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Heirs got a lease offer. Who signs, and for what share?
When minerals pass to heirs, the company needs every heir's share leased. Offers often go to each heir separately, sometimes before the estate is settled, and each heir signs for their own share.
What to do first
- Find whose name the minerals are in.Until a will is probated or heirship is recorded, the county records may still show the person who died.
- Work out your share.Each heir's net acres are the tract acres, times the fraction the person who died owned, times that heir's share. If your mother owned all the minerals under 80 acres and left them equally to four children, each child has 20 net mineral acres. The company should show you its number.
- Read the warranty clause.Heirs often cannot know the full history of the title, so a narrower warranty matters more here.
- Expect paperwork.Companies may ask for a death certificate, an affidavit of heirship or probate records. Ask what they need and why.
- Decide whether to sign together.Heirs often compare offers so everyone signs on the same terms, but each heir decides for their own share.
For help with the estate's records beyond the lease, landman.help answers broader owner questions.
Common questions
Can one heir sign an oil and gas lease for everyone?
Generally each heir signs for their own share, unless someone holds authority to sign for others, such as an executor given that power. Ask the company whose signatures it needs.
Do we have to finish probate before leasing inherited minerals?
Not always. Companies sometimes accept an affidavit of heirship or other records. Ask what the company will accept.
Send it before you sign
Tell us what you got and what you want to know. We reply by email and tell you how to send the pages. A landman reads them and sends back a one-page review sheet.
Email hello@landman.review with what you got and your question, or call (307) 263-8515.