You inherited minerals. Do these in order.

Gather the papers: certified death certificates, the will, and the deeds, leases, division orders and latest royalty stubs. Look up each lease named on the stubs to see who operates it. Then write to each operator's owner relations, give the owner's number and date of death, and ask what it needs to pay the heirs. Also search ClaimItTexas in case money has already gone to the state.

The payor decides what proof it needs to pay you, and it may hold payments without interest until it has proof of who now owns the interest (Natural Resources Code section 91.402(b)). A will can be admitted to probate as a muniment of title when the estate owes no debts other than real-estate liens, or there is no need for administration (Estates Code section 257.001). Ask each payor what it accepts.

A will cannot be admitted to probate after the fourth anniversary of the death unless the applicant shows they were not in default in failing to present it in time. If the will is admitted after that date, letters testamentary cannot be issued unless the application was filed by the fourth anniversary (Estates Code section 256.003).

It is a sworn statement of the family history and the identity of the heirs. A court receives a recorded affidavit as prima facie evidence of the facts in it once it has been in the county deed records for five years (Estates Code section 203.001). Whether a payor accepts one sooner is up to the payor. The Comptroller also accepts an affidavit of heirship for an unprobated will when the claim is under $10,000 and the will's beneficiaries are the same people who would inherit with no will.

Start with royalty stubs and 1099s, since each names a lease or an operator. Look each lease up in the state record. The county courthouse where the land sits holds the leases and royalty documents. Search ClaimItTexas for the owner's name, because royalties unclaimed for three years are sent to the Comptroller.

Look up a lease

Each heir's decimal is a share of the owner's, so each check is a share of the old check. Small amounts can also be held: a payor may accrue payments of $100 or less for up to 12 months, and may hold amounts under $10 until production ceases. On written request it must pay annually if the amount is under $10, and monthly if it is between $25 and $100 (Natural Resources Code section 91.402(f)).

Royalty income you receive is reported as royalty income, on Schedule E line 4. Your basis in inherited property is generally its fair market value at the date of death. The taxes guide walks through the 1099, severance tax and depletion.

Royalty income, taxes and your 1099

It depends on the family and on whether the minerals were separate or community property. Estates Code chapter 201 sets the shares among a spouse, children and other relatives.

No. The payor holds them for the owners of the interest, and may hold them without interest until it has proof of who owns it now. Once the papers are in, ask for everything held since the death.

The value at the date of death is generally the heirs' tax basis, or the value six months later if the estate elects the alternate valuation date, and it matters for any estate return. The lease's state production record and the prices of the months before the death give a defensible figure.

See every interest under a name, valued at the date of death