Failure to probate will results in lost mineral rights

The 12th District Court of Appeals in Tyler Texas affirmed a lower court’s decision denying the appellant’s application for probating a will 13 years after the testator’s death. It should be a wakeup call for anyone whose family members may have owned land at one time or another in areas of the country that may now be sources of rich deposits of oil, gas, or other minerals. Since I recently became the financial caregiver for my parents who do own mineral interests in Louisiana and Texas, this case certainly hits close to home.

In the Estate of Everett H. Rothrock, Deceased, Jerry E. Rothrock appealed the trial court’s order denying his application to probate his father’s will as a muniment of title.  In one issue, Jerry contends the trial court erred in determining that he was in default for failing to probate  his father’s will within the statutory period. 

Section 73(a) of the Texas Probate Code states as follows:

(a) No will shall be admitted to probate after the lapse of four years from the death of the testator unless it be shown by proof that the party applying for such probate was not in default in failing to present the same for probate within the four years aforesaid; and in no case shall letters testamentary be issued where a will is admitted
to probate after the lapse of four years from the death of the testator.

In 1986, Everett H. Rothrock, Jerry’s father, signed a will appointing Jerry as the independent executor of the will and naming him as the sole beneficiary of the estate. Everett died on June 5, 1994.  In September 2008, Jerry was notified by an oil and gas landman that Everett owned mineral interests in Cherokee County, Texas.  On October 6, 2008, Jerry filed an application to probate Everett’s will as a muniment of title.

At a hearing on the application, Jerry testified that, in gathering Everett’s assets between 1985 and 1986, he investigated whether Everett owned any land. According to Jerry, Everett told him that he had sold all of the real property he had received from his parents and that he did not have any real property left.

The Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decision stating, “Because Jerry did not probate Everett’s will within four years after his death, relied upon a family agreement, and failed to show reasonable diligence, the evidence is factually sufficient to support the  trial court’s finding  that Jerry was in default.  The trial court did not err in denying Jerry’s application to probate Everett’s will as a muniment of title.”

Adding insult to injury is the fact that according to court documents, Jerry was also a “very successful lawyer in Washington, D.C. and that about half of his practice dealt with oil and gas law.”