Mineral Trust
A trust that holds title to minerals and royalties so a trustee can manage them, avoid probate, and receive royalty payments on the beneficiaries' behalf.
A mineral trust is a trust whose assets include oil and gas mineral and royalty interests. A trustee holds legal title and manages the minerals, signing leases, approving division orders, and collecting royalty checks, for the benefit of the named beneficiaries. The big draw for mineral owners is that assets titled in a trust generally pass to beneficiaries outside of probate, avoiding the cost and the multi-state ancillary filings minerals so often trigger.
Trusts come in two broad flavors. A revocable living trust can be changed or undone by the grantor and is mainly a probate-avoidance and management tool. An irrevocable trust is far harder to alter but can offer estate-tax and asset-protection benefits, with trade-offs that include possibly losing the date-of-death stepped-up basis on appreciated minerals.
When minerals are held in trust, operators pay the trust, and the deed and division orders must name the trust precisely. The choice between revocable and irrevocable is fact-specific; this is general information, not legal or tax advice.