I am new to all of this, so please bear with me…
My father owned multiple Mineral Right “properties” in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. When he passed away, my step-mother was the sole heir. She, in turn, wrote a letter stating that all of his rights are to transfer to myself and my 6 other siblings. When we went to the courthouse to file the letter, we were told that it was not an acceptable document; that we need an assignment.
I need to know what type of Assignment we need to transfer the rights to us.
Any guidance will be appreciated.
Hi Melinda -
I am a Certified Professional Landman with more than 30 years of expereince in dealing with court and courthouse records. But I am not an Attorney, which is what you need.
I would suggest you speak with the attorney that handled your father’s estate, if any. He or she would certainly be the most familiar with the circumstances as they are now and what will need to be done to vest the properties in you and your siblings.
If your father’s Will was probated, you may need a Deed or Quitclaim from your stepmother. If your father’s will has not been probated, you may be able to simply not probate it and allow the Probate Codes of the various states take effect, essentially allowing an equal share in each of the properties to come down to his children, per stiripes.
An Affidavit of Marital and Family History or Affidavit of Inheritance or something similar may be all you need, perhaps with your stepmother joining in disclaiming any interest in your father’s estate.
You won’t have to identify each of the properties involved, just file a certified copy of the Affidavit in each of the counties that you know your father owned properties in.
Hope this helps -
Charles
Again, not an attorney, but a quit-claim from your stepmother should serve your purposes satisfactorily. Even if not technically necessary, it will serve to quiet title as to your mineral ownership.
Since your stepmother is not an heir, she would have acquired the mineral interest as a legatee under your father’s Last Will and Testament. Otherwise, if he died intestate the heirs would have inherited a portion of the estate by descent and distribution. If the stepmother was appointed Executrix and the last Will and Testament was accepted for probate, there would be an inventory and appraisement of the property owned by the estate. If the minerals were listed in the inventory, it would be necessary to file ancillary probate proceedings in the states where minerals were owned with the exception of the state where the deceased’s estate was entered in Probate. Unless the Executor/trix executed a mineral deed to the Stepmother, the Probate of the will would only serve as a muniment to title in the county of the proceedings unless certified copies were filed in other counties in the same state. On order to convey title to the minerals, the legatee, stepmother would need to be vested with title in order to convey title. Without the filing of an ancillary probate in the states other than the one where deceased’s probate proceedings were held
Unless the ancillary probate proceedings were opened within the legal time limit in the states other than where the deceased died, The death is considered to be intestate and the laws of descent and distribution of that state would prevail. A good estate lawyer could fix this problem for you. I wouldn’t advise it as a do it yourself project.
James H. McConnell, CPL said:
Since your stepmother is not an heir, she would have acquired the mineral interest as a legatee under your father’s Last Will and Testament. Otherwise, if he died intestate the heirs would have inherited a portion of the estate by descent and distribution. If the stepmother was appointed Executrix and the last Will and Testament was accepted for probate, there would be an inventory and appraisement of the property owned by the estate. If the minerals were listed in the inventory, it would be necessary to file ancillary probate proceedings in the states where minerals were owned with the exception of the state where the deceased’s estate was entered in Probate. Unless the Executor/trix executed a mineral deed to the Stepmother, the Probate of the will would only serve as a muniment to title in the county of the proceedings unless certified copies were filed in other counties in the same state. On order to convey title to the minerals, the legatee, stepmother would need to be vested with title in order to convey title. Without the filing of an ancillary probate in the states other than the one where deceased’s probate proceedings were held