My mother lived in Oklahoma 20 years and Washington State 70 years. She said in her Washington will that all mineral rights, and we’re not talking significant percentages, are to go to me. There are mineral rights in Logan and Custer County, too. It’s taken months, but all the oil companies say I have to probate in Oklahoma, unless I want to do an Affadavit of Heirship and divide it among people following the state’s laws of intestate. I don’t want to do that. I want to follow my mom’s will. How do I begin? Can you recommend legal professionals in Oklahoma who did a good job for you and can probate for all four parcels with her fraction of mineral rights in three counties? Are professional recommendations allowed on this site? Thank you.
You may be able to partition for Summary Administration. I do not know of an attorney in Logan or Custer Co. however an attorney who specializes in estates should be able to help you. Click on the link below for an explanation of Summary Administration.
The operators are correct. My mother also died outside of Oklahoma. We had to probate her out-of-state will in the home state and then file a foreign probate in Oklahoma. You need to start with a Washington state attorney. If you do not have one, you can go to the Washington state bar association website and look up family law or probate attorney specialists. Once the will is probated in WA, then that attorney may be able to recommend someone in OK. Or come back here and someone on the forum may be able to recommend an OK attorney to do the second part. If the estate is small, it may not be very expensive.
Use the search magnifying glass to look up comments on inheriting by Tim Dowd and Richard Winblad, both OK attorneys who have given some good answers on the topic.
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This is a rare time that I’ll disagree with Martha. A Will of a non-resident can be probated in Oklahoma even if it has not been probated in the home state. This is done by summary administration. If there is no reason for a Washington probate (ask a Washington attorney if inheritance taxes are an issue) then you can skip that step and expense.
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.
I bow to the legal expert!
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Martha Barnes, I posted this before Richard disagreed with you. Are you able to see my answers and posts? Not sure if Elle-Bee can see my post on Summary Administration. Summary Administration does have some limitations one being that the estate must not be over $200k. §58-245. Petition for summary administration - Conditions - Requirements. :: 2014 Oklahoma Statutes :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia
Oklahoma summary administration is available if any of the following conditions apply:
- The decedent resided outside of Oklahoma at the time of death (no dollar limit);
- The decedent has been deceased more than 5 years (no dollar limit); or
- The estate is valued at or less than $200,000.
Therefore, the estate of a deceased Washington resident can be probated in Oklahoma regardless of the value of the estate.
This post is not legal, tax or investment advice. Reading or responding to this post does not create an attorney/client relationship.
Thank you for all the great information. I am in probate in Washington since my mom had lived there 70 years and decided to leave a will instead of name beneficiaries, have a trust, or a deed or any of the more efficient and less expensive ways of divising an estate. I have big opinions about wills now that I’m six months and $10,000 into attorneys and probate. Oklahoma next.
All four oil companies have said it’s a “foreign” will and I either have to (A) provide an Affadavit of Heirship in each county; or (B) probate in Oklahoma. I don’t want to do an Affadavit of Heirship because it will divide very small mineral rights into 1/3, 1/3, 1/6, 1/6. Those were not my mom’s wishes. There are other reasons why I don’t want to do that, and it’s definitely not money.
I will try to understand summary administration. I fall under #1 The decedent resided outside of OK at the time of death. Okay, here I go. Lori (Elle-Bee)