Hello,
What is the customary time required for mineral interests to be transferred to new owners? In the event that the operator of active wells are non-responsive are there professional organizations who can help owners get funds released from suspense?
My mother passed in May of 2024 and I’ve gone through probate and transferred the mineral properties into her beneficiaries. My mother had a horizontal well come online a month prior to her death in 2024 and several of her wells changed operators between her date of death and close of OK probate which was in Feb of 2026. I have been successful at getting properties transferred to beneficiary and some (not all) payments released from suspense from the date of my mother’s death for all but three of the operators.
Thanks to invaluable inputs on this forum I’ve made my way through identifying my mom’s leases, active and inactive wells and identified the operators. I’m struggling with three of the operators to transfer the properties to the legal beneficiaries and release payments from suspense. I’ve sent packets registered mail, sent emails and multiple phone calls.
Any inputs of what other actions I can take other than to continue to be patient?
Joanna
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You are now in the age of the slimmed downed owner relations department for most companies. Many have elected to make this a contract operation. Your ability to get to a DOA is limited. Those same DOA’s are stacked even more than before with processing. That is the bad news.
The good news is many companies have improved their queue processing. I can tell you that I recently had a 72 hour turn around with Oxy which has had a history of long processing delays. So there is hope that AI is being implemented to expedite processing at some companies. Hopefully, more will follow.
I have found that email threads are very useful to getting in the processing queue faster. Keep those pointed and succinct. Certified/registered mail can serve a purpose, but it tends to slow down your queue entry. Unfortunately there is no secret sauce. After 45 years at this, my best advice is keep great notes, contact information, and be persistent. Good luck with your remaining tasks.
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Have the attorney who handled the probate send a letter reminding them of interest, etc. The world shouldn’t be this way but often an attorney’s letterhead gets faster responses. Probably worth the cost.
Notice: Informational only. No attorney-client relationship is formed by this post. I am an Oklahoma-licensed attorney, but this is not legal advice. Do not share confidential facts in this public space.