My Uncle created a Family Trust for his heirs, and many years ago his attorneys signed an O&G Lease for property that he had previously deeded away to my mother. Do I have any recourse at this time?
If the trust divested its ownership to your mother and the deed is recorded, then the lease is only effective as to the acreage the Trust still owned, if any. Attorneys typically don’t have authority to sign deeds on behalf of their clients.
Wow. I wish this were the first time I heard of this happening, but it’s not. At least it should be relatively clear who owned the property at the time, who had the right to sign for what, and that the person who signed it was/wasn’t that person. Unfortunately, you’d probably need to contact another attorney to draft the filings for recourse, since the only thing worse would be accidentally filing something false with the county.
I’m guessing you’re unhappy with the lease terms?
To the attorneys in the room: What would cause this to happen? Misunderstanding of what a lease is? Miscommunication of who was POA at the time? Messy/grey legal practices? I’m just genuinely curious.
Without reviewing deed and documents, it is not possible to know what went on. Was a recorded for 100% of the uncle’s interest (or only a portion) before the minerals were assigned to the trust? Did uncle reserve any right to lease on behalf of the mother? Who has been receiving the associated royalties over the years? Any part paid to mother? Did she ratify the lease or grant a power of attorney to the lawyers at that time? Has this issue ever been raised before? Did mother only get a partial interest and later sell to a third party or did she contribute it back to family trust? What about the drilling title opinions which would have reviewed all the deeds? The poster needs to hire an oil and gas title attorney to review all of the documents and determine the legal position.