My mother recently passed away and in her Trust she left me her shares in Texas Oil and Gas Mineral royalties in the county of Penola Texas. XTO is telling me that I have to file something with the Recorders office in that county in Texas before they will transfer ownership. What exactly do I have to file with the Recorders office?
I just want to transfer ownership to my name as I am keeping all the shares my mother left me.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
John M., I am the Trustee however did you mean that the Trustee needs the recorded Trust
or that the Panola County Recorders office needs the recorded Trust? The legal department
from XTO Energy informed me that a recorded Trust stating "transfer the shares to my name"
is not enough for them to transfer ownership. I realize that I need to record something with the
Panola Recorders Office, I just dont know what document to record.
Hi, J! Welcome to The Forum.
First, let me offer my condolences for the loss of your Mother.
I am not an Attorney and you really need to consult a Texas Attorney familiar with probate matters to answer your question(s), but from my experience if your Mother left a Will and it established a Trust with you as Trustee, then you need to file certified copies of at least the Will and the Order Accepting it for Probate in the Official Public Records of Panola County, Texas.
Then you will need to obtain certified copies of those documents from Panola County to XTO Division Order Department.
They will then send you either a new Division Order or a Transfer Order to sign. Once they have that, the royalties will be sent to you.
If you are the Trustee, then I assume there must be other or additional Beneficiaries of the Trust. If you and they agree and the terms of the Trust allows you to do so, you can distribute the assets of the Trust to the Beneficiaries and terminate the Trust.
There are a number of Attorneys that respond to questions here on The Forum that might be able to help you. If you need the names of a few, I can send them to you but The Forum frowns upon solicitation so I would need for you to accept my invitation to become A Friend on The Forum the same way you appear to have accepted John M's so that I can send you the information privately.
Hope this helps -
Charles Emery Tooke III
Certified Professional Landman
Fort Worth, Texas
Who is John M..?
If you are a trustee, then mother had a trust, (but trusts aren't usually recorded) And since your mother left you the royalties, you are also a beneficiary. Sounds to me like a conveyance of these royalties to you wasn't "funded" into the trust. So now it has to be done. Seek out a real estate attorney to draw up this "simple" deed that will convey the royalties to you. Have it filed/recorded in Panola county and ask them to return a copy to you.
As soon as county clerk returns copy, call XTO. Now he will see that you are the owner.
Good luck,
Pat
I wondered that, too, so I clicked on her name and on her homepage she as one friend, John M.
You neglected to point out to J that the Attorney's simple Deed will be to J as Trustee, not her as an individual.
Hard to determine precisely what she needs to do without seeing the paperwork creating the Trust. I assumed it was J's Mother's Will.
Charles, Thank you and Pat for your replies. In my
mom's Trust it states; Trustee (me) shall distribute all interests to JWatters. So I
think I know what documents I need to file with the Recorders Office. Do you
know how much the filing fee is?
Thanks again for your responses. I appreciate the help.
Call 'em.
Good luck,
Pat
If you are the only Beneficiary and there are no other stipulations, such as regarding your not having reached adulthood, it is a simple deed from you as Trustee to yourself as an individual.
But you will need to file the Will, etc. establishing the Trust also.
When Pat said "Call 'em", she meant the County Clerk's Office. They will be able to tell you what it will cost to file the different documents, but you may need a page count of the documents before they can accurately answer you.
Pat, do you want to introduce her to Wade?
No