Since the last plea for help turned out so well I figured I'd come to you guys again and ask for help/advice in another area I'm not so good in....real estate law/research/trust funds.

For as long as I can remember my mother has told of this land in Oklahoma that our family owns. It was aquired from the Homestead Act in the 1800s and has been in my family every since. Her father was the only member who never sold his share and thru the years as other relatives sold their land the family retained mineral/gas? rights to the property. In the 80s I remember my mother and uncle driving to Oklahoma and initiating some sort of lease where each of her brothers and sisters got a check monthly from some oil company. Thru the years the amount of money got smaller and smaller and eventually the oil company did not renew the lease and the oil wells went inactive.

For whatever reason 2 years ago my mom has decided to inquire about the state of affairs down there and has been hitting wall after wall. First, none of us want to spend money to inquire b/c we all think it's kind of a tall tale. So, my mother apparently started conversing with her 2nd cousin in Charlotte who is friends with a member of the state congress (senate I believe) and this friend got in touch with an attorney or two who talked to a few in Oklahoma who flew to Charlotte and met with this 2nd cousin and informed her that the Oklahoma Treasurer has some $2.4billion (yes, billion) in trust for the heirs of my great great grandfather.

My mom told me this 2 nights ago and was elated b/c she said this cousin was going to fly my mom and her brothers and sisters to Oklahoma to present their proof of birth, etc. My mom is the only family member who retains the deed, birth certificates, etc so yesterday she tells me that no they don't want to fly everyone out they just want my mom to give up the docs and they will settle the estate for everyone else.

So, I'm still doubting all of this very much. I know my mom doesn't have the means either financially or physically to see this process thru so I have offered to help but only if I can substantiate this somewhat BEFORE I pay for us to fly down there.

I have contacted unclaimed property of Oklahoma yesterday via email and got this response:


Kristie,

We show no listings in our data base for your mother. You may want to contact the Cleveland County Assessor's office to see if they might have record of this.

(http://cleveland.oklahoma.usassessor.com/Shared/base/Office/Announcements.php)


Assessor's Office Information
Assessor :
Denise Heavner

Physical Address :
201 South Jones, Rm. 120
Norman, OK 73069

Mailing Address :
Same

E-Mail Address :
dheavner@okco14.org (dheavner@okco14.org)

Phone :
(405) 366-0230

Fax :
(405) 366-0234

Office Hours :
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.


Respectfully,

OST - Unclaimed Property Division
4545 N Lincoln Blvd Ste # 106

Oklahoma City, OK 73105-3413


My mom has given me all the names and numbers she has including the recent leaser of the oil wells (whose lease is up in April). She has talked to someone who confirmed there were wells on the property. I always ask about taxes and such but my mom tells me that is covered by whoever leases the property for oil, they agree in the contract to pay for the property taxes and all taxes are current on the property.

I really have no frigging clue where to go with this. Should I contact an attorney in the area or should I contact one here? I'm a realist and I never believe anything that sounds too good to be true but I have seen the deed and the contracts and have seen my mom receive her cut in years past for the oil drilled on the property.

Other details:
160 acres in Noble, Oklahoma Cleveland County
My mom's family has never sold some 4acres of this property and they have mineral rights to the other 156 acres that was sold.

Any help insight advice is appreciated. I hate to sound like an ass but I don't believe my family or my mom always but she has been so intent on this mission for the past couple of years that she really believes something so I figure why not find out what I can, while I can b/c she is aging and not getting around very well anymore.

Wow, I wish I could help.. My wife is from Oklahoma makes me wonder what there family has..lol

Land with oil wells...SISTER...my long lost sister.

I'd try to find a lawyer in OK. but not in cleveland county or any one neighboring it. something sounds fishy here and even if its only a 10th of what they say i wouldnt trust anyone. remember the worlds biggest crooks wear business suits and wield law degrees.

I'm not really sure what your question is because your post is kind of all over the place. Are you looking for information on your mom's property? Are you looking for information on your family's trust?

You mentioned the current lease agreement with the by oil/gas companies ends in April. After April, if the land is not currently being leased, as it had been in the past, then the owner (your mom) owes property taxes on it.

As your BFF at the OST-Unclaimed Property Division mentioned, go to the Cleveland County Assesors website and you can see the last appraised value of the land your mom owns.

Regarding the leasing of the land, I would say whoever hanlded the dealings in the past to continue let them dealing with it. From the sounds of things (and prior stories you've told), it doesn't sound like your mom was doing the negotiating with the natural resource companies to lease the property lol. There had to have been a lawyer representing your family during these negotiations. :confused:

For an attorney, it doesn't really matter if you contact someone in Oklahoma or in your area. Just make sure it is someone you can trust. Since you jsut went through a custody battle, i'm sure the attorney you used for that would be a good place to start for references in the legal community. Possibly they could recommend a lawyer who is well versed in estate planning.

Call the Oklahoma Treasuery Dept and find out exactly what your heirs set up. If there is a trust fund waiting to be collected don't accept it until next year when the estate tax is *hopefully* 0%. CUrrently the estate tax is set to be repealed for the year 2010. President-elect Obama has stated he will not change this and allow it to be repealed in 2010. However, I am willing to bet he is full of shit and will fuck you out of it in the coming months :)

Lastly don't fly anywhere simply because your "second cousin" thinks its a good idea :( Get the information yourself first.

If you have any questions just ask and I will do my best to help. I gave general answers because your post was somewhat vague.

Unless you have reason to believe that your great great grandfather was extremely wealthy (which wouldn't be something you'd just be finding out, probably), someone's trying to scam you. Even with 120-150 years of interest, you're talking about millions of (1800s) dollars initially invested.

Be careful.

I'd have to say that someone is scamming your cousin as well from the sound of it. Nothing in Oklahoma is worth 2.4 billion dollars, and if it was the State would not hold on to it for decades waiting for some wandering scion of a deceased citizen to collect it.

I'd have to say that someone is scamming your cousin as well from the sound of it. Nothing in Oklahoma is worth 2.4 billion dollars, and if it was the State would not hold on to it for decades waiting for some wandering scion of a deceased citizen to collect it.


I tend to agree with M's last point... If it were 2.4b they would be looking to unload it fast as they can so they could reap the tax profit off it. But it's interesting.

Yes this is all pretty much what I've been telling my mom.

Apologies for my post being all over the place b/c well I am myself. I don't know where to go or what to do with this information and I'm trying to discern where to even start. My great great grandfather actually was quite wealthy, his kids upon his death however gobbled up everything left behind and even after my grandfather and grandmother's deaths my mom and her siblings have done an excellent job at selling off everything of worth either of them left their kids too.

The attorney I used for my niece is a family law attorney in podunk NC. He has already told me he couldn't help me and suggested I look for someone in Oklahoma.

The scam isn't on me, more than anything I want to put this to rest before my mom is no longer able to function. She talks about this stuff constantly and has been for years now, it dominates every conversation with her b/c she honestly believes she has some pile of money with her name on it down there.

My plan is to make contact with the assessor and I guess call the bar for an attorney down there? I don't really know which is why I made this post =\

Makes for a great read.. Keep us updated.

I sent an inquiry to the tax assessor and asked for a law firm (in OKC) to call me back. I guess we'll see where it goes.

So where is the Nigerean?

:)

So here is the Tax Assessor's reply. I sent this to my family and they are all like OMG conspiracy conspiracy that's not right. Jeeeeeeeezus. So I'm waiting for the attorney to call back so we can discuss all this. And for my mom to fax me copies of the deed(s) so I have a better understanding of WTF I'm looking for. I'm already dreading this rabbit hole =\


The only real estate surface rights ownership I found in the Noble area under xxxxx was a xacre tract owned by xxxxx(1/2 interest) and x and xxxx (1/2 interest). Look on our website, www.clevelandcountyassessor.us (http://www.clevelandcountyassessor.us/), for account number xxxx to get the legal description and other info. I didn’t find anything under the name xxxx in the Noble area. I would suggest you contact an abstract company to research further if you don’t think the xxx acre tract is the one you are looking for. There are several in Norman: American First Abstract, Cleveland County Abstract. First American Title, and Alliance Title—to name a few. I’m sure they all have attorneys on staff.

Our office doesn’t track mineral/gas rights. Please contact the county clerk’s office at 405-366-0240 to see if they can help you. I doubt they have enough staff to do detailed research but they can tell you whether that is possible.

Sorry I couldn’t help further.

Denise Heavner
Cleveland County Assessor

I'm already dreading this rabbit hole =\




Beware the Jabberwocky! Or would that be the Jabber-Okie?

Update on this.

The attorney finally got back in touch with me and I put him and my mom in contact. Time to see where it goes from there :)

Don't forget the little people when you're rich.