I am trying to help my mother locate unknown mineral rights thru out all Texas cntys and maybe other states. She was left all Real properties from a friend in his will and a list of them. In the Will it just says all Real Properties,but he had given her a list of the ones he could remember and she transfered those pretty easy. I am asking this question because she has had some landmen track her down for some she did not have on the list. She needs to either find the rest of uknown ones in Texas or other states possibly, are make it easier for landmen to find her. What happens to a mineral right if an operator cannot locate a living mineral right owner,where does the proceeds go and who pays the taxes on it?
In Texas, if the operator can't find the mineral owner to pay, they put the money in a receivership with the state. You can look on the states unclaimed property website to see if there is any money due either your mother or the friend that left her the minerals.
Tracking down all of the minerals that your mother may own would probably be a very long expensive process. If you know of some counties that she may own minerals in, you could simply file an affidavit saying that she owns everything previously owned by her friend and then provide current contact information on the affidavit.
Thanks for your response.We have another ? about getting a known mineral right changed over to her name. She already changed her name with the county for tax purposes and payed the back taxes owed to the school and cnty that were owed on that mineral property left to her. She owns a percentage of that mineral right with others and she has spoke with others that have been paying taxes on that lease based on,I guess,what the operator has made. None of those people on that ownership has recieved any royalties from that operator. She has sent certified letters to the address on record with that county and the railroad commission and recieves the letter back saying no receptacle at that address.She then can send a letter normal with just a stamp and put it in your box,same address and it does not come back,by the way lease is in a Texas county and the operators address is in Missouri. She is trying to get that operator to change his records to her name by sending him the right information and forms as she has done with other operators but cannot get a response from him. How do you go about seeing what royalties are owed to you,espeacially when your having to pay taxes to cnty and school on something you haven't seen? File a lawsuit in that county angainst that operator? Myranda Shugart said:
In Texas, if the operator can't find the mineral owner to pay, they put the money in a receivership with the state. You can look on the states unclaimed property website to see if there is any money due either your mother or the friend that left her the minerals.
Tracking down all of the minerals that your mother may own would probably be a very long expensive process. If you know of some counties that she may own minerals in, you could simply file an affidavit saying that she owns everything previously owned by her friend and then provide current contact information on the affidavit.
Actually, an attorney ad litem is appointed to represent the fractional mineral owner and certain conditions must be met.
The oil company lawyer, landman and attorney ad litem appear in court to plead that the judge will allow the attorney ad litem to negotiate a lease on behalf of the unknown. In most cases to which I have been associated, the County Clerk is appointed as the receiver. The monies are then deposited to the registry of the court where they are kept a number of years before being escheated to the state. The whole process takes about 70 days or so.
Since an actual lease is created and filed, it will be searchable in the clerk's record.
Myranda Shugart said:
In Texas, if the operator can't find the mineral owner to pay, they put the money in a receivership with the state. You can look on the states unclaimed property website to see if there is any money due either your mother or the friend that left her the minerals.
Tracking down all of the minerals that your mother may own would probably be a very long expensive process. If you know of some counties that she may own minerals in, you could simply file an affidavit saying that she owns everything previously owned by her friend and then provide current contact information on the affidavit.
we have filed the probate in that county and called the # on file with railroad commission and sent certified letters that come back as no receptacle but when we send a letter by regular postage it does not seem to come back as no receptacle and we have spoke to other partners in this mineral property and they all say the same thing they just get a tax bill from the cnty and ISD, so this must be a producing operator or we would not be getting taxed. Thanks for your response
Myranda Shugart said:
Do you mind me asking what county and what operator? You can PM me if you want.
Have you filed an affidavit or a copy of the probate with the County Clerk for that county?
I'm sure you have tried calling the division order department of the operator, right?
We already have the mineral right changed over to my mothers name with that county and payed the back taxes owed to the county and school. As far as we know the operator is reporting income or we would not be getting a tax bill for our share that we are not getting. This operator will not respond to our efforts to get the named changed in his records from the deceased owner to hers. Our certified letters come back no receptacle but mailed letters by regular postage and they do not come back,it is like the operator would like to keep the name in his records unchanged. Can an attorney ad litem get info on a address of an operator other than what the county, school district and railroad commision have on their record? It seems as though the lease is already negotiated or we would not be getting taxed for our share, right? Do we really have to negotiate another lease since apparantly royalties are already being paid? Also this lease has changed names by being bought out by one operator after another and the back taxes we paid show those operators name on the tax bills and those operators never paid a dime to the deceased owner either.Is the present operator responsible for those past years royalties not paid? Thanks for all your knowlage in this matter. Buddy Cotten said:
Actually, an attorney ad litem is appointed to represent the fractional mineral owner and certain conditions must be met.
The oil company lawyer, landman and attorney ad litem appear in court to plead that the judge will allow the attorney ad litem to negotiate a lease on behalf of the unknown. In most cases to which I have been associated, the County Clerk is appointed as the receiver. The monies are then deposited to the registry of the court where they are kept a number of years before being escheated to the state. The whole process takes about 70 days or so.
Since an actual lease is created and filed, it will be searchable in the clerk's record.
Best,
Buddy Cotten
Mineral Manager
Myranda Shugart said:
In Texas, if the operator can't find the mineral owner to pay, they put the money in a receivership with the state. You can look on the states unclaimed property website to see if there is any money due either your mother or the friend that left her the minerals.
Tracking down all of the minerals that your mother may own would probably be a very long expensive process. If you know of some counties that she may own minerals in, you could simply file an affidavit saying that she owns everything previously owned by her friend and then provide current contact information on the affidavit.
If you are sure that the taxes that you are paying on the well are current taxes and not back taxes, then yes there should be reported income on the well of some kind. Have you checked with the RRC to see if/what type of production the property has reported?
There are several different scenarios that could be happening. You are doing the right thing by refusing to let this go.
Hi Myranda, and thanks for your reply again. We have spoken to the RRC and they report this well is producing OIL and Gas. They advised us to send a certified letter, which we did. You know that story. The taxes are being paid to Jackson County, Texas every year. They provided us with a list of mineral rights owners of which we have contacted a few of them. One in particular says she hasn't received a check in a very long time. I encourage you to google Pitchfork in Texas and see what you get. Very discouraging information for lease owners. After speaking with other land men on other leases we have, they all say the same thing when you inquire on Pitchfork. They all say good luck on that one. We have spoken to one attorney here in Texas who refuses to deal with anything in Texas,. Says we are the most difficult state when it comes to oil and gas leases. We appreciate all the advise you are giving us. Thanks and have a great day.