Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

There are a number of different ways to do this. The most common would be a deed and/or a will. I recommend against using a form, as this is usually part of a bigger estate plan.

Dave

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It is important to clarify what your children will be inheriting. If you own a mineral interest, and have no will, your minerals will be divided among your heirs. Owners of minerals inherit the right to lease the minerals. This is called the "executive right." When minerals are leased, the mineral owner receives royalties under the terms of the lease. When the lease expires, the mineral owner can lease the minerals again using the executive right.

However, it is possible to own royalties with no executive right to lease. A mineral owner may keep the executive right and sell an interest in the royalty from future oil and gas leases he may make. In this situation, there is no executive right.

I would caution against concentrating the executive right in one owner unless you have a special reason to do so.

There is an old story about a man who wanted to make sure that his minerals were never developed after he died. One child got the executive right, the other got the right to all royalty, and the third got the right to all lease bonus and rentals. They could never agree on anything and the man got his wish.

You need to visit with an oil and gas attorney to help you figure out what you have. If you have no mineral interests, then there are no executive rights to worry about. If you do, you should explore your options. One is to convey the minerals to a trust and set up one child or a bank trust department as the trustee. The heirs would be beneficiaries of the trust. I have seen families establish corporations instead. It all depends on what is best for your situation.