# mineral.estate - Mineral Estate | Settle the oil and gas minerals in an estate

> Independent landmen for executors, trustees and heirs: an inventory of the estate's oil and gas minerals, county records, and follow-up on suspended royalties.

## Overview & Scope
- **Canonical Domain**: https://mineral.estate/
- **Contact Email**: hello@mineral.estate
- **Phone**: (307) 263-8515
- **Privacy Policy**: https://mineral.estate/privacy.html
- **Terms of Use**: https://mineral.estate/terms.html
- **Access Policy**: Public browser calculators, checklists, and reference guides on this domain are free and ungated. Tract-specific courthouse deed, probate, unit, or division-order record verification is requested through the site inquiry form.

## AI & Structured Data Endpoints
- **Extended Markdown Corpus**: https://mineral.estate/llms-full.txt
- **AI API Index**: https://mineral.estate/api/ai/index.json
- **Site & Page Metadata**: https://mineral.estate/api/ai/site-info.json
- **Canonical FAQ Corpus (6 Q&As)**: https://mineral.estate/api/ai/faq.json
- **XML Sitemap**: https://mineral.estate/sitemap.xml

## Pages, Calculators & Guides
- [Can an executor lease an estate's minerals (TX)? | mineral.estate](https://mineral.estate/can-an-executor-lease-estate-minerals-texas): Texas Estates Code rules on leasing estate minerals under a court order or an independent executor, and on dealing with them under a muniment of title.
- [Dividing inherited mineral rights among siblings (TX)](https://mineral.estate/dividing-mineral-rights-among-siblings-texas): How inherited mineral rights are divided among siblings in Texas: undivided fractional co-tenancy vs. tract-by-tract partition, division order decimal math.
- [Executor mineral deed of distribution in Texas | Mineral Estate](https://mineral.estate/executor-mineral-deed-of-distribution-texas): How an independent executor distributes Texas mineral and royalty interests under Estates Code Chapters 402 and 405.
- [How to list mineral rights on a Texas probate inventory](https://mineral.estate/how-to-list-minerals-on-a-texas-probate-inventory): How an executor lists oil, gas, and mineral interests on a Texas probate inventory under Estates Code Chapter 309, including separate vs. community rules.
- [Mineral Estate | Settle the oil and gas minerals in an estate](https://mineral.estate/): Independent landmen for executors, trustees and heirs: an inventory of the estate's oil and gas minerals, county records, and follow-up on suspended royalties.
- [Muniment of title or letters testamentary (TX) | mineral.estate](https://mineral.estate/muniment-of-title-vs-letters-testamentary-texas): What a muniment of title, letters testamentary and a small estate affidavit each do under the Texas Estates Code.
- [Texas Transfer on Death Deed (TODD) for mineral rights](https://mineral.estate/transfer-on-death-deed-mineral-rights-texas): How a Texas Transfer on Death Deed under Estates Code Chapter 114 applies to mineral and royalty interests, county-by-county pre-death recording rules.

## Key Questions Answered on This Domain
- **The operator has a copy of the will. Why won't it pay?** (https://mineral.estate/)
- **Can the family skip probate?** (https://mineral.estate/)
- **The court wants an inventory. Can you help with the minerals?** (https://mineral.estate/)
- **Why does the date-of-death value matter?** (https://mineral.estate/)
- **Do we need to travel to the counties?** (https://mineral.estate/)
- **Should the family sell the minerals?** (https://mineral.estate/)

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## Full Page Summaries & Sections

### Can an executor lease an estate's minerals (TX)? | mineral.estate
- **URL**: https://mineral.estate/can-an-executor-lease-estate-minerals-texas
- **Headline**: Can an executor sign an oil and gas lease for an estate's minerals in Texas?
- **Summary**: Texas Estates Code rules on leasing estate minerals under a court order or an independent executor, and on dealing with them under a muniment of title.
- **Sections**: On this page; 1Who signs, by route; 2A court-supervised administration; 3A worked example; 4An independent administration; 5A muniment of title, or no probate yet; 6Royalties and the estate's money; Sources
  - An operator or landman wants to lease minerals that belonged to someone who died. Whether the executor can sign, and what has to happen first, depends on how the estate is being handled. This page follows the Estates Code through each route.
  - This is general information, not legal advice. It covers Texas law only, and it covers leases, not sales of estate minerals. Whether a particular lease is authorized is for an attorney and the court.
  - It depends on how the estate is being handled. In a court-supervised administration, the Estates Code lets the probate court authorize the personal representative to make an oil and gas lease. That takes a written application, a hearing on published or posted notice (or, on stated facts, a private-sale order), and an order that names the lessee and carries a copy of the lease. For a lease authorized after public notice, the lease has to be made not later than the 30th day after the order unless the court extends the time on a sworn application showing good cause, and its authorized primary term may not exceed five years, subject to lease terms that extend it (sections 358.057 and 358.059). Unless the title specifically provides otherwise, an independent executor may take without a court order any action that a supervised representative may take with or without one, and section 402.054 names the authority to enter into a lease (sections 402.002 and 402.054). Where the will was admitted as a muniment of title, a person entitled under the will may deal with the property as if record title were vested in that person (section 257.102(b)). Chapters 257 and 358 do not say who signs a lease on that route. Which of these fits an estate depends on the papers the court has entered, and an attorney reads those.

### Dividing inherited mineral rights among siblings (TX)
- **URL**: https://mineral.estate/dividing-mineral-rights-among-siblings-texas
- **Headline**: Dividing inherited mineral rights among siblings in Texas: undivided shares, decimals, and co-tenancy
- **Summary**: How inherited mineral rights are divided among siblings in Texas: undivided fractional co-tenancy vs. tract-by-tract partition, division order decimal math.
- **Sections**: On this page; 1Undivided fractional shares vs. physical partition; 2When one sibling gets the surface ranch; 3Can one sibling lease without the others?; 4How operator decimals split across siblings; Request an estate mineral review; Contact; Entity
  - When a parent leaves mineral rights to two, three, or four children, how the estate distributes them determines whether every sibling shares in every future well or ends up holding separate tracts with wildly different outcomes.
  - This is general information from professional landmen, not legal advice. An attorney advises the executor and beneficiaries on distribution agreements and deeds.
  - In Texas, when a will leaves the estate (or the mineral estate) to multiple children in equal shares, they take as tenants in common (undivided co-tenants). Instead of splitting a 120-acre tract into three separate 40-acre parcels, each of three siblings takes an undivided one-third (1/3) fractional interest across the entire 120 acres. That keeps geological risk identical for every sibling: if a horizontal lateral crosses the north 40 acres or the south 40 acres, all three siblings share equally in the pooled unit. Once the transfer is recorded in the county deed records, the operator sets up a separate owner number and division order for each sibling at one-third of the parent's Net Revenue Interest (NRI) decimal, and each sibling can independently sign leases or hold their share.

### Executor mineral deed of distribution in Texas | Mineral Estate
- **URL**: https://mineral.estate/executor-mineral-deed-of-distribution-texas
- **Headline**: Executor mineral deed of distribution in Texas: putting probated minerals on record in each county
- **Summary**: How an independent executor distributes Texas mineral and royalty interests under Estates Code Chapters 402 and 405.
- **Sections**: On this page; 1Why home-county probate leaves a county-clerk gap; 2Independent executor authority (Chapters 402 & 405); 3Distribution deed vs. certified probate packet; 4What to verify before the estate's attorney drafts the deed; Request an estate mineral review; Contact; Entity
  - Probating a will in the county where the decedent lived does not put the transfer into the deed records of the rural counties where the wells are located. This guide explains how independent administration distribution works under Chapters 402 and 405 of the Texas Estates Code, and what county recording an operator looks for.
  - This is general information from professional landmen, not legal advice. Only a licensed Texas attorney may draft a deed of distribution for an estate.
  - When a Texas decedent leaves a lawful will, title to devised property vests immediately in the devisees at death, subject to estate debts and the personal representative's right of possession during administration (Texas Estates Code §§ 101.001, 101.003, 101.051). Once an independent executor has qualified and handled administration under Chapter 402, closing the transfer in the county where the minerals lie requires placing the chain of title into that county's Official Public Records. Most families and estate attorneys do that either by recording an Executor's Mineral Distribution Deed (often paired with certified copies of the Will and Order Admitting Will to Probate) or by recording certified copies of the probate proceedings in each mineral county so the Grantee index reflects the living beneficiaries.

### How to list mineral rights on a Texas probate inventory
- **URL**: https://mineral.estate/how-to-list-minerals-on-a-texas-probate-inventory
- **Headline**: How to list mineral rights on a Texas probate inventory
- **Summary**: How an executor lists oil, gas, and mineral interests on a Texas probate inventory under Estates Code Chapter 309, including separate vs. community rules.
- **Sections**: On this page; 1What Chapter 309 requires; 2Inventory vs. Affidavit in Lieu of Inventory; 3What goes into each mineral line; 4Newly discovered tracts (§ 309.101); Request an estate mineral review; Contact; Entity
  - Within 90 days after qualifying, a Texas personal representative must file a verified inventory, appraisement, and list of claims, or an affidavit in lieu of inventory when eligible. Here is what Chapter 309 of the Texas Estates Code requires for real property located in Texas, and how check stubs and county deeds turn into schedule lines.
  - This is general information from professional landmen, not legal or tax advice. The estate's attorney prepares and files the court inventory, and a qualified appraiser or CPA handles valuation and tax basis.
  - Under Texas Estates Code § 309.051, a personal representative must prepare and file (or hold, if filing an affidavit in lieu under § 309.056) a full, verified inventory of all estate real property located in Texas within 90 days after qualifying, unless the court extends the deadline. Because minerals in place and royalty interests are real property under Texas law, each Texas mineral or royalty interest belongs on the real-property schedule with enough detail (county, survey/abstract or unit description, interest type, and whether the asset is separate or community property under § 309.051(a)(1)) that a beneficiary, division order analyst, or subsequent title examiner can link the probate schedule to the county deed records. Pre-death royalty suspense owed to the decedent at the date of death is personal property / a claim due the estate under § 309.052.

### Mineral Estate | Settle the oil and gas minerals in an estate
- **URL**: https://mineral.estate/
- **Headline**: Settle the oil and gas minerals in an estate.
- **Summary**: Independent landmen for executors, trustees and heirs: an inventory of the estate's oil and gas minerals, county records, and follow-up on suspended royalties.
- **Sections**: Every line gets a status; How an estate review goes; How to read a royalty check stub; How the minerals change hands; Where the money goes while it waits; Decimal worksheet; Key to the abbreviations; Questions executors ask
  - For executors, trustees, heirs and the attorneys helping them. We're independent landmen. We list the mineral and royalty interests we can find in the records and the papers you send, work the county records where they lie, and work the operators toward paying the new owners, including money held in suspense.
  - Rather talk it through? Call (307) 263-8515
  - We're landmen, not attorneys. Any work starts only under a written engagement letter.

### Muniment of title or letters testamentary (TX) | mineral.estate
- **URL**: https://mineral.estate/muniment-of-title-vs-letters-testamentary-texas
- **Headline**: Muniment of title or letters testamentary: what each one does for an estate's minerals
- **Summary**: What a muniment of title, letters testamentary and a small estate affidavit each do under the Texas Estates Code.
- **Sections**: On this page; 1Title, authority and proof; 2Letters testamentary; 3Muniment of title; 4When there is no will; 5Whose claim the Comptroller may approve; 6What an operator asks for; 7A worked example
  - A Texas will can be probated in more than one way, and each way leaves the family holding a different paper. This page walks through what the Estates Code says each paper does, and what it leaves open, when an operator or the Comptroller asks who is entitled to a decedent's minerals.
  - This is general information, not legal advice. It covers Texas law only. It leaves out who inherits when there is no will and affidavits of heirship. That is heirship work, and our sister site heir.land does heirship research. Which route an estate takes is for an attorney and the court.
  - A Texas will is not effective to prove title to, or the right to possession of, the property it disposes of until a court admits it to probate. Once it is admitted, an estate ends up holding one of two main papers. With letters testamentary, an executor has qualified and the clerk issues a certificate that is sufficient evidence of the appointment, the qualification and the date of qualification. With a muniment of title, the court is satisfied that the estate owes no unpaid debt other than one secured by a lien on real estate, or finds for another reason that there is no necessity for administration, and Chapter 257 has no provision for appointing an executor. The muniment order is sufficient legal authority for each person who owes money to the estate, has custody of property, acts as registrar or transfer agent of any evidence of interest, indebtedness, property, or right belonging to the estate, or purchases from or otherwise deals with the estate, to pay or transfer without administration the applicable asset without liability to a person described in the will as entitled to receive the asset. Neither paper settles what a particular operator or title examiner will ask for on top of it.

### Texas Transfer on Death Deed (TODD) for mineral rights
- **URL**: https://mineral.estate/transfer-on-death-deed-mineral-rights-texas
- **Headline**: Texas Transfer on Death Deed (TODD) for mineral rights: Chapter 114 rules and county recording
- **Summary**: How a Texas Transfer on Death Deed under Estates Code Chapter 114 applies to mineral and royalty interests, county-by-county pre-death recording rules.
- **Sections**: On this page; 1Mandatory requirements under § 114.055; 2What happens during the owner's lifetime (§ 114.101); 3What happens at death (§ 114.103); 4Common mineral TODD failures we see in title examination; Request an estate mineral review; Contact; Entity
  - Under the Texas Real Property Transfer on Death Act (Estates Code Chapter 114), an individual may transfer an interest in Texas real property to one or more beneficiaries effective at the transferor's death. Here are the statutory requirements and common pitfalls when the asset is an oil, gas, or mineral interest.
  - This is general information from professional landmen, not legal advice. Only a licensed Texas attorney may prepare a Transfer on Death Deed or advise on estate planning.
  - Texas Estates Code § 114.051 authorizes an individual to transfer the transferor's interest in real property to one or more beneficiaries effective at the transferor's death by a Transfer on Death Deed (TODD), and § 114.002(5) defines "real property" as an interest in real property located in this state (which in Texas includes severed mineral interests and royalty interests in place). To be effective under § 114.055, a TODD must contain the essential elements and formalities of a recordable deed, state that the transfer of the interest to the designated beneficiary is to occur at the transferor's death, and be recorded before the transferor's death in the deed records in the county clerk's office of the county where the real property is located. A TODD is revocable during life, cannot be created by a power of attorney (§ 114.054), and transfers the interest at death without covenant of warranty of title (§ 114.103(d)).

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## Complete FAQ Reference

### Q: The operator has a copy of the will. Why won't it pay?
A: A will isn't proof of who owns the minerals until it's probated, and a probate order from one state has to be on record in the county where the minerals lie. Operators pay on what the county records and their division order department accept, because paying the wrong person means paying twice.
Source: https://mineral.estate/

### Q: Can the family skip probate?
A: Sometimes. In Texas an affidavit of heirship or a muniment of title does it for many families. Some operators want more for large interests, and some Oklahoma operators want a court order. That's a legal call for an attorney; we list what each operator and county has asked for.
Source: https://mineral.estate/

### Q: The court wants an inventory. Can you help with the minerals?
A: In a Texas administration the executor files an inventory, appraisement and list of claims, usually within 90 days of qualifying (Tex. Est. Code § 309.051). Minerals are often the hardest lines on it. We can build the mineral lines; the filing is the executor's.
Source: https://mineral.estate/

### Q: Why does the date-of-death value matter?
A: It's generally the new tax basis for the heirs (IRC § 1014), which matters if they sell later. That value takes an appraisal. The inventory, with decimals and recent check history, is what the appraiser works from. Talk it over with a CPA.
Source: https://mineral.estate/

### Q: Do we need to travel to the counties?
A: Usually not. Most record searches and operator correspondence can be done remotely. Signatures go in front of a notary wherever you live.
Source: https://mineral.estate/

### Q: Should the family sell the minerals?
A: That's a separate decision, and a better one made after title is settled, since settled title in the county records draws better offers. Get more than one offer, and ask each buyer whose side it's on.
Source: https://mineral.estate/