If you have received a call or letter from us, we have most likely identified you as a missing heir to a producing royalty property located somewhere in the USA. Below are some of the frequently asked questions.
How can I own something I do not know?
Its not out of the ordinary for a person to own a royalty interest and not know about it. There are literally thousands of owners of producing royalty properties and many of them do not know they are owners. One of your distant ancestors may have owned surface property and reserved all or part of the minerals or royalty when it was sold. That ancestor then died, possibly without a will (intestate), and the deed records of the county where the surface property is located will not show the subsequent heirs to the reserved mineral or royalty property. These interests are now lost and the oil purchasers are not inclined to spend, time, money or effort to locate the current owners. It is easier for the oil purchaser to send your royalty money to the State. It is a process called escheat.
There are situations where determining heirship can be so difficult, so time consuming, and so expensive that it will never be done until a group like us takes on the genealogy puzzle and figures it out.
Nevertheless, you may own a sizable royalty or a very small royalty, but you won’t know until we have a look at it.
What is a royalty interest property?
Oil and gas royalty is ownership of a portion of the revenue produced by oil and gas production from a tract of land. It is not surface ownership of the land but is royalty revenue from the oil and gas that is located below the surface of the land.
How much money can I expect to receive from my royalty interest?
That is a loaded question and one that we cannot answer accurately. There are several factors that come into play – including the size of the reserved royalty, the number of heirs, your % of the royalty interest reserved, the amount of oil and gas that has been produced and sold and will be produced and sold. It is probably not lottery money, but be assured, if we have contacted you, we believe it will be worthwhile. There are times where there is no money at all, and more of a potential in the future.
What is money in Suspense and Escheat money?
Suspense money is revenue generated from the royalty interest you are an heir to. This money will be kept by the mineral purchaser for up to four years, and then the money stands the chance of getting sent to the state. Once the money gets sent to the state (Escheat), it is very difficult to get it back.
How fast does the process take if we agree to work with you?
It depends, but normally 2-6 months – it really depends on how complicated the heirship is of the property we are working to clear, how available genealogy artifacts are to us, and mineral operator we are dealing. Sometimes we are required to order specific kinds of probate files that take months for us to get. There are various reasons why it is not a super quick process, but we make it as fast as possible.