Dickie was actually Tom’s son by his ex-girlfriend. Dickie was only eight when his grandmother died, but when she died Dickie wasn’t her grandson, he was her adopted son. Tom explained that he had “addiction issues” and had been in and out of rehab several times. He confessed that was how Tom met Dickie’s mother. In order to make certain Dickie would be a legal heir, his grandmother (the deceased owner) adopted him right before executing the Codicil. When the call ended, my head was spinning. This explained why Harry was given authority in the Will to handle Tom’s affairs “from time to time” and why Tom didn’t try to adopt Dickie legally, for heirship purposes. It also explained the most likely reason why the Will and Codicil were not being probated at that time. Because the Will expressly devised “to my sons, in equal shares” all real property in the largest group of legal descriptions, Tom and Harry would not each receive half, they would receive only one- third. This could amount to millions of dollars difference, based on everything I had assessed from the Will and company records. And, the company I was working for was only one of many companies paying royalties, no doubt. In the end, it turned out that Harry was working with an estate attorney to negotiate the “signing bonus” for the Guardian (Dickie’s biological mother) to sign documents limiting her access to the money before Dickie reached eighteen, and for her, as Guardian, to quitclaim Dickie’s one- third of the estate. Tom was expected to sign the documents, too, purportedly containing his agreement to bequeath all of his one-half of his mother’s estate to Dickie upon Tom’s passing. It also gave rise to suspicion that Tom received at least my employer’s royalty checks all this time and had access to those revenues. None of the checks had been returned to date. The Guardian may have realized the total value of Dickie’s inheritance due to the Codicil. The Guardian possibly wasn’t budging from a high seven-figure demand for signing bonus. Talk about a solid gold carrot.
The company’s in-house counsel had the opinion that the equal distribution of real property in thirds could be challenged on several different grounds, according to him. He was of the opinion that the estate attorney could be waiting until the last minute to file the Will for probate, in case the Guardian didn’t sign the documents. In that case, he said, after admitting it to probate the estate attorney could immediately file a challenge to the Codicil on any one or all of the grounds that the in-house attorney thought could be successful. It could be dragged out for years, though. The account was suspended and the supporting documents were bundled into one pdf with a cover memo explaining everything in case I was no longer handling this area of properties when the matter concluded. Unfortunately, I left employment with that company before this issue was resolved. It was like listening to an entire, long-drawn-out joke and then missing the punch line. So who ever said division order work is boring? You never know what new “Peyton Place” is arriving in your inbox tomorrow.
About the Author: Marsha Breazeale
Marsha began her career in 1978 as a Rentals Secretary typing annual delay rental checks on a typewriter. Throughout the rapid changes in industry practices and technology since then, she has gained a great deal of knowledge
and skills in virtually all phases of Land Administration. She held CDOA and CPLTA certifications for many years, but upon “attempted” retirement decided to let them expire. Unwilling to leave behind the work she loves so much, she abandoned retirement and continues to work as a part-time division order analyst for Petroledger Accounting & Land. During her semi-retirement Marsha has worked the North Dakota Bakken and now works analyzing and entering DOIs for Texas horizontal wells using Quorum.
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N at i onal A ssociation of D i v i s i on O rder A nalys t s
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