Willed mineral rights and just found out - 30 years later

I recently found out that another family member and I were willed 12.5 acres each (mineral rights, grandfather sold surface rights) in Section 20 04N 04W in Garvin County, OK - over 30 years ago. We were both contacted by a land man offering $62,500 each for our mineral rights (contract followed a week later, haven't read fully). 2 hours later on the same day, another call came in from a gentleman representing RimRock who wants to drill a new horizontal well and wants to pay us royalties. This is a new endeavor for us and am just figuring out our options. Our grandfather who passed, settled his estate in Texas and have been told, we will have to go through probate in Oklahoma (which is fine) as some operators apparently will accept an affidavit of heirship and some don't... who knows. I live in another state and am not familiar with it all. From my discovery, there are 15 wells on the property some have been capped and plugged, 1 well is producing Gas (currently) and Oil (back in 1992) and the others are just sitting there. My gut is technology is advancing and the wells may have new life with the advancement of drilling technology. Any advice would be very useful for us. Thank you

David, join the Garvin County group forum as soon as possible and repost there. You will get knowledgeable information from the good folks there. You should also take a look at http://www.occeweb.com/og/Basic%20Information%20417.pdf and http://www.occeweb.com/og/2017%20Database%20Instructions%20Updated%20(2).pdf which will include how to search for unclaimed property at the State Unclaimed Property site and the Unlocated Mineral Owners site of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. When searching these sites, use your name and any other relative names including initials or other name variations. And don't sell your mineral interests unless you really, really need quick cash. Happy learning!

First, the purchase offer of $62,500 is probably quite low at about $5K/acre. Have you been receiving royalties on the well(s) on the property? If not they must be accumulating somewhere and you should check online with the Oklahoma Treasurer's Office to see if you have unclaimed property. An Affidavit of Heirship would probably be enough to receive royalties but if you want to sell you will have to go through probate in Oklahoma as we did. Get a lawyer who is familiar with mineral rights and they can probably do a summary (simplified) probate which will save time and money. What Wesley said is correct and good advice. You might also want to get your own landman to check around for you and see what your mineral rights are worth. A knowledgeable landman is a good source of info and is worth the cost. I've been using R. STORY (Ryan Story), you can contact him (or others) through this forum, just go to the pull down menu at the top of the page "MEMBERS" then "LANDMEN" and search for R STORY (or someone else). A landman can give you a quote of what you need and what the cost will be. Good luck with your minerals.

I have experienced a very similar story over the past year, but for mineral rights (nonparticipating royalty interests) in Blaine County, Oklahoma. I had to settle two estates in the District Court in Watonga which were originally settled in Washington and California many years ago, where the mineral rights were unknown to the heirs, my ancestors. And I do not reside in Oklahoma. Others much more knowledgeable can help you with leasing, royalty interests, well spacing, production decline, etc. As you know there are people on this website who purchase rights and others who just want to help with their knowledge. Suffice it to say, the purchase offers have risen from about $4000/acre to over $14,000/acre. A horizontal well was completed last year and I expect to begin receiving royalties soon. After that happens I plan to write up a summary of events and post it as a kind of case study to inform others. I enlisted a fine attorney, Andrew Karim, of Harrison and Mecklenburg Inc. in Kingfisher and Stillwater, and I can recommend him without reservation. Best of luck!

Thanks Wesley!

I have dived into the occeweb site last week... very helpful. I also had checked with the Treasurer and found 2 old items needed to be claimed and have taken care of that as well. Greatly appreciate your advice.

Best,

David

This is great. More pieces to the puzzle.

Appreciate your advice and referrals!

Kind Regards,

David

Can't wait to see the case study... and thank you for the attorney role

DONT SELL! Investigate your options & sign a leaseā€¦that area is very active right now. Good luck

I am Dealing with this problem in 3 countys