When mineral interests become highly fractionalized through successive devise it can create problems on several levels. First, accurate record keeping at both the courthouse and crude oil purchaser levels becomes more burdensome. And thirdly, any future activities that require agreement of all the mineral owners can become a nightmare because it is time consuming to find them and communicate. One alternative is to create a family entity in which to hold them and have one person able to represent all the interest owners. A subchapter S corporation works well because no tax is paid on corporate income and each stockholder is taxed on his share.
Minor children can have stock and family members can easily transfer stock among themselves.
This is best suited for large mineral interests that warrant special consideration. Another alternative is to leave instructions that the interests be sold by your estate and distribute the proceeds to your heirs. This is more appropriate if the interests involved are already small. Generally speaking, breaking up interests diminishes their aggregate value. The chances increase that something will fall through the cracks and revenue and interests become lost.