A Texas court concluded that “personal effects,” in a last will and testament did not include mineral royalties, report Charles Sartain and Rusty Tucker in Gray Reed’s Energy & the Law blog.

The case involves a woman’s will that listed her checking account and miscellaneous property. The will also directed her independent executor to receive “all my personal effects to clear my estate after my death.”

The will did not mention mineral royalties that the executor started transferring to his personal account. Her heirs contested the executor’s use of those royalties.

Read the article.

As the dreaded packet arrives in the mail from a Bankruptcy Court, many mineral owners are being introduced to the third “B” of the oil business — Boom, Bust, Bankruptcy. Wade Caldwell and Zach Fanucchi of Barton, East & Caldwell in San Antonio offer a quick primer, published on EagleFordForum.com, for mineral owners faced with this situation.

The authors say a mineral owner should usually look at bankruptcy issues in the following order:

• What kind of bankruptcy has been filed?
• What kind of legal relationship do I have with the bankrupt company?
• What can I do in response to the bankruptcy filing?
• How does this affect the royalties I am owed, or that will become due?
• How does this affect my lease?

They explain the different types of bankruptcy, tell mineral owners what they can do in response, describe the complete process, tell how long it can take, and explain how the process can affect a lease and royalties.

Read the article.