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Texas Oil and Gas Royalty Inheritance Lawsuits, Texas Mineral Interest Beneficiary Lawsuits, Texas Oil and Real Estate Trustee Fraud Lawsuits, and Texas Real Estate Inheritance & Will Probate Lawsuits
by Texas Oil Royalty, Mineral Interest, & Real Estate Inheritance, Probate, Guardian, and Trust Lawyer Jason S. Coomer

Texas Oil Royalty, Mineral Interest, and Real Estate Lawyer and Inheritance, Trust, and Probate Lawyer Jason S. Coomer helps beneficiaries, heirs, royalty interest owners, working interest owners, and families claim their rightful share of family inheritance and family trust funds including oil royalties, mineral interests, bank accounts, stocks, gold, family jewelry, family businesses, real estate, lake houses, ranch land, farms, rental houses, and family homes.  He handles Texas trust litigation, probate issues, will contests, estate issues, guardianship cases, breach of fiduciary duty cases, oil & gas litigation, and heirship proceedings.  

For more information on Texas probate matters, trust fund litigation, heirship proceedings, and inheritance matters including claiming oil royalties, mineral interests, stocks, oil & gas leases, bonds, bank accounts and life insurance, please feel free to contact Texas Mineral Interest, Real Estate, and Oil Royalty Inheritance, Trust, and Probate Lawyer, Jason S. Coomer or use our contact submission form.

Texas Oil Royalty Inheritance Lawsuits, Texas Mineral Interest Probate Lawsuits, Texas Mineral Interest & Oil Royalty Trustee Fraud Lawsuits, and Texas Oil and Gas Probate Lawsuits

Texas is a rich state for oil and gas production.  Since the Lucas No. 1 started spurting gas and oil on January 10, 1901, many gushers and rich oil wells have made oil and gas a main part of the Texas economy.  Throughout the 20th Century, the Texas economy moved from its rural, agricultural roots into the petroleum and industrial age.  Many Texas families became extremely wealthy through their oil royalties and mineral interests making millions and hundreds of millions of dollars.

Currently, about 2/3 of the 254 counties in Texas produce oil and there are vast amounts of wealth being made on the hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and vast amounts of gas that are produced in Texas each year.  Keeping track of who inherits this wealth and who are the rightful beneficiaries of royalties, leasing contracts, and mineral rights can often be complicated as mineral rights and royalty interests don't always transfer with surface rights.  Families and family trust funds can sometime lose vast amounts of wealth when negligent or fraudulent trustees, administrators, guardians, or executors fail to comply with their fiduciary duty.

Texas Mineral Interest & Oil Royalty Rights can be Complicated to Track and can be Lost if Trustees, Executors, and Guardians Are Not Honest

Historically, land was transferred among owners with the mineral interests and royalty rights co-mingled with the surface rights. In Texas, through originally the power that controlled Texas lands originally held all mineral interests unless specifically granted to someone, the State granted surface land owners mineral rights in their land through constitutional provisions in 1866. 

This transfer made many families rich as the demand for oil and gas has increased from the late 19th Century to the present.  As oil and gas production began and expanded in Texas and throughout the United States, mineral rights started to be viewed and transferred independently of the surface rights.

According to Texas property law, two different forms of rights exist in real property including surface rights and mineral rights. Surface rights refer to any structure erected above the surface or sub-surface structures that do not exceed a certain depth, as well as rights to use all surface property surrounding structures in accordance with state, federal, and local law. Mineral rights refer to mineral substances below a certain depth and the way in which they are preserved, explored or extracted. These mineral substances can include natural gas, oil, or any other substance in common use today that can be mined or otherwise extracted from below the surface.

If mineral rights are severed from the surface rights, the process of separating mineral rights from the surface rights can be confusing and cause wealth to be lost.  In situations where mineral interests have been severed from the surface rights, a new and separate chain of title for the minerals begins and must be kept track of and properly recorded.  Failure to keep track of mineral interests can result in the loss of the mineral interest and loss of oil and gas royalties.

The danger of losing mineral interests including oil and gas royalties is especially dangerous when family trust funds are transferred through trusts.  One of the advantages of a trust is that it can pass property including mineral interests without going through the formal probate process.  Unfortunately, when property passes through a trust instead of the probate process, it can also create opportunities for a dishonest trustee to steal trust property as well as a negligent trustee to lose trust property as there is often less oversight than in the probate process.  

 Texas Mineral Interest Intestate Law, Texas Oil Royal Inheritance Lawsuit, and Texas Real Estate Inheritance Lawsuits & Options?  

Determining who inherits a person's property and possessions under Texas intestate law (died without a Will), often depends on whether the person was married at the time of their death and the relatives that the person leaves behind.  Marriage can be a complicating factor in determining inheritance under Texas law because intestate inheritance is based on the nature of the property as either community property or  separate property as well as the make up of the decedent's family including children and surviving heirs.  For more information on Texas Inheritance of Oil Royalties, Mineral Interests, and Real Estate please go to the following Web Page on Texas Heirship Laws and Determining Heirs when no Valid Will exists.

Texas Mineral Interest Will Probate Law Suits, Texas Oil Royalty Breach of Fiduciary Duty Executor Fraud Lawsuits, and Texas Real Estate Will Lawsuits

After a person dies, the Will and a death certificate need to be filed in the probate court or county court where the decedent resided when they died.  After both the Will and Death Certificate are filed with the proper court, a hearing has to held where the death of the decedent is proven, the Will is to be determined to be valid, and the executor is sworn in and appointed. 

This process is called probate a Will.  It is often helpful to have a probate lawyer assist at the executor at court in proving that the decedent actually died, the Will is valid, and the executor is qualified and able to serve as the executor.  Once the Will is probated and the executor is appointed the probate attorney assists in making sure that proper notices are given to creditors, locating assets, and preparing an inventory which needs to be filed with the court.   For more information on Texas Will Probate Proceedings feel free to go to our web page on Austin Will Probate Lawyer.

Texas Mineral Interest Will Contest Law Suits, Texas Oil Royalty Will Contest Lawsuits, and Texas Real Estate Will Contest Lawsuits

A Will Contest occurs when there is something wrong with a Will.  In some instances the Testator did not have actual "testamentary capacity" or "testamentary intent" to draft a proper Will.  In such a situation the Will is not valid and interested parties including a beneficiary or heir that was disinherited or lost inheritance through the invalid Will can contest the Will as being invalid.  For more information on Will Contests go to our web page on Texas Will Contest Lawsuits.

Texas Real Estate Trust Fraud Lawyer, Texas Mineral Interest Trustee Fraud Lawsuits, and Texas Negligent Trustee Oil Royalty Lawyers (Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawsuits)

Trustees have a duty to provide an accurate accounting of property that is put in their safekeeping.  Failure of a trustee to prudently invest property or take care of these assets can lead to a breach of fiduciary lawsuit.  Unfortunately, there are trustees that will commit fraud and other wrongful acts to steal money from trusts and rightful beneficiaries.  Some of these banks and other trustees will take money that does not belong to them and treat it as their own.   Whether these negligent or fraudulent trustee are banks, family members, step relatives, or opportunists, it is important to have a Texas Trust Fraud Lawyer that can help seek compensation for the theft or negligent management of Trust Assets.

For more information on Texas Breach of Fiduciary Duty Trustee Lawsuits please go to our web page on Texas Trust Fund Fraud and Trustee Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawsuits.

Texas Real Estate Will and Trust Fraud Lawyer, Texas Mineral Interest Trust and Will Fraud Lawyers; and Texas Oil Royalty Inheritance Lawyers

Texas Oil Royalty and Mineral Interest Inheritance Lawyer Jason Coomer represents heirs, family members, and beneficiaries that need assistance handling probate matters caused by the death of a loved one.  He handles probating Wills, Determining Heirs, Partitioning Real Estate, Contesting Wills, Fighting Will Contests, Preventing Will Contests, Protecting Family Inheritance, Protecting Loved Ones, and other probate matters in Texas.  He handles probate matters in Travis County, Williamson County, Bexar County, and Hays County as well as works with other Texas probate lawyers across Texas including Dallas County, Harris County, Fort Bend County, Tarrant County, and other Texas counties. 

For questions on Texas inheritance law, protecting family businesses or property through probate, a Texas probate matter, clearing title to real estate after a death, partitioning real estate after a death,  a Will contest, preventing a Will contest, or fighting a Will Contest, please e-mail Texas Inheritance Attorney Jason S. Coomer at TexasInheritancelaw@texaslawyers.com or use our contact form to submit an inquiry regarding a Probate. 

Inheritance and Protecting Family Real Estate, Mineral Interests, Oil Royalties, and Other Assets through Inheritance

Inheritance is the practice of passing on wealth or obligations upon the death of an individual.  This allows parents to pass on real estate, mineral interests, royalty rights, land, buildings, houses, businesses, stocks, jewelry, and other wealth to their children and people that they love.  It is estimated that in the United States over $200 Billion each year passed down through inheritance to heirs and beneficiaries.  Through Wills and intestate laws, Texas courts determine who are proper heirs and beneficiaries and allow tremendous amounts of wealth to be inherited each year.  The amount of wealth including real estate, mineral interests, royalty rights, land, buildings, houses, businesses, stocks, jewelry, life insurance, bonds, and gold that will be passed through inheritance is expected to continue to increase in the next 20 years as Trillions of Dollars in wealth is passed on through inheritance. 

Unfortunately, a good portion of this wealth will be lost or stolen as rightful heirs, lawful Will Beneficiaries, and right Trust beneficiaries lose track of family wealth or have vultures steal wealth from their family.  It is important to keep records and an inventory of all family wealth including real estate, mineral interests, royalty rights, land, buildings, houses, businesses, stocks, jewelry, life insurance, bonds, and gold.

Unclaimed Wealth (Real Estate, Oil Interests, Bank Accounts, & Stock)

In addition to what is inherited, there is a significant amount of unclaimed wealth including bank accounts, houses, oil royalty rights, mineral interests, safety deposit boxes, stocks, and other wealth that is forgotten about.  In our modern society families don't always live close and some wealth is lost or forgotten.  Death or incapacity is not always anticipated and many people will unfortunately loose track of stocks, bank accounts, oil royalties, mineral interests, life insurance, annuities, and other wealth.  It is a good idea to keep a safety deposit box with an inventory of all your assets and have people that you trust that can get access to your safety deposit box should something happen to you.

It is also becoming more common for family members who do not live close to a recently deceased relative to not know how to handle a probate matter or have enough information, time, or money to clear title to property.  In these instances it is good to locate a local Texas Probate attorney that can assist in appraising an estate including real estate, mineral interests, oil royalty rights, buildings, and houses to determine if it would be beneficial to probate an estate or to determine the most efficient method to clear title to property.

Texas Oil Mineral Interest Inheritance Lawyer, Jason Coomer helps families evaluate the estates of their lost loved ones to determine if a full probate is necessary and if so if the probate is economically feasible.