/2 share, unless someone has executire rights. All three parties can lease with different compan with different terms. If you need some additional help, please me back.

#6


Hi Lisa,

Since you had some good ideas, especially the "call his bluff", I wanted to bring you up to date. I've been having more fun than you could imagine. Not only did I call his bluff by emailing him these words; "Go for it. Sounds good to me. By the way, I will be doing my own negotiating from now on." lol So, I was sitting here last night mulling over the "I'll get this straightened out" mail from the "don't care" brother where he was trying to unruffle some feathers. I decided I liked his job more than my job, so, I applied for it. I was the applicant and interviewer. It went very well and I got the job. Now all I have to do is what "don't care" has been doing, NOTHING. : ) So, I'll be delivering the leases, 3 boxes of them to the difficult brother and let him know of my new position. I gave it a great deal of thought and there is nothing underhanded that I can think of that he can do. The landmen won't budge until all the tees are crossed and the eyes dotted. I think I'm going to like my new job a lot. It doesn't pay much but I really am not money oriented. I hope you got some fun from this as I have. Have a great day, and thanks for your reply.

Wes

#7

That's great! I'm glad you're enjoying your new job as the do nothing brother!



Wes Luke said:


Hi Lisa,

Since you had some good ideas, especially the "call his bluff", I wanted to bring you up to date. I've been having more fun than you could imagine. Not only did I call his bluff by emailing him these words; "Go for it. Sounds good to me. By the way, I will be doing my own negotiating from now on." lol So, I was sitting here last night mulling over the "I'll get this straightened out" mail from the "don't care" brother where he was trying to unruffle some feathers. I decided I liked his job more than my job, so, I applied for it. I was the applicant and interviewer. It went very well and I got the job. Now all I have to do is what "don't care" has been doing, NOTHING. : ) So, I'll be delivering the leases, 3 boxes of them to the difficult brother and let him know of my new position. I gave it a great deal of thought and there is nothing underhanded that I can think of that he can do. The landmen won't budge until all the tees are crossed and the eyes dotted. I think I'm going to like my new job a lot. It doesn't pay much but I really am not money oriented. I hope you got some fun from this as I have. Have a great day, and thanks for your reply.

Wes

#8

Congratulations on your new job. My situation had similarities to yours. I had to deal with a brother who had half of our records, and every time he’d try to get it gathered at my request, he’d trip over a case of beer. Let me know if you need an apprentice, I’d like to apply.

#9

That beer got in the way of so many things in the world. Just imagine a world without beer.

Actually, you seem to have more experience than I do with problem relatives, so why not take the manager's job? lol

Could you not go to his house and pick up the records. The way your message reads, you already have them. Is that right? You can be my co-apprentice anytime. : )

Wes

#10

Wow! You only live about 8 miles from me. Maybe we can trade ideas.

Wes

#11

I would have had to go to his home, and storage places, also and turn everything upside down to find all of it. It would have made him impossible to deal with. We also needed his cell phone records to show contact to prove a case of fraud. I kept telling him that all it took was a phone call to customer service that could be done 24 hrs a day, and they wouldn’t even care if he was drunk. His reply was “He might just do that”, and he finally did 5 months later. I was the PR in the probate of our fathers estate, when the probate was over my brother claimed I was trying to steal his birthright. He demanded that I give him our mineral deed and grandfathers probate so his lawyer could look it over. Then promptly lost it. My printer was broken or I’d have given him copies. I could kick myself for not just buying a printer, or stopping somewhere to make copies. It never made it to the lawyer, but it didn’t need to. He read it when he was sober and realized that half means half. I’d be happy to help, if I can, but TX .oil and N.D. oil, where my interests lie are 2 different animals. The oil company lawyers have a 100 year head start here. I’ll send you a friend request.

#12