Must a beneficiary split mineral rights with co-owners?
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Must a beneficiary split mineral rights with co-owners?
My grandmother left my mother and her 2 sisters “all her real and personal property to share and share alike” in her Will. She had owned an 1/8th of an interest in land in WV. My mother and her sisters each receive a bill for that split for the taxes. If the mineral rights are not mentioned in the Will and my mother is the only one that gets a check and she is the only one that pays taxes on them, does she have to split any income she receives from the mineral rights?
Asked on August 10, 2011 Florida
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You are treading on very thin ice as they say, or your Mother is. I am assuming here that the estate has been probated and all the paperwork completed, correct? Then your Mother needs to be on the up and up with everything or she could get in to a lot of trouble. Have her seek legal help here. She can not keep the proceeds but the proceeds could go to paying the taxes for the property and then split the remaining with her siblings. Even though the mineral rights were not specifically mentioned they were implied by the phrase "all her real and personal property" that you mentioned here. Good luck.
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