# Inherited Mineral Rights in Alabama: What Heirs Should Do (2026) > Inherited mineral rights in Alabama? Whether you need probate, the affidavit and transfer on death routes, the dormant mineral rules, royalty payment law, unclaimed money, and the traps heirs hit. From a buyer who pays for the probate. Source: https://www.berlinroyalties.com/inherited-mineral-rights/alabama/ Publisher: Berlin Royalties, a veteran-owned oil and gas mineral and royalty buyer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, buying for its own account since 2014. Call or text 918-984-1645. License: free to quote and cite with attribution to Berlin Royalties and a link to the source URL. Inherited Minerals ยท Alabama ## Inherited mineral rights in Alabama: what heirs should do 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. [Free Paperwork Review](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/shoebox/) [Text a Check Stub](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/text-your-check/) Updated November 2026. Written by [Stephen Clayman](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/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. ## Do I have to probate inherited mineral rights in Alabama? 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. ## How title to Alabama minerals passes at death 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. ## Can a transfer on death deed cover Alabama minerals? 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. ## Can my Alabama mineral rights lapse if nobody uses them? 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. ## How Alabama royalties must be paid, and what late payment costs the operator 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](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/letter-generator/?type=demand) writes the statutory demand, and the full state table is on [royalty payment laws by state](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/royalty-payment-laws/). ## Where the money goes when the operator cannot find the heirs Search [Alabama State Treasury unclaimed property](https://treasury.alabama.gov/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](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/unclaimed-royalties/) hub covers the search in every state we buy in, and we run it free whether or not you sell. ## Taxes on inherited Alabama minerals 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](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/mineral-rights-capital-gains-tax/), and a [date-of-death appraisal](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/mineral-appraisals/) is what documents the basis. ## The Alabama traps heirs actually hit - Black Warrior Basin coalbed methane: the coal, gas, and mineral estates are often severed separately, and whether the coalbed gas belongs to the coal owner or the gas owner turns on the deed language and has been litigated in Alabama. An inherited 'coal' reservation may or may not carry the gas royalty. - Heirs property. Minerals that were never probated are owned by every descendant equally as co-tenants, and no one of them can lease or sell the whole without the rest. Fractions multiply with each generation. - Alabama's forced integration election runs 30 days from the commencement of actual drilling, not from the order, so an heir can receive an order and have the real deadline arrive months later without further notice. ## What to do, in order - **Gather the paper.** A check stub, a 1099, a division order, or a deed. Any one is enough to start; our [shoebox review](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/shoebox/) inventories a box of it from photographs, free. - **Confirm what the decedent owned** in the county records of every Alabama county involved. Our page on [finding out whether you own mineral rights](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/find-out-if-you-own-mineral-rights/) lists the free searches. - **Notify every operator** in writing with the death certificate and ask what is in suspense. The [letter generator](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/letter-generator/?type=death) writes it. - **Pick the title path above** with a Alabama attorney. If you are selling to us, we coordinate it and pay for it. - **Establish the date-of-death value** before anyone sells. - **Search unclaimed property** in Alabama and every other state the decedent owned in. - **Decide together.** One deed from the estate is cleaner than six from the heirs later; see [settling the estate](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/settle-the-estate/) and [selling your share](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/sell-your-share/). And read [when not to sell](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/when-not-to-sell/) first. The printable version of that list, with the title path for every state, is our [executor's checklist for mineral rights](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/executor-mineral-checklist/). ### Inherited Alabama minerals and not sure what they are? 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. [Get a Free Valuation](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/free-valuation/) [Text a Check Stub](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/text-your-check/) Or call or text [918-984-1645](tel:9189841645) and ask for Stephen. ## Questions Alabama heirs ask ### Can I avoid probate for inherited Alabama minerals? 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. ### What is heirs property and does it apply to minerals? 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. ### Does Alabama have a dormant mineral act? 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. ## Related - [Sell Alabama mineral rights](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/alabama/), the state page, with the counties and formations - [Inherited mineral rights](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/inherited-mineral-rights/), the general guide, and [how to transfer inherited minerals](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/transfer-inherited-minerals/) - [The executor's checklist](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/executor-mineral-checklist/) and [settling the estate](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/settle-the-estate/) - [For attorneys, CPAs, and trust officers](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/professionals/) - [Who buys mineral rights in Alabama](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/who-buys-mineral-rights/alabama/) - [Unclaimed royalties](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/unclaimed-royalties/) and [royalty payment laws by state](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/royalty-payment-laws/)