You inherited an interest in Alabama, or you are about to. Here is what the state actually requires to put it in your name, what can take it away if you do nothing, where the money goes when the operator cannot find you, and the order to do things in. Written by a mineral buyer who pays for the probate on a committed deal, so read it with that in mind.
Updated November 2026. Written by Stephen Clayman, career landman and owner of Berlin Royalties. Statutes were checked against primary sources; this is general information from a buyer, not legal advice, and the state-specific details are the reason to call a Alabama attorney, not a substitute for one.
Yes. Alabama's summary distribution under the Small Estates Act is limited to decedents who owned no real property, so any mineral interest disqualifies it, and Alabama has no transfer on death deed. Title to inherited minerals passes through probate; an affidavit of heirship documents the heirs but does not clear title, and unprobated minerals become heirs property shared by every descendant.
Minerals are real property. The Revised Alabama Small Estates Act, Ala. Code 43-2-690 to 43-2-696.02, allows summary distribution by court petition for personal property only, capped at the indexed allowance ($47,000 for 2026, adjusted each March 1), and 43-2-691 limits it to decedents who owned no real property. Title to real property passes to will beneficiaries only through probate; unprobated land becomes heirs property, with every heir a co-tenant with an equal say regardless of share. An affidavit of heirship documents who the heirs are and operators accept it for pay status, but it does not clear title.
Nonresident decedents are governed by Ala. Code 43-2-190 and following, which cover letters for nonresident estates and the authority of a foreign personal representative; an ancillary administration in the county where the minerals sit is the usual route.
No. Alabama has not adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, a recorded TOD deed has no effect on Alabama real estate, and there is no lady bird deed statute. A trust is the planning route.
Alabama does not appear on the dormant mineral statute tables and we found no Alabama lapse statute; the Land Bank Authority quiet title provision, Ala. Code 24-9-8(e), expressly excepts severed mineral rights from extinguishment, which points the same way. Confirm with counsel for an interest that has sat unused for decades.
Ala. Code 9-17-33: proceeds are paid starting no later than six months after first sale and thereafter within 60 days after the end of the month of sale, with 12 percent per year interest from the due date, and the circuit court of the well's county has jurisdiction. Where title is unmarketable the Federal Reserve discount rate applies instead, and a year's proceeds of $100 or less may be paid annually. Our letter generator writes the statutory demand, and the full state table is on royalty payment laws by state.
Search Alabama State Treasury unclaimed property under the decedent's name and every spelling of it. Mineral proceeds have a three-year dormancy and holders report by November 1. Alabama's statute lists bonuses, royalties, shut-in and minimum royalties, delay rentals, overrides, and production payments separately, which makes a claim easier to match. Our unclaimed royalties hub covers the search in every state we buy in, and we run it free whether or not you sell.
No Alabama estate or inheritance tax. Alabama withholds income tax from a nonresident seller's proceeds at closing under Ala. Code 40-18-86, 3 percent of the price for individuals and 4 percent for entities, and stacks an 8 percent privilege tax headline rate on production. Inherited minerals take a federal stepped-up basis. The arithmetic is on our capital gains and depletion page, and a date-of-death appraisal is what documents the basis.
The printable version of that list, with the title path for every state, is our executor's checklist for mineral rights.
Send a photo of whatever you have. We will tell you what the family owns, what it pays, whether any money is sitting in suspense or with the state, what the title needs, and what it is worth, in writing and with the reasoning shown. Free, and the answer is the same whether or not you sell.
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No. The Small Estates Act excludes any decedent who owned real property, and Alabama has no transfer on death deed. Probate, or an ancillary administration for a nonresident, is the route, and on a committed purchase we pay for it.
Real property that passed without probate, owned by all descendants as co-tenants. It applies to severed minerals, and it is the reason an Alabama mineral interest can have forty owners by the third generation.
We found none, and Ala. Code 24-9-8(e) expressly carves severed minerals out of the Land Bank quiet title extinguishment, which is consistent with that. Have an Alabama attorney confirm for an interest unused for decades.