Guide · Texas · mineral receiverships
Missing heirs and mineral receiver leases in Texas (CPRC § 64.091)
When part of a mineral tract is owned by a person whose whereabouts are unknown, or by the unknown heirs of someone who died decades ago, two problems arise: the known family members who have already leased want the tract developed, and the heirs of the missing owner may later discover that a court-appointed receiver leased their interest and deposited their bonus and royalties into the county court registry.
In one paragraph
Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 64.091, a Texas district court may appoint a receiver for the mineral interest or leasehold interest owned by a nonresident or absent defendant whose residence is unknown (and who has not paid taxes on the interest during the preceding five years) upon the application of a person who has a vested, co-owned or leased interest in the same land. Before appointing a receiver, the applicant must prove diligent, unsuccessful efforts to locate the missing owner or heirs and give notice by publication. Once appointed, the receiver is authorized to execute an oil, gas, and mineral lease (including pooling authority under § 64.091(f)) on behalf of the missing owner, and all bonus, rental, and royalty proceeds paid under the receiver’s lease are deposited into the registry of the court for the use and benefit of the missing owner or their heirs (§ 64.091(g)-(h)).
Can the rest of the family lease if one cousin cannot be found?
Yes. In Texas, each cotenant (co-owner of an undivided mineral fraction) has the independent right to lease their own undivided share without the consent of the other cotenants. If seven cousins own 7/8 of the minerals and the eighth cousin disappeared 40 years ago, the seven cousins can sign leases and collect their 7/8 of the bonus and royalties immediately.
Under Texas cotenancy law (Cox v. Davison, 1965), an operator holding leases on a majority of the mineral interest has the legal right to drill on the tract, provided it accounts to any unleased cotenant for the unleased cotenant’s share of net profits after payout of reasonable and necessary drilling and operating costs. However, because an unleased cotenant cannot be pooled into a multi-tract horizontal unit without a lease or pooling order, operators frequently seek a mineral receiver lease under CPRC § 64.091 to cover the missing owner’s fraction before drilling a pooled unit well.
How a mineral receivership works under CPRC section 64.091
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 64.091 sets out the procedure for a mineral receivership in the district court of the county where the land is located:
- Who may apply (§ 64.091(b)): A person who owns an undivided mineral interest, leasehold interest, or royalty interest in the land.
- Required showing (§ 64.091(c)): The defendant owns or claims an undivided mineral or leasehold interest in the same land, has not paid taxes on the interest during the five-year period immediately preceding the filing of the action, is a nonresident or absent person whose address is unknown, and the plaintiff has made a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the defendant.
- Pooling authority (§ 64.091(f)): The court order may authorize the receiver to pool the interest into units to prevent drainage or waste.
- Duration (§ 64.091(d)): The receivership continues as long as the defendant or the defendant’s heirs or assigns fail to appear in court in person or by agent or attorney to claim the interest.
What "diligent search" requires in the record and genealogical files
Whether a landman is preparing a due-diligence affidavit for a receivership petition or helping a family locate missing branches before an operator files suit, a courthouse and genealogical search checks:
- Deed, probate, marriage, birth, death, and tax roll indexes in the county where the land sits and in every county where the last record owner lived.
- Federal census schedules, Social Security Death Index records, military draft and grave registrations, obituary archives, and city directories.
- Probate and court dockets in the counties where children and grandchildren relocated, tracing each deceased branch down to living descendants.
How heirs claim bonus and royalties from the court registry
When a receiver signs a lease under § 64.091, the bonus and royalties are paid to the District Clerk and held in the registry of the court (or later remitted to the Texas Comptroller’s Unclaimed Property division under Property Code Chapter 74 if unclaimed after dormancy). If you discover that a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent was named as a defendant in a Texas mineral receivership suit, the heirs prove their descent from the named defendant (through probate records, affidavits of heirship, or a motion/application in the district court cause) to claim the funds in the registry and step directly into the lessor’s position on the operator’s division order deck going forward.
Sources
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 64, Subch. F, §§ 64.091 to 64.093. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm#64.091
Receiver for mineral interests owned by nonresident or absent persons whose whereabouts are unknown.
Tell us about the interest
Who died, about when, and where the minerals are is enough to start. If a receivership cause number or operator letter was mentioned, include it below.
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