{ "version": "2.1.0", "release": "2026.10.1", "generated": "2026-10-06", "source": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/mineral-rights-by-state", "rules": { "AL": { "id": "AL", "name": "Alabama", "url": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-alabama", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "answer": "No Alabama statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest for nonuse, and no marketable record title act was found. Nonproducing oil, gas and mineral interests held separately from the surface are exempt from ad valorem tax (Ala. Code 40-20-35; interests created before October 1957 only on application), and a tax sale of the surface does not affect an exempt interest.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Ala. Code 35-19-9(d), the only code hit for the phrase 'dormant mineral'", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-19-9" }, { "label": "Ala. Code 40-20-35", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=40-20-35" }, { "label": "Ala. Code 40-20-35", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=40-20-35" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Alabama.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Quiet title against unknown owners (Ala. Code 35-6-44) and Oil and Gas Board escrow rules were not reviewed.", "summary": "Alabama has no dormant mineral act, so no nonuse clock runs against a deceased, unknown or unlocated mineral owner. Full text searches of the official code found no receivership, trustee or escrow procedure for unknown or unlocated mineral owners. The provisions found deal only with money: oil and gas proceeds are tendered to the owner's agent or last known address, proceeds held for unmarketable title are paid later with interest to the owners finally determined, and unpaid mineral proceeds fall under the unclaimed property law.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read, except that a purchaser's notice of the monthly payment option constitutes notice to the payee's heirs, successors, representatives and assigns (9-17-33(c))." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. Proceeds held because title is not marketable are paid later to the parties finally determined to be the legal owners (9-17-33(c))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read, beyond tender at the last known address (9-17-33(c)) and the unclaimed property law for unpaid mineral proceeds (35-12-71, 35-12-72)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy mechanism exists in the code searched (the only hit for dormant mineral is an environmental covenant section), so there is none to apply to these owners.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Only the monthly payment option notice in 9-17-33(c) mentions heirs, successors, representatives and assigns.", "cites": [ { "label": "Ala. Code 9-17-33(c)", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=9-17-33", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No provision read requires a search for unknown or unlocated mineral owners.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Proceeds are tendered to the owner's designated agent or last known address.", "cites": [ { "label": "Ala. Code 9-17-33(c)", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=9-17-33", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication provision was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No preservation or response procedure applies, because there is no nonuse mechanism.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No court or agency mechanism for unknown mineral owners was found. Proceeds held for unmarketable title are paid later with interest, and unpaid mineral proceeds are covered by the unclaimed property law.", "cites": [ { "label": "Ala. Code 9-17-33(c)", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=9-17-33", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Ala. Code 35-12-71(12)", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-12-71", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Ala. Code 35-12-72(b)", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-12-72", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Are proceeds for the interest being held as unmarketable title under 9-17-33(c), and who has been determined to be the legal owner?", "Have unpaid mineral proceeds been reported to the State Treasurer as unclaimed property?", "If the record owner has died, how are heirs established, given that no mineral specific procedure was found? General probate and quiet title were not reviewed." ], "dates_note": "Proceeds: payment commencing no later than six months after the date of the first sale and thereafter no later than 60 days after the end of the calendar month of sale (9-17-33(c)). Unclaimed property: 35-12-72(a)(19), all other property, three years after the owner's right to demand the property or after the obligation to pay or distribute arises, whichever first occurs; whether mineral proceeds fall under item (19) was not confirmed. Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-alabama#owners" } }, "AK": { "id": "AK", "name": "Alaska", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-alaska", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "answer": "No Alaska statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest for nonuse, requires a statement of claim, or provides a procedure for missing mineral owners. Unpaid mineral proceeds can become unclaimed property under AS 34.45, which affects the payments, not ownership of the interest.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Survey of AS Titles 09, 27, 31, 34, 38 (full text); excerpt AS 34.45.760(13)", "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.01.005&secEnd=34.99.999" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Alaska.", "owners": { "coverage": "verified", "coverage_label": "Checked", "coverage_reason": "", "summary": "No Alaska statute was found that addresses a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner of a severed mineral interest; Alaska has no dormant mineral act. The only mineral related owner rule found is the unclaimed property law, under which unpaid mineral proceeds are intangible property presumed abandoned after a period, which concerns payments rather than title. General partition provisions mention unknown owners but are not mineral specific and were not reviewed.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No dormancy, nonuse, statement of claim or marketable title provision for severed minerals was found in the Alaska Statutes titles searched, so no mechanism treats deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees, successors or the identity of the holder was found. Probate, heirship, quiet title, partition and receivership procedures of general application may apply and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific search or diligence requirement was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice requirement to owners was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No preservation or response procedure for mineral owners was found, because no lapse mechanism exists in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No mechanism for the mineral interest itself. Under AS 34.45 unpaid mineral proceeds are intangible property that can be presumed abandoned, which affects payments only.", "cites": [ { "label": "AS 34.45.760(11)(A)(vii)", "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.01.005&secEnd=34.99.999", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "AS 34.45.110(a)", "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.01.005&secEnd=34.99.999", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Are mineral proceeds for the owner held as unclaimed property by the state (special_mechanism)?" ], "dates_note": "AS 34.45.110(a): property 'unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after becoming payable or distributable is presumed abandoned', except as otherwise provided; whether a different period applies to mineral proceeds was not checked. No mineral ownership period found.", "open_questions": 1, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-alaska#owners" } }, "AZ": { "id": "AZ", "name": "Arizona", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-arizona", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "answer": "No Arizona statute was found that ends or transfers a severed private mineral interest for nonuse, requires a statement of claim, or provides a procedure for missing mineral owners. Arizona's mining claim statutes (Title 27, chapter 2) deal with locating, maintaining and abandoning mining claims, largely on federal land, which is a different topic from severed private mineral interests.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Survey of ARS section headings, Titles 12, 27, 33, 37, 42, 44", "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=27" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Arizona. Mining claim maintenance deadlines are a separate federal and state topic.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "The survey searched section headings, not the full text of Title 27, and Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rules were not read.", "summary": "No Arizona nonuse or dormancy mechanism for severed mineral interests and no mineral specific procedure for deceased, unknown or unlocated mineral owners was found in the statutes surveyed. Arizona's general unclaimed property act counts mineral proceeds, including royalties, as property it covers, but its procedure was not reviewed. Arizona's co-owner notice statute for mining claim assessment work and its partition statute for unknown owners are general or claim specific and are not mineral owner procedures.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in mineral specific provisions read. A.R.S. 12-1212 provides for unknown owners in partition actions generally (not reviewed beyond its text)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read; mineral proceeds fall within the general unclaimed property definitions (44-301(13))." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy mechanism found in the titles surveyed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in mineral specific provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No receivership, trust, escrow or leasing mechanism for missing mineral owners found. Mineral proceeds are within the general unclaimed property act.", "cites": [ { "label": "A.R.S. 44-301(13)", "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/44/00301.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Are any proceeds attributable to the owner reported as unclaimed property under Title 44, chapter 3?" ], "dates_note": "No period in the provisions read applies to owner status. A.R.S. 27-221 (mining claim co-owner notice) sets recording at ninety days after notice or one hundred eighty days after first publication, but concerns federal annual labor contributions on mining claims, not owner status.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-arizona#owners" } }, "AR": { "id": "AR", "name": "Arkansas", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-arkansas", "category": "forfeiture_petition", "category_label": "Tax or work forfeiture", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified; severed mineral rights are taxed and can go tax delinquent to the state", "answer": "No Arkansas statute ending a severed mineral interest for nonuse was identified, but the official code could not be searched, and the state's appellate opinion database has no opinion mentioning a dormant or abandoned mineral statute. Mineral rights, including nonproducing ones, are assessed for property tax (Ark. Code Ann. 26-26-1110, as quoted in 2021 Ark. App. 324).", "evidence": "partial", "date_model": "explain_only", "period_years": null, "self_executing": "unclear", "uses": [ "Paying the property taxes assessed on the mineral interest (inference from the tax delinquency structure, not a listed saving event)", "Redeeming from the Commissioner of State Lands, which the Commissioner says is possible at any time for tax delinquent mineral interests" ], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Commissioner of State Lands, Frequently Asked Questions", "url": "https://cosl.org/Home/Faq" }, { "label": "Commissioner of State Lands Rules, Subtitle L, Fees (2)", "url": "https://coslstorage.blob.core.windows.net/web-resources/rules-and-regs.pdf" }, { "label": "SWN Production Co. (Arkansas), LLC v. Stobaugh, 2021 Ark. App. 324, quoting Ark. Code Ann. 26-26-1110(c)(4)", "url": "https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/courtofappeals/en/512533/1/document.do" }, { "label": "SEECO, Inc. v. Holden, 2015 Ark. App. 555, quoting Ark. Code Ann. 18-61-106(a)", "url": "https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/courtofappeals/en/298441/1/document.do" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "Loss depends on tax delinquency and the Commissioner's disposition process, not on time since last use, so no date can be computed from a last use date.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: heirs, devisees and successors.", "summary": "No Arkansas statute ending a severed mineral interest for nonuse was identified, so no dormancy clock runs against a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner. The Arkansas Supreme Court has applied a statutory chancery procedure (then Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-201 et seq.) under which a receiver leases the unleased mineral interests of nonresident owners served by warning order, and it voided such a lease where the warning order affidavit did not strictly comply. Separately, the Auditor of State describes a duty to escrow mineral proceeds for persons who are unknown or not located within one year, and a three year presumption of abandonment for unclaimed mineral proceeds.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the sources read, except that the warning order affidavit in Davis v. Schimmel named some defendants and their unknown heirs; the court did not rule on heirs as such." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Per the Auditor's summary, proceeds owed to a person who is unknown must be escrowed (18-28-403). The receivership statute text was not read." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Owners whose whereabouts are stated to be unknown are constructively summoned by warning order in the receivership procedure (Davis v. Schimmel); per the Auditor's summary, proceeds for persons not located within one year are escrowed." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No Arkansas nonuse or dormancy mechanism was identified in the October review.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "case_law", "status_label": "Court decision", "statement": "The warning order affidavit must show the plaintiff's own diligent inquiry and strictly comply with the statute.", "cites": [ { "label": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972)", "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "case_law", "status_label": "Court decision", "statement": "Defendants are summoned as in chancery; those whose whereabouts are stated to be unknown are constructively summoned by warning order.", "cites": [ { "label": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972), discussing Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-203", "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "case_law", "status_label": "Court decision", "statement": "A proper warning order must be published for four weeks, and thirty days must pass after an attorney ad litem is appointed, before a final order.", "cites": [ { "label": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972)", "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Owners served without valid notice may directly attack the receivership orders and lease; escrowed proceeds are paid on proof of identity and ownership per the Auditor.", "cites": [ { "label": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972), discussing Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-205", "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Ark. Code Ann. 18-28-403, as summarized by the Auditor of State", "url": "https://auditor.ar.gov/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Holder-Seminar-2026-Session-5-UPDATED_3.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Chancery receivership to lease unleased mineral interests of nonresident or unlocated owners (statute text not read; applied in Davis v. Schimmel). The Auditor describes escrow of proceeds for unknown or unlocated persons and a three year presumption of abandonment.", "cites": [ { "label": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201, 482 S.W.2d 785 (1972)", "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Ark. Code Ann. 18-28-403, as summarized by the Auditor of State", "url": "https://auditor.ar.gov/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Holder-Seminar-2026-Session-5-UPDATED_3.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Arkansas mineral proceeds provisions (Ark. Code Ann. 18-28-401 et seq.), as summarized by the Auditor of State", "url": "https://auditor.ar.gov/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Holder-Seminar-2026-Session-5-UPDATED_3.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Was any interest in the chain leased by a court appointed receiver, and did the warning order affidavit show the plaintiff's own diligent inquiry?", "Was the warning order published for four weeks and did thirty days pass after an attorney ad litem was appointed before the receiver was appointed?", "Are proceeds for the interest in a holder's escrow or reported to the Auditor of State?", "If the owner died, how were heirs determined? Probate and quiet title were not reviewed." ], "dates_note": "Escrow: when the entitled person is unknown or has not been located within one (1) year after the funds became payable or distributable (Auditor's summary of 18-28-403). Abandonment: unclaimed longer than three years after becoming payable or distributable (Auditor's summary). Receivership: no final order until a warning order has been published for four weeks and 30 days have elapsed after appointment of the attorney ad litem (Davis v. Schimmel). Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-arkansas#owners" } }, "CA": { "id": "CA", "name": "California", "url": "/research/states/california-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Dormant mineral right statute, 20 years, court action by the surface owner required", "answer": "The owner of the land may sue in superior court to terminate a mineral right that has been dormant for the 20 years immediately before the suit. Dormant means no production or operations affecting the minerals, no separately assessed tax paid, no recorded instrument evidencing the right and no recorded notice of intent to preserve during that window.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "court_determination", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Production of the minerals", "Exploration, drilling, mining, development or other operations that affect the minerals, on or below the surface of the land or on other property, whether or not unitized or pooled with the land", "A separate property tax assessment of the mineral right on which taxes are paid", "Recording of an instrument creating, reserving, transferring or otherwise evidencing the mineral right", "Recording a notice of intent to preserve within the 20 years before the action (883.230(c)(1))", "Recording a late notice of intent to preserve after the action is filed, with payment of the surface owner's litigation expenses (883.230(c)(2), 883.250)" ], "preservation": "Notice of intent to preserve (Civ. Code 880.310 to 880.350 and 883.230), recordable at any time. It must be in writing, signed and verified by or for the claimant, and give each claimant's name and mailing address; for mineral rights it may refer generally to all mineral rights the claimant holds in any real property in the county instead of stating the character of the interest, its record location and a legal description (883.230(b)). It is recorded in the county where the land lies and indexed with each claimant as grantor; the statutory form is in 880.340.", "sources": [ { "label": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.210", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2." }, { "label": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.220", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2." }, { "label": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.230(c)(1)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2." }, { "label": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.240(b)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2." } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "Nothing happens automatically. The 20 years are counted back from the day a termination suit is filed, and the owner can cure inside the suit. A calculator can at most show the first date on which a 20 year lookback from the last known qualifying event would be complete; it cannot show a date on which the right ends.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "California ends a dormant mineral right only through a superior court action by the surface owner, and the dormancy test in Civil Code 883.220 does not mention a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner. Civil Code 883.240(b) runs the action under quiet title procedure \"to the extent applicable\", and that procedure joins a personal representative or the testate and intestate successors of a dead owner, names unknown persons, and allows publication only after a court finds reasonable diligence. Until judgment, any mineral owner can stop the action by recording a late notice of intent to preserve and paying the surface owner's litigation expenses. No California appellate decision applying these provisions to a missing or deceased owner was found.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "The dormant mineral article does not mention death. Through 883.240(b), quiet title procedure joins the personal representative if one is known, otherwise, on affidavit, the decedent's \"testate and intestate successors\" by description (CCP 762.030). Whether death affects the 20 year dormancy period is not addressed." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Through 883.240(b), the complaint names \"all persons unknown\" (CCP 762.020(a), 762.060), and service on them by publication requires a court finding of reasonable diligence (CCP 763.010(b)). A notice of intent to preserve may be recorded for a claimant in a class whose identity cannot be established (Civ. Code 880.320(b))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not separately defined. CCP 763.010(b) ties publication to reasonable diligence to ascertain \"identity and residence\" and to serve unknown defendants and successors; the provisions read do not set a separate publication rule for a named owner who is identified but cannot be found, beyond the general service law cited there, which was not reviewed." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Termination needs a court action; dormancy is 20 years with no production or operations, no paid separate tax assessment and no recorded instrument, and the test does not refer to the owner's death, identity or whereabouts.", "cites": [ { "label": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.210", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.220", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.240(b)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The dormant mineral article speaks only of the \"owner of a mineral right\". Imported quiet title rules join a personal representative or the testate and intestate successors of a dead person, and a notice of intent to preserve can be recorded for a class whose identity cannot be established.", "cites": [ { "label": "Cal. Civ. Code 880.320(b)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=1.&article=3.", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.030(a)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.030(b)(2)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The plaintiff must name claimants of record, known, or reasonably apparent from inspection, and must show reasonable diligence to ascertain identity and residence before publication.", "cites": [ { "label": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.060(b)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 763.010(b)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=4.", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Summons is served as in civil actions generally; unknown claimants are named as all persons unknown.", "cites": [ { "label": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.020(a)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 763.010(a)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=4.", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication is ordered on an affidavit of reasonable diligence for unknown defendants and successors of a dead or presumed dead person, with posting on the property and a recorded notice of pendency.", "cites": [ { "label": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 763.010(b)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=4.", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 763.020(a), (b)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=4.", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The owner may record a notice of intent to preserve at any time, or a late notice during the action on paying litigation expenses; the court may not enter judgment by default; the judgment binds known and unknown parties.", "cites": [ { "label": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.250", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.230(a), (c)(1)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 764.010", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=5.", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 764.030(a)", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=5.", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Was a notice of intent to preserve recorded within the 20 years before suit, including one recorded on behalf of a class of unidentified claimants?", "Is the record owner dead, and if so was a personal representative joined or were the testate and intestate successors joined on affidavit?", "Did the court make a reasonable diligence finding, or a referee report, before ordering publication, and were posting and a notice of pendency done?", "Was the judgment entered on evidence rather than by default?" ], "dates_note": "Dormancy uses the 20 years immediately preceding commencement of the action (883.220). A notice of intent to preserve recorded within 20 years immediately preceding commencement prevents dormancy (883.230(c)(1)). After a publication order the summons and complaint are posted not later than 10 days after the date the order is made (CCP 763.020(a)). 883.270 applies the article to all mineral rights subject to the 880.370 grace period, which extends a period expiring before, on, or within five years after the statute's operative date until five years after that date. Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/california-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "CO": { "id": "CO", "name": "Colorado", "url": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-colorado", "category": "forfeiture_petition", "category_label": "Tax or work forfeiture", "label": "No nonuse lapse found; severed mineral interests can be lost through a property tax lien sale", "answer": "No Colorado statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse, and no marketable record title act was found.", "evidence": "partial", "date_model": "explain_only", "period_years": null, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Paying the property taxes levied on the severed mineral interest, which prevents delinquency (inference from the tax sale structure, not a listed saving event)" ], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "C.R.S. 39-11-150", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf" }, { "label": "C.R.S. 39-1-104.5", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf" }, { "label": "C.R.S. 39-11-120(1)", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf" }, { "label": "C.R.S. title 38, article 42 (38-42-101 to 38-42-106), survey", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-38.pdf" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 5, "date_note": "Loss depends on tax delinquency, a lien sale and a deed, not on time since last use. A calculator cannot compute a lapse date from a last use date.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "How the 2024 tax lien search rule applies to a deceased owner of record is open, and no statewide search outside titles 34, 38 and 39 was made.", "summary": "No Colorado statute ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse, so the provisions read contain no dormancy notice to a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner. The mineral specific route is tax based: a surface owner can have a severed interest put on the tax roll, and if taxes go unpaid the lien is sold with a surface owner right of first refusal; since July 1, 2024 deeds issue under article 11.5, which mails notice to known interested parties, publishes, and requires a reasonable search for the owner of record only if mail is returned. The oil and gas statutes treat unlocated owners in two narrow ways: they are excluded from the pooling consent calculation, and payment deadlines are suspended while the payer doubts a payee's identity or whereabouts. No court trust or receivership for missing mineral owners was found.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Payment deadlines suspended for reasonable doubt as to the payee's identity (34-60-118.5(3)(a)(II)); otherwise not addressed." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Excluded from the pooling consent calculation (34-60-116(6)(b)(I.7)); payment deadlines suspended (34-60-118.5(3)(a)(II)); in a tax deed process, a reasonable search for the owner of record if mail is returned (39-11.5-104(7))." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No nonuse mechanism; the tax roll and tax lien route for severed minerals, with deeds since July 1, 2024 under article 11.5.", "cites": [ { "label": "C.R.S. 39-1-104.5", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "C.R.S. 39-11-150", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "C.R.S. 39-11-153", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "The provisions read do not address heirs, devisees or successors of a mineral owner.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Reasonable search for the owner of record when a tax deed notice is returned undeliverable.", "cites": [ { "label": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-104(7)", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Known interested party notice mailed to the treasurer's mailing list after a title search or record review.", "cites": [ { "label": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-104(2)", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Three week publication where assessed valuation is five hundred dollars or more, regardless of whether the owner is located.", "cites": [ { "label": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-104(6)", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Redemption before the public auction cancels it; redemption terms not reviewed.", "cites": [ { "label": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-106(4)", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No court trust, receivership or escrow for missing mineral owners found. Two oil and gas provisions treat unlocated owners: pooling calculation exclusion and suspension of payment deadlines.", "cites": [ { "label": "C.R.S. 34-60-116(6)(b)(I.7)", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-34.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "C.R.S. 34-60-118.5(3)(a)(II)", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-34.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is the severed mineral interest on the tax roll, and has a tax lien been sold or a treasurer's deed issued (mechanism)?", "For a tax deed after July 1, 2024, was the owner of record on the mailing list, and was a reasonable search made for returned notices (notice, search)?", "Is any owner treated as unlocated in a pooling order or in suspended proceeds (special_mechanism)?", "If the record owner is deceased, how title passed, which these provisions do not address (succession)." ], "dates_note": "39-11-153: article 11 deed procedures are not followed 'on or after July 1, 2024'. Article 11.5 notice periods: mailing within 'thirty calendar days' after recording the application and 'twenty calendar days' after the title search; posting and publication 'no more than sixty calendar days nor less than forty-five calendar days prior to the public auction'; publication 'for three weeks' (39-11.5-104). Surface owner right of first refusal notice 'at least ten days prior to the sale', exercisable 'until two days prior to the sale' (39-11-150). None of these is a nonuse period, and none is tied to an owner's death.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-colorado#owners" } }, "CT": { "id": "CT", "name": "Connecticut", "url": "/research/states/connecticut-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Dormant Mineral Interests Act, 20 years, court action by the fee owner required", "answer": "The owner of the fee simple title may sue to terminate a mineral interest that has been unused for the 20 years immediately before the action; the court then decrees it extinguished, and the recorded decree merges it into the surface estate. Use includes active mineral operations, payment of separate mineral taxes, recorded transfers, leases or liens, a recorded judgment and a recorded notice of intent to preserve.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "court_determination", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Production, geophysical exploration, exploratory or developmental drilling, mining, exploitation, development or other active mineral operations on or below the surface of the land subject to the interest; such operations count as use of any mineral interest owned by any person in any mineral that is the object of the operations", "Payment of taxes on a separate property tax assessment of the interest, or of a mineral transfer or severance tax relating to it", "Recording an instrument that transfers, leases, conveys, assigns or divides the interest or creates a security interest or lien against it, including a probate certificate of distribution or devise", "Recording a notice of intent to preserve under 47-33r", "Recording a certified copy of a judgment or decree that specifically refers to the interest, describes the fee estate, names all record fee owners and is indexed in the grantor index in their names", "A late notice of intent to preserve recorded during the suit with payment of litigation expenses (47-33q(b))" ], "preservation": "Notice of intent to preserve the mineral interest, recorded in the land records of each town where the land lies; the interest is preserved only in each town where the notice is recorded (47-33r(a)). It may be recorded by the owner, by a person acting for an owner who is under a disability, unable to assert a claim, or one of a class whose identity is uncertain, or by a co-owner for the benefit of other co-owners. It must contain a particular description of the land (or the description in the recorded instrument creating the interest), the then record owners of the fee, a full description of the interest claimed, and a reference to the recorded instrument creating or evidencing it with parties, date and volume and page, or, if unrecorded, the basis of title stated with particularity (47-33r(c)).", "sources": [ { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm" }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm" }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(b)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm" }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(c)(1)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "Nothing happens automatically. The 20 years are counted back from the day a termination suit is filed, the owner can cure inside the suit, and the interest ends only by recorded decree. A calculator can show when a 20 year lookback from the last known use would be complete, not a termination date.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "Connecticut ends a dormant mineral interest only by a surface owner's court action after twenty years of nonuse, and the action may proceed whether the mineral owner or the owner's whereabouts is known or unknown. It borrows quiet title notice, which lets the plaintiff name a dead owner's heirs generally, including legatees and devisees, on an affidavit of the efforts made to find them, with notice set by court order. A notice of intent to preserve may be recorded by someone acting for an owner of uncertain identity, and a claimant may record a late notice during the suit on paying the plaintiff's costs. No Connecticut decision construing the Act was located.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "The dormant mineral action uses quiet title notice (P1). Those provisions let the plaintiff name \"the heirs\" of a dead record owner, defined to include heirs at law, legatees and devisees, on an affidavit that it does not know who or where they are (P13, P14); presume no executor or administrator where the land records show none (P11); and plead in the alternative where it is unknown whether the record owner is living (P12). Recording a probate certificate of distribution or devise is a use of the interest when done by or under authority of the owner (P3). The provisions read do not say whether death affects the twenty year period; they say only that no disability or lack of knowledge suspends it (P2)." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "The action may be maintained whether the owner is known or unknown (P1). Unknown claimants are joined after a reasonable search of the land records or otherwise, notice is by court order on an affidavit of efforts, no guardian is required, and they are bound by the judgment (P8, P9, P10). A preservation notice may be recorded for an owner who is one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain (P4)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "The action may be maintained whether the whereabouts of the owner is known or unknown (P1). Persons who cannot be located are joined and notified under the same court ordered notice procedure as unknown persons (P8, P9, P16). A preservation notice may be recorded for an owner unable to assert a claim on his own behalf (P4)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Termination is by court action of the fee owner after twenty years of nonuse before the action is commenced; it runs against known and unknown owners and owners whose whereabouts are unknown, and no disability or lack of knowledge suspends the period. Nothing ends the interest without a decree. The Act leaves other extinguishment procedures untouched.", "cites": [ { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33t(c)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The Act counts as use the recording of a probate certificate of distribution or devise, and lets a co-owner or owner preserve for others claiming under them. Through the incorporated quiet title notice, heirs include heirs at law, legatees and devisees, and the plaintiff may name a dead owner's heirs generally and plead in the alternative when unsure whether the owner lives.", "cites": [ { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(c)(3)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(b)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33(a)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33(a)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "To join unknown or unlocatable persons, the complaint describes their interest so far as known from a reasonable search of the available land records or otherwise, and the affidavit sets out the efforts made to ascertain names, addresses and interests. No more specific search standard appears in the provisions read.", "cites": [ { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(b)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(c)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Notice to unknown, unlocated or unnamed heir defendants is what the court orders as reasonable on the plaintiff's affidavit; no guardian is required and the unknown persons are bound by the judgment.", "cites": [ { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(c)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(c)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-69", "url": "https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_896.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-68(a)", "url": "https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_896.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The provisions read do not prescribe publication as such. Any publication or other method for unknown persons, unnamed heirs or persons of unknown residence is set by court order as reasonable.", "cites": [ { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-69", "url": "https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_896.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The owner, or a person acting for an owner under disability, unable to act, or of uncertain identity, may record a notice of intent to preserve; a notice within the twenty years before the action prevents dormancy. After suit is filed a claimed owner may record a late notice on paying the plaintiff's litigation expenses, and the action is dismissed unless the plaintiff moves within fifteen days to continue it as a quiet title action.", "cites": [ { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(a)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(a)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(b)", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Was a termination action filed and a decree recorded, or is the interest still of record?", "Has a probate certificate of distribution or devise, or any transfer, lease or lien, been recorded for the mineral interest within twenty years before any action?", "If the record owner is dead, does the land record show a notice of death or the appointment of an executor or administrator?", "What search of the land records and other sources did the plaintiff swear to before naming unknown persons?", "What notice did the court order for unknown persons, unnamed heirs or persons of unknown residence, and was it proved?", "Was a notice of intent to preserve recorded in each town where the land lies, by the owner or someone acting for an owner of uncertain identity?" ], "dates_note": "Dormancy: unused \"for a period of twenty years immediately preceding commencement of the action\" (47-33q(a)). Preservation notice: recorded \"within twenty years immediately preceding commencement of an action\" (47-33r(a)). After an order permitting a late notice, the plaintiff may move \"within fifteen days of the court's order\" to continue as a quiet title action (47-33q(b)). The Act applies \"upon October 1, 1987\" and no action could be maintained \"until two years after October 1, 1987\" (47-33t). Nothing is computed here.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/connecticut-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "DE": { "id": "DE", "name": "Delaware", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-delaware", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified", "answer": "No Delaware statute was found under which a severed mineral interest lapses for nonuse or is barred by a marketable title act. Title 25 (Property) never uses the word mineral; Delaware's mineral statutes concern leasing of state public lands and submerged lands.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Del. Code tit. 25 (Property), all chapters searched", "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/index.html" }, { "label": "Del. Code tit. 7 (Conservation), all chapters searched", "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title7/index.html" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 1, "date_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Title 12 (decedents’ estates) and the unclaimed property law were not searched for a mineral rule.", "summary": "No Delaware statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse or gives a special procedure for deceased, unknown or unlocated mineral owners. A full text search of Titles 25 (Property), 7 (Conservation) and 10 (Courts) found the word mineral only in state land, submerged land and geology provisions. General partition law lets a petition describe unknown heirs and notify them by publication, but it is not mineral specific and was not reviewed further.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No Delaware statute under which a privately owned severed mineral interest lapses, is terminated or is presumed abandoned for nonuse was found in the titles searched. The only mineral leasing chapter found concerns state submerged lands.", "cites": [ { "label": "7 Del. C. 6102(a)", "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title7/Title7.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees or successors was found. General probate law was not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific search requirement was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice requirement was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found. General partition law allows publication to unknown heirs (25 Del. C. 723) but was not reviewed further.", "cites": [ { "label": "25 Del. C. 723", "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/Title25.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No preservation or response procedure for mineral owners was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No receivership, trust, escrow or leasing mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners was found. General partition (25 Del. C. 7) and eminent domain (10 Del. C. 61) procedures mention unknown owners or heirs for land generally; they were not reviewed and may apply.", "cites": [ { "label": "25 Del. C. 723", "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/Title25.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Does any recorded instrument or court decree, such as a partition decree, affect the severed mineral interest?", "Were unknown heirs of a deceased mineral owner joined and notified by publication in any general proceeding relied on?" ], "dates_note": "No period or deadline concerning mineral owner status was found in the provisions read.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-delaware#owners" } }, "DC": { "id": "DC", "name": "District of Columbia", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-washington-dc", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified", "answer": "The D.C. Code has no provision on severed mineral interests, so nothing makes them lapse for nonuse or bars them under a marketable title act. General land law, such as the 15 year limit on actions to recover land (§ 12-301(1)) and the action to perfect title acquired by adverse possession (§ 16-3301), is not mineral specific.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "D.C. Code § 47-1384 (only marketable title hit)", "url": "https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/47-1384" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 0, "date_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "owners": { "coverage": "verified", "coverage_label": "Checked", "coverage_reason": "", "summary": "The D.C. Code contains no provision on severed mineral interests and nothing on deceased, unknown or unlocated mineral owners. The only mineral related owner rule found is in the unclaimed property act, which treats unpaid mineral proceeds as property it covers; that concerns payments, not title. General probate, quiet title and partition law may apply and was not reviewed.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No dormancy, nonuse, statement of claim or marketable title provision for severed minerals was found in the D.C. Code searched, so no mechanism treats deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees, successors or the identity of the holder was found. Probate, heirship, quiet title, partition and receivership procedures of general application may apply and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific search or diligence requirement was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice requirement to owners was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No preservation or response procedure for mineral owners was found, because no lapse mechanism exists in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No mechanism for the mineral interest itself. The Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act covers 'mineral proceeds' (41-151.02(18)), and 41-163.02(b) voids locator agreements over mineral proceeds not yet presumed abandoned; these govern payments only.", "cites": [ { "label": "D.C. Code 41-151.02(18)", "url": "https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/41-151.02", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Are any mineral proceeds attributable to the owner held by the unclaimed property administrator (special_mechanism)?" ], "dates_note": "No owner status period for mineral interests was found. Unclaimed property presumption periods were not read.", "open_questions": 0, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-washington-dc#owners" } }, "FL": { "id": "FL", "name": "Florida", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-florida", "category": "marketable_title", "category_label": "Marketable title act", "label": "Marketable Record Title Act, 30 year root of title; no dormant mineral statute", "answer": "Florida has no dormant mineral or nonuse statute. Its Marketable Record Title Act (chapter 712) gives a person with a 30 year unbroken record chain from a root of title a marketable record title free of interests that depend on any act or title transaction before the root, which are 'declared to be null and void' unless an exception in 712.03 applies.", "evidence": "partial", "date_model": "explain_only", "period_years": 30, "self_executing": "yes", "uses": [ "712.03(1): the interest is disclosed by the muniments of title beginning with the root of title; an interest created before the root is preserved only if identified by specific reference to official records book and page, instrument number or plat name, or by an affirmative statement identifying it by book and page or instrument number (wording since ch. 2022-171); a general 'subject to reservations of record' clause is not enough", "712.03(2) and 712.05: a notice to preserve recorded during the 30 years after the effective date of the root of title, refiled to continue protection", "712.03(3): rights of any person in possession of the lands, so long as that person is in possession; whether mineral production is possession is not addressed by the text", "712.03(4): interests arising out of a title transaction recorded after the effective date of the root of title, for example a mineral deed, lease or probate transfer of the mineral interest recorded after the surface owner's root", "712.03(6): rights of a person in whose name the land is assessed on the county tax rolls, preserved for 3 years after last assessed; whether separate assessment of subsurface rights under 193.481 qualifies is not confirmed", "712.03(9) and 712.04: interests held by the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, water management districts or the United States, and interests of the United States or Florida reserved in the patent or deed by which they parted with title", "704.05(2): a right of entry or easement for mining or drilling is preserved by a notice in the form and procedure of 712.05 and 712.06", "Production, leasing, royalties and tax payments are not savings in themselves; they matter only if reflected in a recorded title transaction, possession or a listed exception" ], "preservation": "Notice under 712.05 and 712.06, recorded with the clerk of the circuit court of each county where the land lies within the 30 years after the effective date of the root of title: the claimant's name and mailing address; the name and mailing address of an owner, or of the person in whose name the property is assessed on the last completed tax roll; a full and particular description of the land; a statement of the nature, description and extent of the claim, with the book and page of any instrument it rests on; acknowledged like a deed. The clerk mails a copy by registered or certified mail to the purported owner, and the notice is published once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a county newspaper (712.06(3)). It preserves for not less than 30 years and must be refiled to continue (712.05(3)).", "sources": [ { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.04 (2025)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.04" }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.02 (2025)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.02" }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.05(1) (2025)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.05" }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.03(1) (2025)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.03" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 6, "date_note": "Extinguishment depends on the surface owner's chain of title: the recording date of the root of title, whether later muniments specifically identify the mineral reservation, and whether a preservation notice or later title transaction exists. None of this follows from a last use date, so no Florida date can be computed from last use; at most a tool could say that a reservation recorded more than 30 years before the surface owner's root and never re-identified or noticed is at risk.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Whether a mineral owner’s death or unidentified heirs count under the Marketable Record Title Act exceptions is open, and no Florida decision was read.", "summary": "Florida has no dormant mineral statute; its Marketable Record Title Act can extinguish a severed mineral interest that predates the surface owner's 30 year root of title unless an exception applies or a preservation notice is recorded, and it does so without any notice to the mineral owner. The act applies whether the holder is under a disability or outside the state, disability or lack of knowledge does not suspend the 30 years, and a notice may be filed for a claimant who is one of a class of uncertain identity. Separately, 377.247 lets the department act in a receivership capacity for a minority mineral owner in a drilling unit whom the operator cannot locate or identify after a registered mail attempt, holding bonus and one eighth royalty in the Minerals Trust Fund until claimed or presumed abandoned after 5 years.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed by name in the provisions read. Chapter 712 extinguishes interests whether held by a person sui juris or under a disability (P2) and lack of knowledge does not suspend the period (P4); the text does not say whether death is a disability or how heirs or devisees preserve. 377.247 does not mention deceased owners." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Chapter 712 lets a notice be filed for a claimant who is 'one of a class, but whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain' (P5). Under 377.247 an owner whose identity remains unknown after reasonable and diligent attempts may have the interest designated leased to the operator, with proceeds held for that owner (P10, P12, P13)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Chapter 712 gives no notice to the mineral owner, so location is irrelevant to extinguishment (P7). Under 377.247 an owner the operator cannot locate after a registered mail attempt at the last known address is treated the same as an unknown owner (P10, P11)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Chapter 712 extinguishes interests depending on pre root transactions after 30 years of record title, including mining rights of entry under 704.05; disability and lack of knowledge do not suspend the period. Nonuse is irrelevant.", "cites": [ { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.02", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.02", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 704.05(1)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/704.05", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.05(3)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.05", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Marketable record title may be built by a person 'alone or together with her or his predecessors in title' (P1), and extinguishment applies regardless of the holder's disability or residence (P2). No provision read names heirs or devisees of a mineral owner.", "cites": [ { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.02", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.02", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.04", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.04", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Chapter 712 requires no search for the mineral owner. Under 377.247 the operator must document a diligent attempt, defined as registered mail to the last known address, and provide a current title opinion.", "cites": [ { "label": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(1)(a), (b)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Chapter 712 requires no notice to the mineral owner; the preservation notice is mailed by the clerk to the surface (purported) owner and non receipt does not affect validity. In drilling units, minority unleased owners get a certified mail offer under 377.2411.", "cites": [ { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.06(3)(a)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.06", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.06(4)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.06", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 377.2411(1)(a), (2)(a)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.2411", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A preservation notice under 712.06 is published once a week for 2 consecutive weeks. Under 377.247 the administrator publishes annually the value of shares held for unknown or unlocated owners.", "cites": [ { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.06(3)(b)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.06", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(3)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Mineral claimants preserve by recording a 712.06 notice within the 30 years after the root of title, including through a person acting for a claimant of uncertain identity. Under 377.247 an owner who comes forward is paid after verification and then directly.", "cites": [ { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.05(3)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.05", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 712.05(1)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.05", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(4)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Fla. Stat. 377.247: department receivership for unknown or unlocated minority mineral owners in a drilling unit or unit operation; interest designated leased to the operator for the economic life of the well; bonus and one eighth royalty deposited in the Minerals Trust Fund; presumed abandoned under chapter 717 after 5 years from first production. It does not transfer title.", "cites": [ { "label": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(1)", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(6); see 717.113", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "What is the surface owner's root of title, and does the mineral reservation fit a 712.03 exception, such as specific identification in the muniments (mechanism)?", "Was a 712.05 notice recorded within each 30 year period, and by whom, including anyone acting for a class of uncertain identity such as heirs (response)?", "Is there a 377.247 order recorded in the county designating the interest leased to the operator, and are funds held in the Minerals Trust Fund or transferred under chapter 717 (special_mechanism)?", "Did the owner receive a 377.2411 certified mail offer, and is the interest treated as a carried interest (notice)?" ], "dates_note": "Chapter 712: root of title is the last title transaction 'recorded at least 30 years before the time when marketability is being determined' (712.01(6)); notice 'at any time during the 30-year period immediately following the effective date of the root of title' (712.05(1)), preserving 'for not less than 30 years after filing' (712.05(3)); disability or lack of knowledge 'may not delay the commencement of or suspend the running of the 30-year period'. 377.247: annual remittance 'within 30 days after the anniversary date of the order'; funds presumed abandoned 'after a period of 5 years from the date of first production from the well'. 377.2411: response 'within 30 days after receipt of said notice'. Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-florida#owners" } }, "GA": { "id": "GA", "name": "Georgia", "url": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-georgia", "category": "forfeiture_petition", "category_label": "Tax or work forfeiture", "label": "Seven years of no work and no taxes paid, then a surface owner petition for title (O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168)", "answer": "Georgia lets the owner of the land petition the superior court for severed mineral rights after seven years in which the mineral owner neither worked them, tried to work them, nor paid taxes due on them. The interest is lost only by court decree. A 2026 code revision changed only a cross reference in this section.", "evidence": "partial", "date_model": "court_determination", "period_years": 7, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Working the mineral rights. Per the official annotation of Fisch v. Randall Mill Corp., 262 Ga. 861 (1993), the owner must carry on an operation to explore for, use, produce, or extract minerals in the land; genealogical research and picking up rock samples are not enough", "Attempting to work the mineral rights", "Paying taxes due on the mineral rights. Per the official annotation of Hayes v. Howell, 251 Ga. 580 (1983), the statute contemplates taxes on the mineral rights as such, paid by the holder of the mineral rights; mineral owners cannot claim the benefit of tax payments made by the landowners", "Per the official annotations, payment of state or federal estate taxes on the mineral owner's interest does not count. A further annotation, seen only as a fragment, says owners who were stockholders avoided lapse by paying taxes on the mineral rights even though the corporation paid them; that decision was not read", "Drilling holes and extracting core samples on the tract, if proven, is working the mineral rights (P.D. Miller Farms, LLC v. BASF Catalysts, LLC, 11th Cir. No. 22-11375, 2023, unpublished)" ], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168(a), version [Effective July 1, 2026] (identical wording in the version effective until July 1, 2026)", "url": "http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode" }, { "label": "O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168(b)(2) and (b)(3)", "url": "http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode" }, { "label": "O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168(f), version [Effective July 1, 2026]", "url": "http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode" }, { "label": "O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168, history line of the version [Effective July 1, 2026]", "url": "http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 6, "date_note": "No lapse date follows from one last use date. The interest is lost only by court decree on a surface owner's petition, and the petition succeeds only if the seven years immediately before filing contain no work, no attempt to work and no payment of taxes due, which are fact questions (what counts as work, whether taxes were due and paid on the right parcel). At most a tool could say that a petition could not succeed before seven years after the latest of the conveyance, the last work or attempt to work, and the last tax payment, labeled illustrative and never shown as an expiry date. The rule cannot be reduced to a countdown from the last use.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "Georgia's unused mineral rights statute lets the surface owner gain title by a superior court judgment if the mineral owner or the owner's heirs or assigns have neither worked nor attempted to work the minerals nor paid taxes due on them for seven years. The petition must name the grantor who reserved the minerals and the names and last known addresses of his heirs or assigns and others known to have an interest, and service is made as in an in rem proceeding, including by publication. The text read states no separate diligence standard for finding heirs and does not say how death affects the seven year period.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "The statute treats the inaction of the mineral owner's heirs or assigns like the owner's own (44-5-168(a)) and requires the petition to list the heirs' or assigns' names and last known addresses (44-5-168(b)(1)(B)). It does not say whether death affects the seven year period." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in terms. The petition lists persons known to the plaintiff, and service may be made as on in rem defendants, including by publication (44-5-168(b)(1)(B), (b)(3))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in terms beyond the petition's last known address requirement and in rem service including publication (44-5-168(b)(1)(B), (b)(3))." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Seven years without working, attempting to work or paying taxes due, by the owner or his heirs or assigns, lets the fee simple owner obtain title through a declaratory judgment. The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the statute and described it as conditioning retention on use or tax payment.", "cites": [ { "label": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(a)", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(2)", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "Hayes v. Howell, 251 Ga. 580 (1983), Division 2(b)", "url": "https://static.case.law/ga/251/cases/0580-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "P.D. Miller Farms, LLC v. BASF Catalysts, LLC, No. 22-11375 (11th Cir. Jan. 5, 2023) (unpublished), slip op. at 7", "url": "https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/202211375.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Heirs and assigns appear on both sides: the fee owner's heirs or assigns may petition, and the mineral owner's heirs' or assigns' inaction counts. The petition must list the heirs' or assigns' names and last known addresses.", "cites": [ { "label": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(a)", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(1)(B)", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The petition must give last known addresses of the grantor, his heirs or assigns, and others known to the plaintiff to have an interest. No diligence standard is stated in the text read.", "cites": [ { "label": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(1)(B)", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Service is perfected as on defendants in an in rem proceeding, including service by publication.", "cites": [ { "label": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(3)", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication is a permitted method under the in rem service reference; the conditions for using it are in general in rem service law, which was not read.", "cites": [ { "label": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(3)", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Before seven years run, the owner or heirs preserve the rights by working, attempting to work or paying taxes due on the minerals; landowner tax payments do not count. After a petition is filed, any person named or with an interest may intervene.", "cites": [ { "label": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(d)", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "Hayes v. Howell, 251 Ga. 580 (1983), Division 2(a)", "url": "https://static.case.law/ga/251/cases/0580-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Hayes v. Howell, 251 Ga. 580 (1983), Division 3", "url": "https://static.case.law/ga/251/cases/0580-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Did the mineral owner, or the owner's heirs or assigns, work, attempt to work, or pay taxes assessed on the mineral rights as such in the relevant seven years?", "Who are the reserving grantor's heirs or assigns, and did the petition list their names and last known addresses?", "Was service made as in an in rem proceeding, and if by publication, on what showing?", "Is there a superior court judgment and decree under 44-5-168(b)(2), or has any heir intervened?", "Is the interest a lease for a specific number of years, or leased in writing to a mining operator, which the statute excludes?" ], "dates_note": "Seven years since the date of the conveyance and for seven years immediately preceding the filing of the petition, without working, attempting to work or paying taxes due (44-5-168(a), unofficial text). Hayes v. Howell notes the earlier holding that suit could not be brought until seven years after the 1975 Act's effective date of July 1, 1975 (Nelson v. Bloodworth, not read). Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-georgia#owners" } }, "HI": { "id": "HI", "name": "Hawaii", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-hawaii", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified; minerals in state and reserved lands are reserved to the State", "answer": "HRS § 182-2 reserves to the State all minerals in state lands and in reserved lands, meaning land where the State or its predecessors reserved the minerals, and every patent or conveyance of state land must carry that reservation. No statute was found under which a privately held severed mineral interest lapses for nonuse or is cleared by a title act.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "HRS § 182-2(a)", "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0002.htm" }, { "label": "HRS § 182-1, definition of reserved lands", "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0001.htm" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "The official code could not be searched in full; the survey outside chapters 182 and 523A is limited.", "summary": "Hawaii reserves to the State all minerals in state lands and in reserved lands, so for those minerals the owner is the State and the deceased, unknown or unlocated owner problem does not arise in the provisions read. No provision was found that addresses privately held severed minerals or their deceased, unknown or unlocated owners, but the full Hawaii Revised Statutes could not be searched because the official site was not available. The unclaimed property part covers mineral proceeds, which concerns payments rather than title.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. For state and reserved lands the minerals belong to the State (P1, P2)." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No lapse or nonuse mechanism. Minerals in state and reserved lands are reserved to the State, ending only by discretionary board release, cancellation or waiver.", "cites": [ { "label": "HRS 182-2(a)", "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0002.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "HRS 182-1, definition of reserved lands", "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0001.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Chapter 182 read; it does not address heirs or successors of private mineral owners. Probate, heirship, quiet title, partition and receivership procedures of general application may apply and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No search requirement in chapter 182 as read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Chapter 182 notices (182-4) concern mining lease applications on state lands, not owner status.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No owner status publication rule in chapter 182 as read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No preservation procedure, because there is no lapse.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Only HRS 523A (unclaimed property), which covers mineral proceeds. Whether any other chapter provides for unknown or unlocated private mineral owners was not verified, because full text search of the HRS was impossible.", "cites": [ { "label": "HRS 523A-2, definition of mineral proceeds", "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0523A/HRS_0523A-0002.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Are the minerals reserved to the State under chapter 182 or a predecessor reservation, so that no private owner exists (mechanism)?", "If minerals were privately severed, who are the current owners of record under general law (succession)?" ], "dates_note": "No owner status period was found in the provisions read.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-hawaii#owners" } }, "ID": { "id": "ID", "name": "Idaho", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-idaho", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "answer": "No Idaho statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest for nonuse, requires a statement of claim, or provides a procedure for missing mineral owners. Unpaid mineral proceeds can become unclaimed property under Title 14 chapter 5, which affects the payments, not ownership of the interest.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Survey of Idaho Code Titles 55, 47, 6, 5 and 14 chapters (full text of chapter PDFs)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title55/" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Idaho.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Amendments after the archived copies were not checked, and no order or decision on heirs of a deceased owner was read.", "summary": "Idaho has no dormant mineral statute, so no rule ends an interest because its owner is dead, unknown or missing. Its integration procedure does address such owners: an applicant must try twice over 60 days, once by certified mail to the last known address, and must publish notice in a county newspaper for owners who are unknown or cannot be found, while known and located owners receive the application by certified mail. An owner who makes no election is paid at least a one eighth royalty and the highest bonus paid in the unit, and unpaid mineral proceeds fall under the unclaimed property act; neither transfers title.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. The integration provisions speak of owners who are unknown or cannot be found and do not mention death, heirs or devisees." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Integration applicants must publish notice for owners who are unknown (P2, P3); commission hearing notice is by publication where the interested person is unknown (P5). Unknown and cannot be found owners are treated alike." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Integration applicants must attempt certified mail to the last known address (P1) and publish for owners who cannot be found or located (P2, P3, P4); the department is asked to post notice on its website (P4)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No dormancy or nonuse mechanism exists in the provisions read, so none treats deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No provision read addresses heirs, devisees or who counts as the owner when the owner of record has died. Probate, heirship, quiet title, partition and receivership procedures of general application may apply and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "For integration, two good faith contact efforts over at least 60 days, one by certified mail to the last known address, documented in a resume of efforts.", "cites": [ { "label": "Idaho Code 47-320(4)(j)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "For integration, certified mail of the application to all known and located uncommitted owners within seven days of filing; for commission complaint hearings, certified mail or service as for a summons.", "cites": [ { "label": "Idaho Code 47-328(3)(b)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-328/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Idaho Code 47-328(2)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-328/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication is required for owners who are unknown or cannot be found or located: a legal notice before applying, a published notice of the application certified at filing, and a notice of hearing and response deadline.", "cites": [ { "label": "Idaho Code 47-320(4)(j)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Idaho Code 47-320(5)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Idaho Code 47-328(3)(b)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-328/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Idaho Code 47-328(2)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-328/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Uncommitted owners may object at least 14 days before the hearing; an owner who makes no election receives the statutory base entitlement.", "cites": [ { "label": "Idaho Code 47-328(3)(b)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-328/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Idaho Code 47-320(3)(c)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No receivership, trust or escrow for unknown owners' minerals was found. The integration notice rules above apply to unknown and unlocated owners, and the Revised Unclaimed Property Act covers unpaid mineral proceeds.", "cites": [ { "label": "Idaho Code 14-5-102(16)", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/statutesrules/idstat/Title14/T14CH5.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is the interest in an integrated spacing unit, and did the order treat the owner as non electing under 47-320(3)(c) (response)?", "Did the applicant's resume of efforts and publication certificate cover the owner of record or the heirs (search, publication)?", "Are royalties for the owner held as unclaimed property (special_mechanism)?" ], "dates_note": "47-320(4)(j): efforts 'on at least two (2) separate occasions within a period of time no less than sixty (60) days'. 47-328(3)(b): mailing 'within seven (7) days of filing the application'; department web notice requested 'within seven (7) days of filing'; objections 'at least fourteen (14) days before the hearing date'. 47-328(2): hearing notice 'at least five (5) business days before the date of the hearing'. Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-idaho#owners" } }, "IL": { "id": "IL", "name": "Illinois", "url": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-illinois", "category": "missing_owner", "category_label": "Missing owner procedure", "label": "Severed Mineral Interest Act: court trusteeship and adverse possession route for unknown or missing owners; no dormant mineral act", "answer": "Illinois has no dormant mineral or nonuse lapse statute. The Severed Mineral Interest Act (765 ILCS 515, P.A. 83-571) applies only to severed mineral interests whose owners are unknown or missing.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": 7, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Sec. 1(b): the act applies only if the owner's present identity or location cannot be determined from the county records and by diligent inquiry near the owner's last known residence; an owner who can be identified and located is outside the act", "Sec. 5(e) and 11(e): an owner who answers or appears personally has the interest determined and is dismissed from the action; a guardian ad litem's appearance does not count", "Sec. 11(h): before the final judgment, the owner may intervene, prove ownership and pay the surface owner's taxes, fees and costs, and the action is dismissed as to that owner", "Sec. 6: the missing owner or a successor may petition to have the lease money and interest released", "Production or other use is not a defense in itself: Sec. 9 conveyance applies 'regardless of whether there has been production'" ], "preservation": "None in the statute; there is no statement of claim. An owner stays outside the act by being identifiable and locatable from the county records (Sec. 1(b)). Paying the taxes assessed on the severed interest matters because the Section 11(g) judgment requires the surface owner to have paid all taxes legally assessed on it, and an intervening owner must reimburse taxes the surface owner paid (Sec. 11(h)).", "sources": [ { "label": "765 ILCS 515/1(a), (b)", "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505150K1.htm" }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/3", "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505150K3.htm" }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/9(a)", "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505150K9.htm" }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/11(g)", "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505150K11.htm" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 4, "date_note": "Nothing runs from a last use date. Title moves only by court judgment, at the earliest 7 years after a trustee leasing judgment, or 7 years (1 year for severances more than 20 years old) after a presumptive adverse possession judgment, and only while the owner remains unknown or missing. There is no Illinois lapse date.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "No Illinois decision on the Severed Mineral Interest Act was searched or read because the case search was rate limited.", "summary": "Illinois has no nonuse or dormancy lapse statute; the Severed Mineral Interest Act (765 ILCS 515) is the only route found by which an unknown or missing owner can lose a severed mineral interest, and it always runs through the circuit court. An unknown or missing owner, defined to include unknown heirs, successors and assigns, can have the interest leased by a court appointed trustee with the money held for the owner, and after 7 years the interest is conveyed to the surface owner; separately, a surface owner can obtain a presumptive adverse possession judgment and, after 7 years (or 1 year where the severance is over 20 years old), with renewed diligent inquiry and all taxes paid, a judgment vesting fee title. Both routes require a verified diligent search, newspaper publication and mailing to any last known address, and an owner who appears keeps the interest.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "The act joins \"the unknown heirs, successors and assigns\" of record owners (P3) and binds heirs to trustee leases (P8). Known heirs who can be located are not \"unknown or missing owners\" under the definition (P1), so the act does not reach them; probate and heirship procedures were not reviewed." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Covered: an owner whose present identity cannot be determined from county records and diligent local inquiry, including unknown heirs (P1)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Covered on the same terms as unknown owners: an owner whose present location cannot be determined (P1)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No nonuse lapse exists in the provisions read. Loss of a severed interest held by an unknown or missing owner occurs only by court judgment under the Severed Mineral Interest Act: conveyance to the surface owner 7 years after a trustee lease judgment (515/9) or a null and void judgment after presumptive adverse possession (515/11).", "cites": [ { "label": "765 ILCS 515/11(e)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/11(g)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Unknown heirs, successors and assigns are part of the definition and must be joined; trustee leases bind heirs, legatees, personal representatives, successors and assigns.", "cites": [ { "label": "765 ILCS 515/5(a)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/7", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Diligent inquiry in county records and in the vicinity of the last known residence, with a verified petition listing the sources checked; renewed before final judgment in section 11 cases.", "cites": [ { "label": "765 ILCS 515/1(b)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/5(b)(4), (5)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Clerk publishes notice and mails a copy to each last known address stated in the petition within 10 days of first publication.", "cites": [ { "label": "765 ILCS 515/5(c)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication is the primary method for unknown or missing defendants: county newspaper (or an adjoining county's), once a week for 3 successive weeks, no default until 30 days after first publication.", "cites": [ { "label": "765 ILCS 515/5(c)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/5(c)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "An owner who appears in a trustee lease action has the interest determined and is dismissed; an owner who intervenes in a section 11 case before the null and void judgment keeps the interest on paying the surface owner's taxes and allowed fees; held lease money is released on proof of ownership.", "cites": [ { "label": "765 ILCS 515/5(e)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/11(h)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/6", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Severed Mineral Interest Act, 765 ILCS 515 (P.A. 83-571): circuit court trust, trustee lease of the missing owner's share, proceeds in an insured county depository for the owner, conveyance to the surface owner after 7 years.", "cites": [ { "label": "765 ILCS 515/1(b)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/3", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/6", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "765 ILCS 515/9(a)", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Has a 765 ILCS 515 trustee lease judgment or presumptive adverse possession judgment been entered, and on what date?", "What sources did the petition list, and was diligent inquiry renewed before any section 11(g) judgment?", "Were the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of each record owner joined, and did any heir appear or intervene?", "Did the surface owner pay all taxes assessed on the severed interest, as section 11(g) requires?" ], "dates_note": "Trustee lease: if owners \"remain unknown or missing for a period of 7 years from the date of entry of the initial judgment authorizing a lease\", the trustee moves \"on or before the eighth anniversary of the date of the lease\" (515/9(a)). Adverse possession: \"7 years from the date of the judgment\" of presumptive adverse possession, or \"one year\" if \"the severance took place more than 20 years prior to the date of the filing of the original petition\" (515/11(g)). Publication \"at least once in each week for 3 successive weeks\"; first publication \"at least 30 days prior\" to default; mailing \"within 10 days of the first publication\" (515/5(c), 11(c)). The provisions read do not say how death of an owner during these periods affects them.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-illinois#owners" } }, "IN": { "id": "IN", "name": "Indiana", "url": "/research/states/indiana-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Mineral Lapse Act, 20 years, self executing", "answer": "An interest in coal, oil and gas, or other minerals that is unused for 20 years is extinguished and reverts to the owner of the interest it was carved from, unless a statement of claim is filed before the 20 years run. No court action or prior notice is required; the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the act in Texaco, Inc. v. Short (1982).", "evidence": "partial", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "yes", "uses": [ "Minerals are produced under the mineral interest", "Operations are conducted on the mineral interest for injection, withdrawal, storage or disposal of water, gas or other fluid substances", "Rentals or royalties are paid by the owner of the mineral interest for the purpose of delaying or enjoying the use or exercise of the rights", "Any of those uses is carried out on a tract with which the mineral interest may be unitized or pooled for production purposes", "For coal or other solid minerals, production from a common vein or seam by the owners of the mineral interest", "Taxes are paid on the mineral interest by its owner (applied to ad valorem taxes in Westervelt v. Woodcock, Ind. Ct. App., reported by a secondary source)", "A statement of claim filed before the 20 years end, treated as use on its filing date (32-23-10-4(c))", "A use under or authorized by the instrument creating the interest continues all rights granted by that instrument (32-23-10-3(b))" ], "preservation": "Statement of claim filed by the mineral owner with the recorder of the county where the land lies before the end of the 20 year period, containing the owner's name and address and a description of the land on or under which the interest lies (32-23-10-4). The recorder enters it in the dormant mineral interest record and notes it in the margin of the instrument that created the interest (32-23-10-7).", "sources": [ { "label": "IC 32-23-10-2", "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar23/ch10.html" }, { "label": "IC 32-23-10-3(a)(1) to (3)", "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar23/ch10.html" }, { "label": "IC 32-23-10-4(c)", "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar23/ch10.html" }, { "label": "IC 32-23-10-5", "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar23/ch10.html" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "The lapse is automatic 20 years after the last use or statement of claim, so a calculator can show that anniversary as an illustration. It cannot see unrecorded uses such as tax payments, rentals or production on pooled tracts, and for periods before September 2, 1971 the 2 year grace period and the Bond v. Templeton Coal limit apply.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "The statutes were read in their 2017 text because the official 2026 code could not be reached; later amendments, Indiana Court of Appeals decisions and the integration chapter (IC 14-37-9) were not read.", "summary": "Indiana's Mineral Lapse Act (IC 32-23-10) extinguishes a mineral interest unused for 20 years in favor of the interest it was carved from, with no advance notice; the Indiana Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court (Texaco v. Short) held that self executing lapse needs no prior notice, while any court judgment confirming a lapse needs notice reasonably calculated to reach interested parties. The lapse chapter does not mention death or heirs, and its only notice is an optional post lapse publication with mailing where the record owner's address is known or can be found by reasonable inquiry. A separate chapter (IC 32-23-13, 2015) lets an adjacent producer obtain a court appointed trustee lease of the interest of an unknown or missing owner, defined to include heirs and devisees, with funds held by the clerk and paid to the surface owner or township trustee after seven years without a successful claim.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "The lapse chapter does not address death; notices name the owner \"as shown of record\" (P5). Chapter 13 treats unidentified or unlocatable heirs and devisees of a record owner as unknown or missing owners (P9) and requires naming all reasonably ascertainable heirs (P10)." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "The lapse chapter applies regardless of whether the owner is known. Chapter 13 covers an owner whose identity cannot be determined from chain of title records, local inquiry and tax records (P8)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "The lapse chapter requires mailing of the optional post lapse notice only if the address is of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry (P4). Chapter 13 treats an owner whose location cannot be determined the same as an unknown owner (P8)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Self executing lapse after 20 years of nonuse unless a statement of claim is filed; no adjudication or prior notice is required, but a court judgment confirming lapse requires due process notice.", "cites": [ { "label": "IC 32-23-10-2", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "406 N.E.2d 625 (Ind. 1980)", "url": "https://static.case.law/ne2d/406/cases/0625-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "454 U.S. 516, 533 to 534 (1982)", "url": "https://static.case.law/us/454/cases/0516-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Chapter 10 (lapse) does not mention heirs or devisees, and \"owner\" is undefined. Chapter 13 expressly includes heirs, devisees, successors and assigns in \"unknown or missing owner\" and binds them to a trustee lease.", "cites": [ { "label": "IC 32-23-13-3(b)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "IC 32-23-13-12(b)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Chapter 10 requires only that the optional lapse notice be mailed if the address is of record or can be found by \"reasonable inquiry\". Chapter 13 requires a search of chain of title records, diligent local inquiry and tax records, and a verified statement of the steps taken.", "cites": [ { "label": "IC 32-23-10-6(a)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "IC 32-23-13-3", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "IC 32-23-13-6(a)(2)(F)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Chapter 10: optional notice after lapse, published and mailed where an address is known or findable, naming the record owner; none is required before lapse (Texaco v. Short). Chapter 13: name the last record owners and all reasonably ascertainable heirs and devisees; certified mail to the record surface owner where severed.", "cites": [ { "label": "IC 32-23-10-6(a)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "IC 32-23-10-6(b)(1)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "454 U.S. 516, 533 to 534 (1982)", "url": "https://static.case.law/us/454/cases/0516-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "IC 32-23-13-6(a)(1)(A)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Chapter 10 notice is by newspaper publication in the county, with mailing added only where an address is known or findable. Chapter 13 permits service by publication on unknown or missing respondents under the Trial Rules.", "cites": [ { "label": "IC 32-23-10-6(a)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "IC 32-23-13-6(b)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Before lapse, the owner files a statement of claim with name and address. After lapse, only an owner of 10 or more interests in the county who meets diligence and inadvertence conditions may file within 60 days after published notice or actual knowledge. Under chapter 13, a claimant of held lease money files a verified claim with the court.", "cites": [ { "label": "IC 32-23-10-4(a)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "IC 32-23-10-5(1), (4)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "IC 32-23-13-10(b)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "IC 32-23-13, Mineral Estates of Unknown or Missing Owners: an adjacent mineral producer petitions; the court may declare a trust, appoint a trustee and authorize a lease; payments go to the clerk; after seven years without a successful claim they go to the record surface owner or the township trustee. Oil and gas integration under IC 14-37-9 for missing or unknown owners is preserved but was not read.", "cites": [ { "label": "IC 32-23-13-7(b)(2)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "IC 32-23-13-10(d)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "IC 32-23-13-10(d)(2)", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "IC 32-23-13-14", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] } ], "facts": [ "In each 20 year window, was there production, injection or storage operations, rentals or royalties paid by the owner, pooled use, taxes paid by the owner, or a recorded statement of claim?", "Was a lapse notice published and mailed under IC 32-23-10-6, and was the record owner then alive and at the address used?", "Who succeeded the record owner, and did any successor file a statement of claim in time?", "Has a chapter 13 trustee lease been entered, which heirs were named, and are funds held by the clerk or already paid to the surface owner or township trustee?" ], "dates_note": "Lapse if \"unused for a period of twenty (20) years\" (32-23-10-2); claim \"before the end of the twenty (20) year period\" (32-23-10-4(a)). Late claim for qualifying multi interest owners \"not more than sixty (60) days after publication of notice\" or, if none is published, \"not more than sixty (60) days after receiving actual knowledge that the mineral interest had lapsed\" (32-23-10-5(4)). Mailing \"not more than ten (10) days after publication\" (32-23-10-6(a)(2)). Chapter 13 funds: \"within seven (7) years from the clerk's first receipt of any funds\" (32-23-13-10(d)); clerk notifies the surface owner by certified mail \"Thirty (30) days before\" it may petition (32-23-13-10(e)); notice of later proceedings \"not less than thirty (30) days in advance\" (32-23-13-11(c)). The provisions read do not say whether death affects any period.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/indiana-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "IA": { "id": "IA", "name": "Iowa", "url": "/research/states/iowa-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Severed mineral interest abandoned after 20 years without activity, title vests in surface owner (coal since 1991, most other minerals since June 2, 2026)", "answer": "Iowa's abandoned mineral interest statute, rewritten in June 2026, treats a severed interest in coal, oil, gas and most other minerals as abandoned after twenty years without activity unless a statement of claim is filed, and title vests in the surface owner without notice or court action. How the new rule applies to years before June 2, 2026 is unsettled.", "evidence": "partial", "date_model": "explain_only", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "yes", "uses": [ "Minerals produced or explored by the record owner, its rightful assignees or lessees, or under a pooling order of the department of natural resources under chapter 458A (557C.2A(1))", "Operations for extraction, withdrawal, injection, storage or disposal of water, gas or other fluids to produce or enhance production, by or with express permission of the record holder or under a pooling order (557C.2A(2))", "For solid minerals, production from a well or a common vein or seam with the record owner's express permission or under a pooling order (557C.2A(3))", "A valid conveyance, lease, mortgage, assignment, private distribution, termination of joint tenancy or life estate affidavit, judgment or decree specifically referencing the record owner's severed interest, recorded in the county within the last twenty years (557C.2A(4))", "The interest is subject to a written agreement or a department of natural resources pooling order (557C.2A(5))", "A statement of claim filed under 557C.3 (557C.2A(6))", "Not saving: a reservation or exception of the interest in a conveyance by a nonowner of the mineral interest (557C.5)" ], "preservation": "Statement of claim filed by the owner with the county recorder where the land lies, giving the owner's name and address and a description of the real estate on or under which the interest lies; due before the end of the twenty year period or by July 1, 1994, whichever is later (557C.3). It preserves the interest for a further twenty years (557C.1).", "sources": [ { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, § 7 (Iowa Code § 557C.1)", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf" }, { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, § 7 (Iowa Code § 557C.1)", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf" }, { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, § 8 (Iowa Code § 557C.2(2))", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf" }, { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, § 9 (new Iowa Code § 557C.2A)", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 6, "date_note": "The text counts twenty years without activity, which points to an anniversary of the last active event, but one date cannot settle the result: the 557C.6 tax exemption turns on tax history, any recorded instrument referencing the interest within twenty years counts as activity, and for oil, gas and other non coal interests brought in on June 2, 2026 the Act gives no new claim deadline, so how years before that date count is unsettled.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "No Iowa decision was searched, and the 2026 extension of chapter 557C to oil, gas and other minerals has not yet been applied by a court in any source read.", "summary": "Since June 2, 2026, Iowa Code chapter 557C treats a severed interest in coal, oil, gas and most other minerals as abandoned, with title vesting in the surface owner on the date of abandonment, if it has not been active for twenty years and no statement of claim is filed. The chapter requires no search, notice or court step and does not mention death, heirs, or unknown or unlocated owners, although recorded instruments that often follow a death (termination of joint tenancy or life estate affidavits, a private distribution, or a decree referencing the interest) count as activity. Separately, an unpaid tax on a severed mineral interest leads to its conveyance to the surface owner ninety days after the treasurer mails notice to the last known address. No Iowa procedure specific to unknown or unlocated mineral owners was found in the chapters read.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in terms. Recorded termination of joint tenancy or life estate affidavits, private distributions, and judgments or decrees that specifically reference the record owner's interest make it active (P3); \"owner\" for filing a claim is undefined." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read; 557C applies to every severed owner alike." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in 557C. For tax delinquency, notice is mailed to the last known address and registered agent only (P7)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Self executing abandonment after twenty years without activity or a statement of claim; title vests in the surface owner on the abandonment date. No court step is stated.", "cites": [ { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 7 (Iowa Code 557C.1)", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 7 (Iowa Code 557C.1)", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Activity includes recorded instruments by or about the record owner, including private distributions, termination of joint tenancy and life estate affidavits, and decrees referencing the interest, and production by the record owner's rightful assignees or lessees. Heirs and devisees are not named.", "cites": [ { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 9 (new Iowa Code 557C.2A(4))", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 9 (new Iowa Code 557C.2A(1))", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Neither chapter 557C as amended nor 458A.20 requires a search for the mineral owner.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Chapter 557C provides no notice. The separate tax delinquency route in 458A.20 requires first class mail to the last known address and any registered agent.", "cites": [ { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 6 (Iowa Code 458A.20(1))", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No publication provision appears in chapter 557C as amended or in 458A.20.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The owner files a statement of claim before the twenty year period ends; an owner whose interest was separately taxed after July 1, 1971 with tax paid, no tax sale and no conveyance to the surface owner need not file. Under 458A.20 the owner pays the delinquent amount within ninety days after notice.", "cites": [ { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 10 (Iowa Code 557C.3)", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 13 (Iowa Code 557C.6)", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No court, receivership, trust or escrow procedure for unknown or unlocated mineral owners appears in chapter 557C as amended or chapter 458A. The 458A.20 tax delinquency conveyance applies to any owner who does not pay, located or not.", "cites": [ { "label": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 6 (Iowa Code 458A.20(2))", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Within the last twenty years, was the interest active under 557C.2A (production, operations, recorded instrument referencing it, pooling order or written agreement, or a statement of claim)?", "If the record owner died, was a termination of joint tenancy or life estate affidavit, a private distribution, or a probate decree specifically referencing the interest recorded?", "Was the interest separately taxed after July 1, 1971 with tax paid and no tax sale, so that 557C.6 excuses a statement of claim?", "Has the county treasurer served a 458A.20 notice, to which address, and has the county conveyed the interest to the surface owner?" ], "dates_note": "Abandonment if not active \"for a period of twenty years after its creation, transfer, or preservation\" (557C.1); a claim preserves \"for an additional period of twenty years\" (557C.1); claim due \"prior to the end of the twenty-year period ... or by July 1, 1994, whichever is later\" (557C.3); activity window for recorded instruments \"within the last twenty years\" (557C.2A(4)). Tax route: payment \"within ninety days after the notice is served\" (458A.20(1)); county conveyance \"within one hundred fifty days of service of the required notice\" (331.310(3)). Effective \"upon enactment\", approved June 2, 2026. The provisions read do not say whether death affects any period.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/iowa-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "KS": { "id": "KS", "name": "Kansas", "url": "/research/states/kansas-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Mineral interest lapse statute, 20 years, self executing with a 60 day cure", "answer": "An interest in coal, oil, gas or other minerals that is unused for 20 years lapses and ownership reverts to the current surface owner unless a statement of claim is filed. No court action is needed for the lapse.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "yes", "uses": [ "Any minerals produced under the interest", "Operations conducted on the interest for injection, withdrawal, storage or disposal of water, gas or other fluid substances", "Rentals or royalties paid by the owner of the interest for the purpose of delaying or enjoying the use or exercise of the mineral rights", "Use or exercise of the mineral rights on a tract with which the interest may be unitized or pooled for production purposes", "For coal or other solid minerals, production from a common vein or seam by the owners of the mineral interests", "Taxes paid on the mineral interest by its owner", "A statement of claim filed in time, treated as use on its filing date (55-1604(a))", "Any use under or authorized by the instrument creating the interest continues all rights granted by that instrument (55-1603(b))" ], "preservation": "Statement of claim filed with the register of deeds of the county where the land lies, giving the owner's name and address and a description of the land on or under which the interest lies, before the end of the 20 year period or within three years after the act took effect, whichever is later (55-1604(a)). A statement filed within 60 days after published notice of lapse, or within 60 days after actual knowledge of the lapse if no notice is published, prevents extinguishment (55-1604(b)).", "sources": [ { "label": "K.S.A. 55-1602", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0002.html" }, { "label": "K.S.A. 55-1601", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0001.html" }, { "label": "K.S.A. 55-1603(a)(1) to (2)", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0003.html" }, { "label": "K.S.A. 55-1603(a)(3) to (4)", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0003.html" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "The lapse is automatic 20 years after the last use, so a calculator can show that anniversary as an illustration. It cannot see unrecorded uses such as tax payments, rentals or production on pooled tracts, the claim deadline for interests already dormant in 1983 ran to three years after July 1, 1983, and a lapse is reversed by a claim filed within 60 days after published notice or actual knowledge.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "What a reasonable inquiry requires, and whether mail to a deceased owner’s record address suffices, is open; no Kansas decision on it was found.", "summary": "Kansas lets an unused mineral interest lapse to the surface owner after twenty years, but the owner can still file a statement of claim within sixty days after the successor publishes notice, or within sixty days after actual knowledge if no notice is published. Notice is published and also mailed by restricted mail if the owner's address is of record or can be found by reasonable inquiry, a term the act does not define; the notice names the owner as shown of record. The Court of Appeals holds that an heir by intestacy is an owner who may file a claim without a decree of descent. Separately, a district court may appoint a receiver to lease a minority mineral interest whose owners cannot be located.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Heirs by intestate succession own from death and may file a statement of claim without a decree of descent (Nickelson v. Bell). Whether mailing to a deceased owner's record address satisfies 55-1605 was not addressed in any source found." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the lapse act; publication is always required (55-1605). The receivership statute speaks of whereabouts, not identity." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Mailing is required only if an address is of record or found by reasonable inquiry (55-1605). A receiver may lease a minority interest whose owners' whereabouts are unknown (55-219 to 55-221)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Twenty years of nonuse; lapse and reversion without a court action, subject to the post notice claim window.", "cites": [ { "label": "K.S.A. 55-1602", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0002.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "case_law", "status_label": "Court decision", "statement": "The act says 'owner', not 'record owner', for claims; heirs who acquired by intestacy are owners entitled to file.", "cites": [ { "label": "Nickelson v. Bell, No. 114,507 (Kan. Ct. App. Sept. 16, 2016), syllabus 6", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2016/09/16/nickelson_v._bell.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Nickelson v. Bell (Kan. Ct. App. 2016), syllabus 4", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2016/09/16/nickelson_v._bell.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Lapse act: reasonable inquiry where no address is of record, undefined. Receivership: due diligence and sources checked must be stated in a verified petition.", "cites": [ { "label": "K.S.A. 55-1605", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0005.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "K.S.A. 55-220(a)(3)", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0020.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Restricted mail to the owner within ten days after publication if an address is of record or found by reasonable inquiry; notice names the owner as shown of record.", "cites": [ { "label": "K.S.A. 55-1605", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0005.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "K.S.A. 55-1605", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0005.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county is required in every case.", "cites": [ { "label": "K.S.A. 55-1605", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0005.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Statement of claim within sixty days after publication, or after actual knowledge if no notice is published; a timely claim prevents extinguishment without proof of use.", "cites": [ { "label": "K.S.A. 55-1604(b)", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0004.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Scully v. Overall, 17 Kan. App. 2d 582, 587 (1992)", "url": "https://static.case.law/kan-app-2d/17/cases/0582-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Receiver for minority mineral interests of owners whose whereabouts are unknown, K.S.A. 55-219 to 55-222: verified petition with due diligence, published and mailed notice, court set minimum lease terms, funds held by the court.", "cites": [ { "label": "K.S.A. 55-219", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0019.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "K.S.A. 55-220(b)", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0020.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "K.S.A. 55-221", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0021.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Was notice of lapse published, and was it mailed by restricted mail to the owner shown of record, or was a reasonable inquiry made where no address was of record (notice, search)?", "If the owner shown of record is dead, did any heir file a statement of claim within sixty days after publication, or after actual knowledge if no notice was published (succession, response)?", "Has a receiver been appointed under 55-219 for a missing minority owner, and are funds held by the court or in suspense (special_mechanism)?" ], "dates_note": "Lapse if 'unused for a period of 20 years' (55-1602). Original claim deadline: 'prior to the end of the twenty-year period ... or within three years after the effective date of this act, whichever is later' (55-1604(a); act effective July 1, 1983). Mailing 'within 10 days after publication' (55-1605). Late claim 'within 60 days after' publication, or 'within 60 days after receiving actual knowledge that the mineral interest had lapsed, if such notice is not published' (55-1604(b)). Receivership hearing at least 'thirty (30) days from the date of the mailing of notice', notices 'at least seven (7) days prior to the date of hearing' (55-220(b)); receiver's lease primary term 'not to exceed five years' (55-221). The provisions read do not say how death affects any period; under 55-1604(b)(2) the actual knowledge window runs from knowledge, and whose knowledge counts for heirs is not addressed.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/kansas-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "KY": { "id": "KY", "name": "Kentucky", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-kentucky", "category": "missing_owner", "category_label": "Missing owner procedure", "label": "Court trust and lease for unknown or missing severed mineral owners, title to the surface owner after 7 years of production", "answer": "Kentucky has no statute that ends a severed mineral interest because it went unused. KRS 353.460 to 353.476 let a surface owner, a co-owner, an adjoining owner of the same minerals, or a lessee of either ask the circuit court to declare a trust over a severed mineral interest whose owner cannot be identified or located; a court appointed trustee then leases it.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": 7, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Owner whose identity and whereabouts are known, can be found by diligent inquiry, or are discovered in the action: the court shall not authorize a trustee lease of that interest (KRS 353.468(4))", "Owner intervenes as of right before judgment approving the trustee lease and establishes title: the action is dismissed as to that interest at the plaintiff's cost (KRS 353.468(4))", "Within 7 years after first commercial production under the trustee lease, the missing owner petitions to redocket and proves identity and title: the trustee distributes the funds, assigns future proceeds and delivers a court approved recordable instrument (KRS 353.468(6))" ], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "KRS 353.460(2)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33095" }, { "label": "KRS 353.464(1)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33097" }, { "label": "KRS 353.468(6)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33099" }, { "label": "KRS 353.470(1)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33100" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "Nothing runs from a last use date. Every step needs a court judgment, and the 7 year clock starts at first commercial production under a court approved trustee lease, which a calculator cannot derive from one date. Nonuse alone never changes title in Kentucky under this statute.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "The case law search was not exhaustive, and the pooling escrow provisions (KRS 353.630) were not read.", "summary": "Kentucky has no statute ending a mineral interest for nonuse. Under KRS 353.460 to 353.476 the circuit court may place a severed mineral interest in trust when its owner, including unknown heirs, successors and assigns, cannot be identified or located from county records or by diligent inquiry near the last known residence; a trustee then leases it. If the minerals are produced commercially and the owners stay unknown or missing for 7 years from first production, the interest is conveyed to the surface owners and later title claims are barred. Separately, in oil and gas pooling, owners still unknown 30 days after published notice are deemed to have leased.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed as such. The definition of unknown or missing owner includes the owner's unknown heirs, successors and assigns (KRS 353.460(2)); heirs who are known or can be found by diligent inquiry are outside the trust (KRS 353.468(4))." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Covered: an owner whose present identity cannot be determined from county records or by diligent inquiry near the last known residence (KRS 353.460(2))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Covered by the same definition: an owner whose location cannot be so determined. The statute treats unknown and unlocated owners the same." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Kentucky has no nonuse statute. Its unknown or missing owner trust (KRS 353.460 to 353.476) is the relevant mechanism and applies only to owners who cannot be identified or located from county records or by diligent inquiry near the last known residence.", "cites": [ { "label": "KRS 353.460(2)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33095", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The definition of unknown or missing owner includes unknown heirs, successors and assigns, and they must be joined as defendants.", "cites": [ { "label": "KRS 353.460(2)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33095", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "KRS 353.466(1)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The petitioner must show a diligent effort, measured against the county records and inquiry near the last known residence; a trustee ad litem makes an independent search, and up to 10 percent of trust funds may be spent searching.", "cites": [ { "label": "KRS 353.466(2)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "KRS 353.466(4)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Service under the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure, plus a recorded lis pendens naming the parties and their last known addresses.", "cites": [ { "label": "KRS 353.466(3)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Advertisement under KRS Chapter 424 immediately on filing, with court ordered additional advertisement where it might help.", "cites": [ { "label": "KRS 353.466(3)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A known or findable owner is excluded and may intervene before judgment. An unknown owner may redocket within 7 years after first commercial production; after that, title claims are barred.", "cites": [ { "label": "KRS 353.468(4)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33099", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "KRS 353.468(6)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33099", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "KRS 353.476", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33103", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Court declared trust with a trustee who leases the interest; conveyance to the surface owners after 7 years of commercial production with the owners still missing; payment of proceeds to surface owners if never produced. Separately, pooled oil and gas owners whose identity and location remain unknown after published notice are deemed to have leased to the operator.", "cites": [ { "label": "KRS 353.464(1)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33097", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "KRS 353.470(1)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33100", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "KRS 353.472", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33101", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "KRS 353.640(1)", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47763", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is the severed interest subject to a recorded KRS 353.464 trust or trustee's lease, and when did commercial production first occur?", "Did the petition and the trustee ad litem's report show a diligent effort using county records and inquiry near the last known residence?", "Were the unknown heirs, successors and assigns joined, a lis pendens recorded and the KRS Chapter 424 advertisement made?", "Has any claimed heir redocketed within 7 years after first production, or has a conveyance to the surface owners been recorded?", "Is the interest in a pooling order under KRS 353.630(3) with an unknown owner deemed to have leased?" ], "dates_note": "KRS 353.468(6): within seven (7) years after the date of first commercial production under the trustee's lease, a missing owner may petition to redocket. KRS 353.470(1): owners who remain unknown or missing for seven (7) years from the date of first production lose the interest by court ordered conveyance. KRS 353.472: if never produced, proceeds go to surface owners on termination of the lease or seven (7) years following the date of judgment authorizing the lease, whichever last occurs. KRS 353.476: actions for proceeds barred after those dates, and for title after seven (7) years from first commercial production. KRS 353.640: publication not more than thirty (30) days before a pooling application; deemed lease after thirty (30) days from publication. No provision mentions death of the owner.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-kentucky#owners" } }, "LA": { "id": "LA", "name": "Louisiana", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-louisiana", "category": "prescription", "category_label": "Prescription of nonuse", "label": "Prescription of nonuse, 10 years, for mineral servitudes and mineral royalties", "answer": "Louisiana mineral servitudes and mineral royalties each end by prescription after 10 years of nonuse, automatically, unless something the Mineral Code counts interrupts it, such as good faith operations, production or a written acknowledgment by the landowner. A mineral lease is different: it ends by its own terms. No notice the mineral owner records alone interrupts prescription.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "period_years": 10, "self_executing": "yes", "uses": [ "Servitude: good faith operations for the discovery and production of minerals, commenced with reasonable expectation of discovering and producing in paying quantities at a particular point or depth, continued at the site to that depth, and conducted as a single operation (31:29); the interruption occurs when actual drilling or mining starts on the burdened land, and preparations such as geophysical work, surveying or site clearing do not count (31:30)", "Servitude: actual drilling or mining commenced before the prescriptive date interrupts even if completed after it (31:31); a later good faith attempt to complete the well or mine or place it in production (31:32); good faith operations to restore production or secure new production from the same well or mine (31:39)", "Servitude: actual production of any mineral covered by the act creating the servitude, in good faith with intent to save or use it for a beneficial purpose; paying quantities are not required (31:36, 31:38)", "Servitude: a shut in well on the tract or on a unit including it, proved by testing through surface production to be capable of producing in paying quantities (31:34), and unitization with such a well (31:35)", "Servitude: operations or production on a conventional or compulsory unit that includes all or part of the tract; if the unit well is off the tract, the interruption reaches only the part of the tract inside the unit (31:33, 31:37); compulsory unit operations interrupt without formal adoption (31:47)", "Servitude: operations or production by a third party adopted by the servitude owner by an instrument filed for registry within three years of learning of them and before the right would prescribe (31:44 to 31:46)", "Servitude: a written acknowledgment by the owner of the burdened land that expresses the intent to interrupt prescription and identifies the party and the servitude; it must be filed for registry to affect third parties (31:54, 31:55)", "Servitude: a written contractual extension by the landowner that meets the acknowledgment requirements and states the period (31:56, 31:57)" ], "preservation": "None for the mineral owner acting alone. The Mineral Code articles read provide no statement of claim or notice of intent to preserve that the servitude or royalty owner can record. Recorded instruments matter in three ways only: a written acknowledgment by the owner of the burdened land, which must express the intent to interrupt and identify the party and the right, and must be filed for registry to affect third parties (31:54, 31:55; royalties 31:93); a written contractual extension by the landowner meeting the same requirements and stating the period (31:56); and the servitude owner's adoption instrument filed in the conveyance records, which makes actual operations or production by a third party count as use (31:46). Under the articles read, recording alone, without the landowner's act or actual operations, does not interrupt prescription.", "sources": [ { "label": "La. R.S. 31:16", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87858" }, { "label": "La. R.S. 31:21", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87915" }, { "label": "La. R.S. 31:80", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87994" }, { "label": "La. R.S. 31:114", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87804" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 6, "date_note": "Adding ten years to one last use date gives an illustrative date only. The restart point depends on the kind of use (last day of actual operations, cessation of production, shut in after testing, effective date of a unit order or act); unit activity from a well off the tract preserves only the part of the tract inside the unit; an obstacle suspends the running of the period; and a landowner acknowledgment or extension, which may sit only in the conveyance records, changes the date. Servitudes and royalties have different interrupting events, rights reserved in government acquisitions follow 31:149, leases follow their own terms, and an act covering noncontiguous tracts creates separate servitudes that prescribe separately (31:64). Where none of these applies, extinction is automatic when the ten years end, but whether operations were in good faith is a question of fact.", "interest_types": [ { "key": "servitude", "label": "Mineral servitude", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "period_years": 10, "note": "Interrupted by good faith operations, production, qualifying unit activity, a tested shut in well, or a landowner acknowledgment that meets La. R.S. 31:54 and 31:55." }, { "key": "royalty", "label": "Mineral royalty", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "period_years": 10, "note": "A royalty prescribes separately (La. R.S. 31:85 and 31:86). Drilling that does not produce does not interrupt it; production, unit production, a tested shut in well or an acknowledgment does." }, { "key": "lease", "label": "Mineral lease", "date_model": "not_applicable", "note": "A mineral lease is not subject to prescription of nonuse (La. R.S. 31:115(A)). It ends at the end of its term or on an express condition, and cannot run more than 10 years without operations or production. Read the lease." } ], "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Whether a death or unknown heirs suspend prescription is open; no Louisiana decision was reviewed.", "summary": "In Louisiana a mineral servitude or mineral royalty is extinguished by ten years of nonuse, and the Mineral Code says that prescription is not suspended by the minority or other legal disability of the owner. The Mineral Code articles read do not mention a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner and impose no search or notice before extinction; prescription runs by law. A general Civil Code curatorship exists for absent persons whose whereabouts cannot be found by diligent effort, and a succession representative may be authorized to grant mineral leases on succession property.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the Mineral Code articles read. A succession representative may be authorized by the court to grant mineral leases on succession property (Code Civ. Proc. art. 3226). Whether a death affects the running of prescription is not stated in the articles read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "The Civil Code defines an absent person as one with no representative in the state whose whereabouts cannot be ascertained by diligent effort, and allows a court appointed curator of the property (Civ. Code arts. 47, 48). In the narrow 31:149 retransfer procedure a grantor whose last known address cannot be determined is treated as an absentee defendant. The prescription articles read do not mention absent owners." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Ten year prescription of nonuse extinguishes servitudes and royalties, and it is not suspended by the owner's minority or other legal disability. The articles read do not mention death or absence.", "cites": [ { "label": "La. R.S. 31:27(1)", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87935", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "La. R.S. 31:58", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87969", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "La. R.S. 31:85(1)", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87999", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "La. R.S. 31:97", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=88012", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The Mineral Code articles read do not address heirs. Succession procedure allows a court authorized mineral lease of succession property.", "cites": [ { "label": "La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3226", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111658", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No search duty precedes extinction by prescription in the articles read. The Civil Code absent person definition turns on diligent effort to find the person, but that is for curatorship, not prescription.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No notice is a condition of extinction in the articles read. After extinction, the former owner must furnish a recordable act within thirty days after written demand; how that demand reaches a deceased or unlocated former owner is not stated.", "cites": [ { "label": "La. R.S. 31:206(A)", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87911", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "The Mineral Code prescription and extinction articles read contain no publication provision.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Prescription of a servitude is interrupted by operations, production or a written acknowledgment by the landowner recorded to bind third parties; there is no filing by the mineral owner to preserve a servitude in the articles read.", "cites": [ { "label": "La. R.S. 31:54", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87965", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No mineral specific procedure for unknown or unlocated owners was found. General Civil Code curatorship of an absent person's property applies to property generally; 31:149(E)(4) treats an unlocatable grantor as an absentee defendant in one narrow retransfer procedure.", "cites": [ { "label": "La. Civ. Code art. 47", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110646", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "La. Civ. Code art. 48", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110657", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "La. R.S. 31:149(E)(4)", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87843", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Has ten years of nonuse run on the servitude or royalty without interruption by operations, production or a recorded acknowledgment, regardless of the owner's death, minority or absence?", "Is the former owner's estate under administration, and did a succession representative obtain court authority for any mineral lease?", "Has a curator been appointed for an absent owner's Louisiana property, and does the order cover mineral rights?", "If a recordable act of extinction is needed, who is the former owner or successor to receive the written demand?" ], "dates_note": "Servitude and royalty: prescription resulting from nonuse for ten years (31:27(1), 31:85(1)), not suspended by minority or other legal disability (31:58, 31:97). Recordable act of extinction: within thirty days after written demand (31:206(A)). 31:149(E)(3): the grantor has thirty calendar days from the date of receipt to accept or reject an offer. Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-louisiana#owners" } }, "ME": { "id": "ME", "name": "Maine", "url": "/research/states/maine-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Extinguishment by court action after 50 years of nonuse (14 M.R.S. § 6662)", "answer": "The fee simple owner of land subject to a mineral interest may bring a quiet title action, and the court shall find the interest extinguished and order title to it in the complainant if the owner, assignee or lessee made no use of it for 50 consecutive years before the complaint and filed no statement of claim within two years after notice of the complaint was served.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "court_determination", "period_years": 50, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Payment of rents or royalties for the option or exercise of mineral rights", "Payment of the excise tax under 36 M.R.S. § 2856 (before PL 2025, c. 469: any excise tax under 36 M.R.S. §§ 2851 to 2865)", "Extraction of minerals from the ground in quantities in excess of that necessary to conduct exploratory activity", "Filing of a statement of claim under § 6662(3), including within two years after service of the complaint" ], "preservation": "Statement of claim filed by an owner, assignee or lessee with the registrar of deeds of the county where the land lies, containing the claimant's name and address, a description of the land subject to the interest and a legal description of the mineral interest (§ 6662(3)).", "sources": [ { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html" }, { "label": "PL 1983, c. 189", "url": "https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/Laws/1983/1983_PL_c189.pdf" }, { "label": "PL 2025, c. 469, §§ 5 and 44", "url": "https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/Laws/2025/2025_PL_c469.pdf" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 4, "date_note": "No lapse date exists. A calculator can show the earliest date a complaint could meet the 50 year test (last use plus 50 years) and that a decree needs at least two more years after service, but the interest ends only by court order.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "Maine ends a severed mineral interest only by a quiet title decree in favor of the fee owner, after 50 consecutive years of nonuse and no statement of claim within two years after notice of the complaint is served. Section 6662 names only the owner, assignee or lessee and says nothing about deceased owners; the quiet title procedures it uses let the plaintiff name unknown heirs and devisees generally, require notice to unknown persons by publication or court approved posting, and allow a guardian ad litem or agent for unserved defendants. No Maine decision construing § 6662 was located.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Section 6662 does not mention a deceased owner. The quiet title procedures it borrows let the complaint reach unknown persons claiming as heirs, devisees or assigns of a named person, describe unknown heirs generally as the heirs or legal representatives of a named person, and provide that the action is not abated by the death of a party (P6, P8, P9). Whether heirs or devisees count as \"owner, assignee or lessee\" for filing a statement of claim is not stated (P3)." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Unknown claimants may be named generally, with the plaintiff alleging under oath that they are unknown; notice to them is by publication unless the court permits posting, and the court may appoint an agent or guardian ad litem for defendants who have not been served or appeared (P5, P7, P9, P10)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Persons out of state or who cannot be given actual service may be made defendants under the unknown claimant procedure, with notice under section 6653 operating as constructive service (P9, P12). Section 6662 itself does not distinguish an unlocated owner." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Extinguishment is only by court decree in an action by the fee owner, on proof of 50 consecutive years of nonuse before the complaint and no statement of claim within two years after notice of the complaint is served. The action uses either Maine quiet title procedure.", "cites": [ { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)(A)", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(2)", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Section 6662 names only the owner, assignee or lessee. The incorporated quiet title procedure reaches persons claiming as heirs, devisees or assigns and is not abated by a party's death.", "cites": [ { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(3)", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6651", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6651.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6653", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6653.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No search standard is stated. The plaintiff must allege under oath that supposed claimants are unknown, and that allegation cannot be denied after the decree to defeat the title.", "cites": [ { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6651", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6651.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Known claimants are served as in other actions. Unknown, unascertained or unservable persons may be named generally, notice to them is constructive service, and the court may appoint an agent, guardian ad litem or next friend for those not served who have not appeared.", "cites": [ { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6655", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6655.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6656", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6656.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6656", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6656.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Notice to unascertained, unborn or unknown persons is by publication as in other actions requiring publication, unless the court on motion permits posting in place of all or part of it; in the summary procedure the decree requires a finding that publication was given as ordered.", "cites": [ { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6653", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6653.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6654", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6654.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The owner, assignee or lessee preserves the interest by filing a statement of claim with the registry of deeds, which is itself a use; filing within two years after notice of the complaint is served defeats extinguishment.", "cites": [ { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)(B)", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(3)", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Has a complaint under 14 M.R.S. § 6662 been filed and a decree entered and recorded?", "Has any owner, assignee or lessee recorded a statement of claim, and when, relative to service of notice of the complaint?", "Who holds the interest now by descent or devise, and did any of them file a statement of claim in their own name?", "Did the plaintiff allege under oath that the claimants were unknown?", "Was notice published, or posted by court order, and did the court find it given as ordered?", "Was an agent or guardian ad litem appointed for unserved defendants who did not appear?" ], "dates_note": "Nonuse: \"a period of 50 consecutive years next prior to the filing of the complaint\" (6662(4)(A)). Claim window: \"Two years have passed since notice of the complaint under subsection 2 was served\" (6662(4)(B)). In the summary procedure the decree is recorded \"within 30 days after it is finally granted\" (6654). Nothing is computed here.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/maine-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "MD": { "id": "MD", "name": "Maryland", "url": "/research/states/maryland-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Maryland Dormant Mineral Interests Act, 20 years, court action by the surface owner required", "answer": "Since October 1, 2011 a surface owner may sue in circuit court to terminate a mineral interest that has been unused, with no notice of it recorded, for 20 or more years before the action. A court order ends the interest and merges it into the surface estate.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "court_determination", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Active mineral operations on or below the surface of the land or other property utilized or pooled with it, including production, geophysical exploration, exploratory or developmental drilling, mining, exploitation and development", "Recording an instrument that creates, reserves or otherwise evidences a claim to or the continued existence of the interest, including one that transfers, leases or divides it", "Payment by or for the owner of a tax on a separate assessment of the interest, or of a transfer or severance tax relating to a mineral in it, under Tax Property 8-229", "Recording of a judgment or decree that specifically refers to a mineral in the interest", "Recording a notice of intent to preserve (15-1204)", "A late notice of intent to preserve recorded during the suit with payment of litigation expenses, unless the interest has been unused for 40 years or more (15-1205)" ], "preservation": "Notice of intent to preserve, recordable at any time in the county where the land lies; the interest is preserved only in the county where the notice is recorded (15-1204(a)). It may be recorded by the owner, a person legally authorized to act for the owner, or a co-owner for the benefit of any or all co-owners. It must give the owner's name, or state that the owner cannot be determined, and identify the interest by record reference to the creating instrument, by the judgment confirming it, by legal description with the name of the record owner under whom the claimant holds, or by general reference to all the owner's mineral interests in the county if a recorded instrument or judgment evidences them (15-1204(b), (c)).", "sources": [ { "label": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1203(a)(1)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false" }, { "label": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1203(a)(2)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false" }, { "label": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1203(c)(1)(i)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false" }, { "label": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1203(c)(4)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "Nothing happens automatically: the 20 years are counted back from the start of a termination suit, the owner can cure inside the suit unless 40 or more years of nonuse are shown, and the interest ends only by court order. A calculator can show when a 20 year, or 40 year, lookback from the last known use would be complete, not a termination date.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Maryland Rule 12-704 and the quiet title notice rules that govern publication were not read.", "summary": "Maryland lets a surface owner sue to terminate a mineral interest unused, with nothing recorded, for 20 or more years, and the suit may proceed whether or not the owner is unknown or missing; it carries the same notice as a quiet title action. Unknown or missing owner is defined by the county records and diligent inquiry near the last residence and includes heirs, successors and assignees. Separately, a court may place such an owner's interest in trust and, after 5 uncontested years and a sworn county records search, convey it to the surface owners. The provisions read do not address the effect of death on the 20 year period, and the Court of Appeals held in Ellis v. McKenzie (2018) that preservation notices recorded after the petition is filed come too late.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Heirs, successors or assignees of an unknown or missing owner are within the definition (15-1201(g)(2)). The statute says nothing else about a deceased owner of record. In Ellis v. McKenzie (2018) notices to preserve recorded by personal representatives of deceased owners' estates after the petition was filed were held late; the decision does not address notice to a decedent." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "An owner whose present identity cannot be determined from county records or by diligent inquiry near the last residence (15-1201(g)(1)); termination may proceed against such an owner (15-1203(b)(2)) and a trust may be created (15-1206)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "The same definition covers an owner whose location cannot be determined; the statute treats unknown and missing owners the same." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Termination is only by court action after 20 years of nonuse with no recorded notice, and the action may be brought whether or not the owner is unknown or missing. The provisions read do not say that death pauses or resets the 20 years. The Court of Appeals upheld the Act in Ellis v. McKenzie (2018).", "cites": [ { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1203(a)(1) and (2)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1203(b)(2)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Ellis v. McKenzie (Md. 2018), headnote", "url": "https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2018/16a17.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Unknown or missing owner includes the heirs, successors or assignees of such an owner.", "cites": [ { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1201(g)(2)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1201&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Unknown or missing status is measured against the county records and diligent inquiry near the last residence. For the trust conveyance, the trustee must swear to a diligent county search of land, register of wills and circuit court records. No search rule is stated for the termination action itself beyond the quiet title notice incorporation.", "cites": [ { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1201(g)(1)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1201&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(c)(2)(ii)5", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The termination action requires the same notice as a quiet title action under Real Property 14-108; the trust follows the Maryland Rules. The specific service rules were not reviewed.", "cites": [ { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1203(b)(1)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(h)(2)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "The provisions read do not state when publication is allowed; they defer to quiet title notice and the Maryland Rules, which were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "A notice of intent to preserve may be recorded at any time, by an owner, an authorized person or a co owner, even stating the owner cannot be determined. During a termination action the owner may record a late notice and pay the surface owner's litigation expenses, unless the interest has been unused 40 years or more. A notice recorded after the petition is filed is late, even when recorded by an estate's personal representative or an heir (Ellis).", "cites": [ { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1204(a)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1204&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1204(b)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1204&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1205(b)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1205&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1205(c)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1205&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A circuit court trust for severed mineral interests vested in unknown or missing owners, with a trustee who may lease to the surface owner and, after 5 uncontested years, conveys the interest to the surface owners.", "cites": [ { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(a)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(c)(1)", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Was the interest unused, with no notice of it recorded, for 20 or more years before the termination action began?", "Was quiet title notice given to every record owner, heir and successor, and how were unknown or missing owners served?", "Has any owner, co owner or authorized person recorded a notice of intent to preserve in the county?", "Is the interest in a 15-1206 trust, and has 5 years passed since the trust order with a sworn county records search?" ], "dates_note": "15-1203(a): actions on or after October 1, 2011; unused and no notice recorded for a period of 20 or more years preceding the commencement of termination. 15-1205(c): late preservation unavailable if unused for a period of 40 years or more preceding the commencement of the action. 15-1206(c)(1): trustee petitions to convey if the trust is not contested on or before 5 years after the date the court issued the order creating the trust. None of these provisions mentions death of the owner.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/maryland-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "MA": { "id": "MA", "name": "Massachusetts", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-massachusetts", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified", "answer": "No Massachusetts statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse or under a marketable title act. The General Laws' title clearing statutes target other interests: G.L. c. 184, §§ 23 and 26 to 30 limit old restrictions, and G.L. c. 260, § 31A bars old rights of entry and possibilities of reverter not preserved by a 1964 filing.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "G.L. c. 260, § 31A (related title clearing statute, not mineral)", "url": "https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section31A" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "No Massachusetts statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse or addresses a deceased, unknown or unlocated mineral owner. The real property and title action chapters read do not mention minerals; chapter 240 has general procedures for unknown respondents in title actions, which may apply to a mineral interest and were not reviewed in substance. Probate, partition and unclaimed property law were not reviewed, and a whole code search was not possible.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. General title action procedure for unknown respondents exists in c. 240 and was not reviewed." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. General title action procedure for respondents who cannot be served exists in c. 240 and was not reviewed." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No Massachusetts statute ending a severed mineral interest for nonuse or under a marketable record title act was found in the provisions read. General quiet title procedure in c. 240, probate and partition may apply to the interest of a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees or successors was found in c. 184 or c. 240.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific search requirement was found in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice procedure was found. Chapter 240 sections 12 and 13 deal with unknown respondents and respondents who cannot be served in title actions generally; they were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "There is no lapse mechanism, so no preservation filing exists in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Because no lapse statute was found, who holds record title to the mineral interest by deed, will or descent?", "If a c. 240 action is used to clear the interest, how were unknown respondents described and served?" ], "dates_note": "The provisions read create no period or deadline concerning mineral owners.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-massachusetts#owners" } }, "MI": { "id": "MI", "name": "Michigan", "url": "/research/states/michigan-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Dormant oil and gas interest statute, 20 years, self executing, oil and gas only", "answer": "A severed interest in oil or gas is deemed abandoned, and vests in the surface owner as of the date of abandonment, if for 20 years it has had no recorded sale, lease, mortgage or transfer, no drilling permit, no production or withdrawal from the land, its lease or pooled or unitized land, and no use in gas storage, unless the owner records a claim of interest. No court action is required.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "yes", "uses": [ "Sale, lease, mortgage or transfer of the interest by instrument recorded with the county register of deeds", "Issuance of a permit to drill an oil or gas well as to that interest", "Actual production or withdrawal of oil or gas from the land, from land covered by a lease to which the interest is subject, or from land pooled, unitized or included in unit operations with it", "Use of the interest in underground gas storage operations; a storage operator's recorded good faith affidavit defining the storage field is prima facie evidence of that use (554.293)", "Recording a claim of interest under 554.292" ], "preservation": "Written notice recorded with the register of deeds of the county where the land lies, verified by oath, describing the land and the nature of the interest, giving the name and address of each claimant, and stating that they desire to preserve the interest and do not intend to abandon it (554.292(1)). It preserves for 20 years after recording and may be renewed (554.292(3), (4)). A gas storage operator may record one notice defining the boundaries and formations of the storage field (554.292(2)).", "sources": [ { "label": "MCL 554.291(1)", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291" }, { "label": "MCL 554.291(1)", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291" }, { "label": "MCL 554.291(2)", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291" }, { "label": "MCL 554.291(3)", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "Abandonment is automatic 20 years after the latest listed event, so a calculator can illustrate that anniversary. Drilling permits, production on leased, pooled or unitized land and storage use are not visible from a single last recorded date, and the tax foreclosure rule runs from the foreclosure petition date instead.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "Michigan's Dormant Minerals Act (Act 42 of 1963) treats a severed oil or gas interest as abandoned, and vests it in the surface owner, after 20 years with no recorded transaction, permit, production or storage use and no recorded claim of interest. The act does not mention death, heirs, unknown or missing owners, any search, or any notice, and the Michigan Supreme Court held in Van Slooten v. Larsen (1980) that the lack of notice provisions is constitutional because no hearing precedes vesting. No Michigan procedure specific to unknown or unlocated mineral owners was identified, but the code could not be searched from this network.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. The act preserves an interest only through recorded instruments, permits, production, storage use or a verified notice by \"the person or persons claiming the interest\" (MCL 554.292(1)); it does not say whether a death, an estate or an heirship record is itself a qualifying event, and Van Slooten did not decide that point." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the statute text. Van Slooten (P6) describes the act's purpose as reducing the problem of unknown or unlocatable owners, and the act applies to them exactly as to any other owner." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the statute text. No search or notice is required before abandonment and vesting (P2, P7)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Self executing abandonment after 20 years of nonuse for severed oil or gas interests, vesting in the surface owner as of the abandonment date, with no court action stated; a separate rule cuts off unrecorded interests in a tax foreclosure. The text treats every owner alike, and the Michigan Supreme Court describes unknown or unlocatable owners as the problem the act addresses.", "cites": [ { "label": "MCL 554.291(1)", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "MCL 554.291(2)", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "MCL 554.291(3)", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "410 Mich. 21 (1980), opinion of Coleman, C.J.", "url": "https://static.case.law/mich/410/cases/0021-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "MCL 554.291 to 554.294 refer only to \"the owner thereof\" and to \"the person or persons claiming the interest\"; \"person\" is defined as an individual or legal entity (554.294). Heirs, devisees, personal representatives and the effect of death are not mentioned.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "The act requires no search for the owner before abandonment or vesting. The dissent in Van Slooten criticized that absence, but the dissent does not control.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "case_law", "status_label": "Court decision", "statement": "The act provides no notice to the mineral owner. Van Slooten held that the absence of notice provisions is not unconstitutional because the act provides for no hearing before vesting.", "cites": [ { "label": "410 Mich. 21 (1980), opinion of Coleman, C.J.", "url": "https://static.case.law/mich/410/cases/0021-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No publication provision appears in MCL 554.291 to 554.294.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "The interest is preserved by recording a verified notice naming the claimant within the 20 year period, renewable for each later 20 year period; after vesting, the owner may contest at a later hearing whether the statutory conditions were met.", "cites": [ { "label": "MCL 554.292(1)", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-292", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "MCL 554.292(4)", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-292", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "410 Mich. 21 (1980), opinion of Coleman, C.J.", "url": "https://static.case.law/mich/410/cases/0021-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Within each 20 year window, was there a recorded sale, lease, mortgage or transfer, a drilling permit, production from the land or pooled lands, gas storage use, or a recorded claim of interest?", "If the record owner died, was any instrument recorded that the act would count, and who recorded a claim of interest, with what proof of succession?", "Was the land subject to a tax foreclosure judgment under MCL 211.78k, and was an instrument about the oil or gas interest recorded in the 20 years before the petition?", "Has any court determined whether the interest was abandoned, and were the heirs or unknown claimants parties to that case?" ], "dates_note": "Abandonment if no qualifying event \"for a period of 20 years\"; the claim must be recorded \"within 3 years after September 6, 1963 or within 20 years after the last sale, lease, mortgage, or transfer of record\" or the last permit, production or storage use, \"whichever is later\" (554.291(1)). A recorded notice preserves the interest \"for a period of 20 years after recording\" (554.292(3)). Tax foreclosure look back: \"during the 20-year period immediately preceding the date of filing a petition for foreclosure\" (554.291(3)). The provisions read do not say whether death pauses, resets or continues any period.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/michigan-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "MN": { "id": "MN", "name": "Minnesota", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-minnesota", "category": "registration_history", "category_label": "Registration or claim rules", "label": "Recorded statement of severed mineral interest required; unrecorded interests can be forfeited to the state by court order", "answer": "Minnesota does not end mineral interests for nonuse. Owners of severed mineral interests must record a statement with the county, and an unrecorded interest can be forfeited to the state, but only after a show cause proceeding and a court order.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "explain_only", "period_years": null, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Recording the verified statement required by 93.52 before the deadline in 93.55 subd. 1", "Substantial compliance: during the filing period the county records showed the true owner, or probate, divorce, bankruptcy, mortgage foreclosure or other title proceedings were timely started and diligently pursued, and all severed mineral taxes, including 273.165 taxes that would have been due had the interest been recorded, were timely paid (93.55 subd. 2(b))", "A timely statement is valid despite a wrong fraction, more than one government section, missing verification, or recording in the wrong office, and may be corrected by amendment (93.551)", "Relief under 93.55 subd. 1b for unrecorded conveyances made on or after December 31, 1969 and before July 1, 2007, if substantial compliance is shown and a new statement is recorded within one year of any conveyance on or after July 1, 2007", "Interests valued and taxed under other mineral tax laws are outside 93.55 forfeiture while a tax is imposed and no tax forfeiture is complete (93.55 subd. 5)" ], "preservation": "Verified statement, in triplicate, citing sections 93.52 to 93.551 and giving the owner's address, the interest in the minerals, the legal description of the land, and the book and page or document number of the instrument by which the interest was created or acquired; one government section per statement unless the source instrument covers more than one; recorded with the county recorder, or the registrar of titles for registered land, in the county where the interest lies (93.52 subd. 2).", "sources": [ { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.52 subd. 2", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.52" }, { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 1", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55" }, { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(a)", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55" }, { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(b)(2)", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 5, "date_note": "A last use date is irrelevant: production or use neither keeps nor loses the interest. A calculator can state the recording deadline (before January 1, 1975 for interests held on December 31, 1973; one year after acquisition for later acquisitions), but missing it only exposes the interest to a forfeiture proceeding, and the loss happens on the court's order, so no forfeiture date can be computed.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Minnesota appellate decisions after Contos v. Herbst (1979) were not searched because the case search was rate limited.", "summary": "Minnesota does not end severed mineral interests for nonuse; instead every owner of a severed fee mineral interest must record a verified statement, and an unrecorded interest forfeits to the state only after the commissioner of natural resources serves the last owner of record with notice of a show cause hearing and a court adjudges the forfeiture absolute. Notice is served in the manner used for chapter 559 adverse claims actions, where unknown heirs of a deceased person may be served by publication after an affidavit of reasonable diligence. Timely and diligently pursued probate by the true owner, together with timely tax payment, counts as substantial compliance, and a former owner may recover fair market value within six years after the forfeiture judgment. The Minnesota Supreme Court held in Contos v. Herbst (1979) that the earlier published notice only, no hearing version violated due process.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Notice goes to \"the last owner of record\" (P3). Timely initiated and diligently pursued probate by the true owner counts toward substantial compliance (P5). Chapter 559 allows publication on unknown heirs of a deceased person (P4), and 93.55 adopts chapter 559 service." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Section 93.55 names no separate procedure; it adopts chapter 559 service, which permits publication on \"all other persons unknown\" and unknown heirs after an affidavit (P4)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Section 93.55 relies on chapter 559 service of summons; the chapter 559 rules for nonresident or absent defendants by publication were referenced in 559.02 but not separately read." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Registration, not nonuse: failure to record the verified statement leads to forfeiture to the state only after notice and a court hearing. Contos struck the earlier version that lacked individual notice and a hearing.", "cites": [ { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.52 subd. 2", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.52", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 1", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979)", "url": "https://static.case.law/nw2d/278/cases/0732-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Every owner must record, and later acquirers within one year after acquiring; \"acquiring\" is undefined. Probate timely initiated and diligently pursued by the true owner is part of the substantial compliance defense.", "cites": [ { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 1", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(b)(1)", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Section 93.55 itself requires no search beyond the county records naming the last owner of record. Chapter 559 publication on unknown heirs requires an affidavit that names and residences cannot with reasonable diligence be ascertained.", "cites": [ { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(a)", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Minn. Stat. 559.02", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/559.02", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "The commissioner notifies the last owner of record, served as a summons under chapter 559. Contos held published notice alone inadequate under the earlier statute.", "cites": [ { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(a)", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979)", "url": "https://static.case.law/nw2d/278/cases/0732-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Through chapter 559, publication is available on unknown persons and unknown heirs after an affidavit of reasonable diligence; Contos held publication alone inadequate under the earlier statute.", "cites": [ { "label": "Minn. Stat. 559.02", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/559.02", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979)", "url": "https://static.case.law/nw2d/278/cases/0732-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "At the show cause hearing the owner may show substantial compliance (true ownership shown of record or probate and other title proceedings timely pursued, and taxes timely paid); after forfeiture the former owner may recover fair market value within six years. Contos requires a hearing before forfeiture.", "cites": [ { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(b)(2)", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 4(b)", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979)", "url": "https://static.case.law/nw2d/278/cases/0732-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Commissioner of natural resources may lease an unrecorded severed interest before forfeiture is complete (93.55 subd. 1a and 3); mining waits for an absolute forfeiture judgment.", "cites": [ { "label": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 1a", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Was a verified statement under 93.52 recorded for this interest, and within one year after each later acquisition?", "If the record owner died, was probate timely initiated and diligently pursued, and were severed mineral taxes paid on time?", "Has the commissioner brought a 93.55 forfeiture proceeding, who was served as last owner of record, and were unknown heirs served under chapter 559?", "Has the commissioner issued a lease of the interest under 93.55 subd. 1a?" ], "dates_note": "Recording due \"before January 1, 1975\" for interests owned \"on or before December 31, 1973\", or \"within one year after acquiring the interests\" for later acquisitions (93.55 subd. 1). Exemption for conveyances \"on or after December 31, 1969, but before July 1, 2007\" if a new statement is recorded \"within one year of any conveyance of ownership on or after July 1, 2007\" (subd. 1b). Fair market value action \"within six years after entry of judgment\" (subd. 4(b)). Minors served as unknown heirs under 559.02 \"may be allowed to defend at any time within two years after becoming of age\". The provisions read do not say whether death starts a new one year window.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-minnesota#owners" } }, "MS": { "id": "MS", "name": "Mississippi", "url": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-mississippi", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified (limited survey)", "answer": "No Mississippi statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest for nonuse, but the official code could not be searched in full. Nonproducing oil, gas and mineral interests held separately from the surface are exempt from ad valorem tax (Miss. Code 27-31-73, taxes from January 1, 1947; older interests only on application), and a tax sale of the surface does not affect an exempt interest.", "evidence": "secondary", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Mississippi.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "No Mississippi statute ending a severed mineral interest for nonuse was identified in the October review, so no dormancy clock runs against a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner. The only owner status provisions read are in forced integration: an operator seeking alternate risk charges must state when an owner's address is unknown after diligent search and inquiry, publish notice for three weeks that also reaches unknown heirs or devisees of deceased owners, and mail notice to known addresses. The official code could not be searched, so other mechanisms such as receiverships or proceeds escrow may exist and were not reviewed.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "In integration petitions for alternate charges, the published notice must also notice all unknown heirs or devisees of deceased owners (53-3-7(2)(c)). Not otherwise addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Unknown persons owning drilling rights in the unit are noticed by publication in integration petitions for alternate charges (53-3-7(2)(c), (d))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Owners whose address is unknown after diligent search and inquiry are noticed by three weeks of publication; known addresses get certified mail (53-3-7(2)(b), (d), (e))." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy mechanism was identified in the October review; there is nothing for these owners to be subject to.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Integration notice for alternate charges must reach unknown heirs or devisees of deceased owners by publication.", "cites": [ { "label": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(c)", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "For integration petitions seeking alternate charges, the operator must state that an owner's address is unknown after diligent search and inquiry.", "cites": [ { "label": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(b)", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Certified mail to nonconsenting owners with known addresses; constructive notice by publication to others; only those served are subject to alternate charges.", "cites": [ { "label": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(b)", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(e)", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication once a week for three successive weeks in a county newspaper, or a statewide one if none, for owners whose address is unknown after diligent search and inquiry.", "cites": [ { "label": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(d)", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Noticed owners may appear before the Board to show cause against the petition.", "cites": [ { "label": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(c), form of notice", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Was the interest force integrated with alternate charges, and was the owner or the owner's unknown heirs or devisees served by publication or certified mail as 53-3-7(2) requires?", "Did the petition state that the owner's address was unknown after diligent search and inquiry?", "Has the owner died, and have heirs or devisees been determined through probate or heirship procedures, which were not reviewed?" ], "dates_note": "Integration petition for alternate charges: names of nonconsenting owners as of a date not more than ninety (90) days prior to filing (53-3-7(2)(b)); thirty (30) days between the last publication and the Board meeting (53-3-7(2)(c)); publication once each week during three (3) successive weeks, deemed complete at the end of twenty-one (21) days from first publication (53-3-7(2)(d)); thirty (30) days between certified mailing and the meeting (53-3-7(2)(e)). Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-mississippi#owners" } }, "MO": { "id": "MO", "name": "Missouri", "url": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-missouri", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "answer": "No Missouri statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest for nonuse, requires a statement of claim, or provides a court procedure for missing mineral owners, and Missouri has no marketable title act in the chapters read.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "RSMo § 259.220", "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=259.220" }, { "label": "RSMo § 140.150(1)", "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=140.150" }, { "label": "Survey of chapter headings, chapters 259, 442, 444, 446, 447, 516, 527, 528, 137, 140, 141", "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=259" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Missouri.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "No Missouri statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse, requires a statement of claim, or provides a court, trustee, receivership or escrow procedure for unknown, unlocated or deceased mineral owners. Severed oil, gas and mineral rights are taxed separately to their owner (RSMo 259.220), so ordinary tax sale law may reach them, but that law was not reviewed. Missouri title to the interest of a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner therefore turns on general probate, partition, quiet title and tax law, none of which was reviewed here.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy mechanism appears in chapter 259 or in the section headings of chapters 140, 442, 444, 447, 527 and 528. Severed mineral rights are separately taxed (259.220, P1), which is a tax rule, not a dormancy rule.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse, dormancy, registration or missing owner mechanism was found in the provisions read, so there is nothing for this topic to attach to. Chapter 259 mentions heirs only in stating that voluntary unit agreements bind the signers' heirs, successors and assigns (259.120).", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse, dormancy, registration or missing owner mechanism was found in the provisions read, so there is nothing for this topic to attach to.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No notice tied to owner status exists because no mechanism was found. For oil and gas council orders such as pooling (259.110, made \"after notice and hearing\"), chapter 259 notice is by personal service or a letter to the last recorded address plus one county newspaper publication; council rules on unlocated owners were not read.", "cites": [ { "label": "RSMo 259.140.4", "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=259.140", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Only in oil and gas council proceedings: one publication in a county newspaper accompanies personal service or a letter to the last recorded address (259.140.4). No publication rule for title to the interest of an unknown or unlocated owner was found.", "cites": [ { "label": "RSMo 259.140.4", "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=259.140", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse, dormancy, registration or missing owner mechanism was found in the provisions read, so there is nothing for this topic to attach to.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Is there any Missouri court order (quiet title, partition, probate or heirship) determining who holds the severed interest?", "Has the separately assessed mineral interest been taxed and paid, or sold for delinquent taxes under chapter 140?", "Was the interest included in an oil and gas council pooling order, and how were unlocated owners noticed and paid?" ], "dates_note": "No period or deadline relevant to deceased, unknown or unlocated mineral owners appears in the provisions read.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-missouri#owners" } }, "MT": { "id": "MT", "name": "Montana", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-montana", "category": "missing_owner", "category_label": "Missing owner procedure", "label": "No dormant mineral act; court trust for unlocatable mineral owners", "answer": "No Montana statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse; dormant mineral interest bills in 1981, 1985 and 1993 failed. Instead, any person who owns an interest in the minerals under a tract may ask the district court to declare a trust for co-owners whose whereabouts are unknown and cannot reasonably be ascertained (MCA 82-1-302).", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [], "preservation": "Not a preservation filing against lapse. Under MCA 82-1-306 a person claiming an interest in minerals under a tract that is the subject of a trust proceeding may file, for a $5 fee, with the clerk and recorder of each county where the land lies, a notice containing the person's address and a description of the interest; filing creates a rebuttable presumption that the person owns the interest claimed.", "sources": [ { "label": "MCA 82-1-302(1)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html" }, { "label": "MCA 82-1-302(3)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html" }, { "label": "MCA 82-1-305(1)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0050/0820-0010-0030-0050.html" }, { "label": "MCA 82-1-306(1)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0060/0820-0010-0030-0060.html" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "Nothing lapses. The procedure is triggered by an owner who cannot be located, not by time since last use, so no date can be computed.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "No Montana decision on the diligent effort standard or on heirs was found, and the case search was limited.", "summary": "No Montana statute ending a severed mineral interest for nonuse was found in the provisions read, so there is no dormancy notice to a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner to analyze. Montana's mineral specific tool is a court trust: a co owner may petition the district court to declare a trust for owners whose whereabouts are unknown and cannot reasonably be ascertained, after a diligent search, and the clerk of court or Department of Revenue then leases and holds the income; anyone holding proceeds for unlocatable owners must petition within six months. The absent owner keeps title and recovers the funds by claiming them and filing an address notice. The provisions read do not mention deceased owners or heirs.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read; the trust statute speaks of unknown residence and whereabouts, not unknown identity." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "MCA 82-1-302 to 82-1-306: district court trust for owners whose whereabouts are unknown and cannot reasonably be ascertained; diligent effort required; trustee may lease; title is not transferred by the provisions read." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy mechanism appears in the Title 82 provisions surveyed; see survey_scope. Quiet title, partition and probate may apply and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Part 3 refers to persons 'owning or claiming' an interest but does not address heirs, devisees or successors of a deceased owner.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the absent owner must be shown before a trustee is appointed.", "cites": [ { "label": "MCA 82-1-302(2)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Notice of termination of the trust goes to all interested parties; the provisions read do not prescribe notice of the petition to the absent owner.", "cites": [ { "label": "MCA 82-1-304(3)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0040/0820-0010-0030-0040.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Part 3 contains no publication requirement; any service in the court proceeding would follow general civil procedure, not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The absent owner claims the funds held in trust and files an address notice that creates a rebuttable presumption of ownership; distribution is on court order.", "cites": [ { "label": "MCA 82-1-304(4)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0040/0820-0010-0030-0040.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "MCA 82-1-306(1)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0060/0820-0010-0030-0060.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Trusts for unlocatable mineral owners, MCA 82-1-301 to 82-1-306: clerk of court or Department of Revenue as trustee with power to lease, six month limit on privately holding proceeds.", "cites": [ { "label": "MCA 82-1-302(1)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "MCA 82-1-302(3)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "MCA 82-1-305(1)", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0050/0820-0010-0030-0050.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is any share held in a part 3 trust, and who is the trustee (special_mechanism)?", "Has the absent owner filed an 82-1-306 address notice or obtained a distribution order (response)?", "Was a diligent search documented in the trust petition (search)?", "Does the record show a deceased owner whose heirs must be established through probate or quiet title, which these provisions do not address (succession)?" ], "dates_note": "A person may not hold proceeds for unlocatable owners 'for longer than 6 months' and must petition 'within the 6-month period' (82-1-305(1)). The trust continues until the owners 'have successfully claimed their share' and filed the 82-1-306 notice (82-1-304(4)). No other period appears in the provisions read.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-montana#owners" } }, "NE": { "id": "NE", "name": "Nebraska", "url": "/research/states/nebraska-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Dormant mineral statute, 23 years, suit in equity by the surface owner required", "answer": "A surface owner may sue in equity to terminate a severed mineral interest whose record owner has not publicly exercised ownership in the 23 years immediately before the suit, by a recorded instrument, by drilling, mining or production, or by a recorded verified claim of interest. If the court finds the interest abandoned it cancels it and vests title in the surface owners.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "court_determination", "period_years": 23, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Acquiring, selling, leasing, pooling, utilizing, mortgaging, encumbering or transferring the interest or any part of it by an instrument properly recorded in the county where the land lies", "Drilling or mining for, removing, producing or withdrawing minerals from under the land, or using the geological formations, spaces or cavities below the surface for any purpose consistent with the rights conveyed or reserved", "Recording a verified claim of interest in the county where the land lies", "In actions filed within two years after October 23, 1967, appearing and asserting the interest (57-231)" ], "preservation": "Verified claim of interest recorded in the county where the land lies. It must describe the land and the nature of the interest, properly identify the deed or other instrument under which the interest is claimed, give each claimant's name and address, and state that the claimants claim the interest and do not intend to abandon it (57-229). According to the official annotations, Rice v. Bixler (2014) held that reference to an unrecorded deed does not establish the chain of ownership needed for a valid claim.", "sources": [ { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-228", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-228" }, { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-229", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-229" }, { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-229", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-229" }, { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-230", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-230" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "The 23 years are counted back from the day a surface owner files suit, and the interest ends only by judgment. A calculator can show when a 23 year lookback from the last public act by the record owner would be complete, but not a termination date, and acts by anyone other than the record owner do not count.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Ricks v. Vap and Monahan Cattle were not read, and whether a judgment on publication binds identifiable heirs is open.", "summary": "Nebraska ends a dormant severed mineral interest only through a surface owner's suit in equity, and the record owner must have publicly exercised ownership in the twenty three years before suit. Notice is the lawsuit itself: all persons with an apparent interest are named, and those not known and not ascertainable may be sued as unknown defendants under the general civil procedure chapter, which requires diligent investigation, with publication only on an affidavit that other service cannot be made with reasonable diligence. The Supreme Court holds that the record owner can be identified from county probate records, so an heir or devisee shown there gets a fresh twenty three year period from acquisition, but claimants must strictly comply and a claim recorded after suit is too late. Separately, a county court can authorize leasing of a decedent's interest and appoint a trustee for unknown owners or unknown heirs.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Gibbs (2013): an heir or devisee identified in probate records of the county is a record owner whose own twenty three year period runs from acquisition. Heirs must strictly comply when filing claims (Rice 2014). County court leasing of a decedent's interest (57-210)." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Unknown defendants may be sued under chapter 25, article 3 (57-228, 25-321) after diligent investigation; unknown heirs, devisees or legatees may be represented by a court appointed trustee in a lease proceeding (57-212.01)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Identified defendants whose whereabouts are unknown are served under the general service rules; publication requires an affidavit that service cannot be made with reasonable diligence by other statutory means (25-517.02). Not otherwise addressed in the mineral provisions read." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Court action by the surface owner; abandonment unless the record owner publicly exercised ownership within twenty three years before suit; a devisee shown in county probate records has her own period.", "cites": [ { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-229", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-229", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-230", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-230", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Gibbs Cattle Co. v. Bixler, 285 Neb. 952 (2013)", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2013/05/24/gibbs_cattle_co._v._bixler.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "case_law", "status_label": "Court decision", "statement": "The statute speaks only of the record owner; case law extends that to owners identified in county probate records and requires a proper chain of title in claims.", "cites": [ { "label": "Gibbs Cattle Co. v. Bixler, 285 Neb. 952 (2013)", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2013/05/24/gibbs_cattle_co._v._bixler.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Rice v. Bixler, 289 Neb. 194 (2014)", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/10/03/rice_v._bixler.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Diligent investigation and inquiry before suing unknown claimants (25-321); reasonable diligence before substitute service (25-517.02). No mineral specific search standard.", "cites": [ { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-321", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-321", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "All persons having or appearing to have an interest are named as defendants; unknown ones proceed under chapter 25, article 3.", "cites": [ { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-228", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-228", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication by court order on affidavit that service cannot be made with reasonable diligence otherwise (general rule).", "cites": [ { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-517.02", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-517.02", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Record owner must have publicly exercised ownership, including a verified claim identifying the source instrument, before suit; strict compliance; post suit claims do not count. The only after suit cure in the text is the expired 1967 transitional rule in 57-231.", "cites": [ { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-229", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-229", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Rice v. Bixler, 289 Neb. 194 (2014)", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/10/03/rice_v._bixler.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Fisher v. Heirs & Devisees of T.D. Lovercheck, 291 Neb. 9 (2015)", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2015/06/05/fisher_v._heirs__devisees_of_t.d._lovercheck.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "County court authorized oil and gas leases of decedents' interests, with a trustee for unknown owners or unknown heirs, devisees or legatees (57-210 to 57-212.01). No receivership or trust for unlocated owners as such was found.", "cites": [ { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-210", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-210", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-212.01", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-212.01", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Who is the record owner under both the register of deeds and county probate records, and when did each acquire (succession, mechanism)?", "Did any record owner publicly exercise ownership, including a strictly compliant verified claim, before the suit was filed (response)?", "Were all apparent owners named, and were unknown defendants proceeded against under 25-321 with a diligent investigation shown (notice, search)?", "Was service by publication ordered on a reasonable diligence affidavit (publication)?", "Was any lease authorized under 57-210 to 57-212.01 with a trustee for unknown heirs (special_mechanism)?" ], "dates_note": "Abandonment test runs 'within the twenty-three years immediately prior to the filing of the action'; any qualifying act extends the interest 'for a period of twenty-three years from the date of any such acts' (57-229). Gibbs (2013) treats a devisee identified in county probate records as having her own period from acquisition. Section 57-231 applied only to actions 'filed within two years after October 23, 1967'. Monahan Cattle Co. v. Goodwin (1978), cited in the Legislature's annotations, limits retroactive application; that opinion was not read.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/nebraska-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "NV": { "id": "NV", "name": "Nevada", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-nevada", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "answer": "No Nevada statute was found that ends or transfers a severed private mineral interest for nonuse, requires a statement of claim, or provides a procedure for missing mineral owners. Nevada's mining claim statutes (NRS chapter 517) govern locating, relocating abandoned claims and mill sites, mostly on federal land, which is a different topic from severed private mineral interests.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Survey of NRS chapters 11, 40, 111, 361, 362, 517, 522 (full text); excerpt from NRS chapter 361", "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-111.html" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Nevada. Unpatented mining claim maintenance is a separate federal topic.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "NRS chapters 111 and 40 could not be re-read, and the unclaimed property chapter was not reviewed.", "summary": "No Nevada nonuse or dormancy mechanism for severed mineral interests was found, so nothing in the provisions read says how a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner is treated for dormancy. The one owner location rule found is NRS 522.113: a payor who cannot pay oil or gas proceeds because it cannot locate the person entitled must put the money in an interest bearing Nevada escrow account, paid out within 30 days after a final legal determination of entitlement. Notices in Division proceedings under chapter 522 go by personal service, or substituted service under the civil rules when personal service fails.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read, apart from proceeds escrow \"for any other reason\" a payment cannot be made (NRS 522.113(1)(b))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Oil and gas proceeds owed to a person the payor cannot locate go into an interest bearing escrow account in Nevada (NRS 522.113(1)(b))." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy statute for severed mineral interests was found in NRS 522 or 517 as read; the October review reached the same result across further chapters.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "NRS 522.113 refers to \"inability to locate\" but sets no search standard.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No dormancy notice exists. Division proceeding notices are covered under special_mechanism.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read, beyond payout from escrow on a final legal determination of entitlement.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Proceeds of an unlocated person entitled are escrowed in an interest bearing Nevada account and paid on a final legal determination; Division notices use personal or substituted service.", "cites": [ { "label": "NRS 522.113(1)(b)", "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-522.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "NRS 522.113(1)(b)", "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-522.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "NRS 522.090(2)", "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-522.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Are there oil or gas proceeds held in escrow under NRS 522.113 for the owner of record?", "Has any final legal determination of entitlement been made for the heirs or successors?" ], "dates_note": "Payment due \"Six months after the first day of the month following the date of the first sale\" and then \"not later than 60 days after the end of the month\" of sale, or yearly if $25 or less (522.113(1)(a)). Escrow payout \"within 30 days after the date of receipt by the escrow agent of a final legal determination of entitlement\". Interest on late payment \"at the rate of 18 percent per annum\" (522.113(2)). Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-nevada#owners" } }, "NH": { "id": "NH", "name": "New Hampshire", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-hampshire", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified", "answer": "No New Hampshire statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse or under a marketable title act. RSA 477, the conveyancing chapter, has no mineral lapse or marketable title provision; RSA 477:3-b limits possibilities of reverter, rights of re-entry and executory interests, not mineral interests.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "RSA 12-E:1, VIII", "url": "https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/I/12-E/12-E-mrg.htm" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "No New Hampshire statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse or addresses a deceased, unknown or unlocated mineral owner. RSA 12-E regulates solid mineral mining permits and reclamation and RSA 477 governs conveyances; neither has such a provision. General quiet title, probate, partition and unclaimed property law may apply to the interest and were not reviewed, and a whole code search was not possible.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No New Hampshire statute ending a severed mineral interest for nonuse or under a marketable title act was found in the provisions read. Quiet title, probate and partition law may apply to the interest of a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees or successors was found in RSA 12-E or RSA 477.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific search requirement was found in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice procedure for deceased, unknown or unlocated owners was found in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "There is no lapse mechanism, so no preservation filing exists in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Because no lapse statute was found, who holds record title to the mineral interest by deed, will or descent?", "If a court action is used to clear the interest, what notice to unknown heirs or unlocated owners did the court order?" ], "dates_note": "The provisions read create no period or deadline concerning mineral owners.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-hampshire#owners" } }, "NJ": { "id": "NJ", "name": "New Jersey", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-jersey", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified", "answer": "A full text search of the New Jersey statutes found no provision under which a severed mineral interest lapses for nonuse or is barred by a marketable title act. The only statute on mineral rights in conveyances, N.J.S.A. 46:3-27, says a grant or reservation of mineral rights excludes water rights unless the instrument says otherwise.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "N.J.S.A. 46:3-27", "url": "https://pub.njleg.gov/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "The rest of N.J.S.A. 46:30B and the quiet title chapter were not read.", "summary": "New Jersey has no dormant mineral or marketable record title statute, and a full text search of its statutes found no provision addressing a deceased, unknown or unlocated mineral owner. The only mineral specific rule found is in the general unclaimed property chapter, which treats mineral proceeds such as royalties and delay rentals held by a holder and unclaimed for more than three years after they became payable as presumed abandoned. That rule concerns payments, not title; quiet title, probate and partition law may apply to the interest itself and were not reviewed.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read, except that mineral proceeds unclaimed by the owner for more than three years are presumed abandoned property (P1, P2)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read, except that mineral proceeds unclaimed by the owner for more than three years are presumed abandoned property (P1, P2)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No New Jersey statute ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse or under a marketable record title act (full text search). Quiet title, probate and partition law may apply to a mineral interest of a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees or successors was found in the full text search.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific search requirement was found in the full text search.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice procedure for deceased, unknown or unlocated owners was found in the full text search.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found in the full text search.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "There is no lapse mechanism, so no preservation filing exists.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The general unclaimed property chapter reaches mineral proceeds such as royalties and delay rentals: money held or owing by a holder and unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after it became payable is presumed abandoned. This concerns payments, not title to the mineral interest.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.J.S.A. 46:30B-6(p)", "url": "https://pub.njleg.gov/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.J.S.A. 46:30B-7", "url": "https://pub.njleg.gov/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is any royalty or other mineral proceed for this interest held by a holder and unclaimed for more than three years, and has it been reported as presumed abandoned?", "Because no lapse statute exists, who holds record title by deed, will or descent, and does any court action bind unknown heirs?" ], "dates_note": "N.J.S.A. 46:30B-7: property \"unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after it became payable or distributable is presumed abandoned\". No mineral lapse period exists. Nothing is computed here.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-jersey#owners" } }, "NM": { "id": "NM", "name": "New Mexico", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-mexico", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "answer": "No New Mexico statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest for nonuse, and no marketable record title act was found. The adverse possession statute (NMSA 1978, 37-1-22) treats possession of the surface as the constructive possession of the severed mineral claimant until the mineral claimant takes actual possession, so occupying the surface alone does not run against severed minerals.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "NMSA 1978, 37-1-22", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4366/index.do" }, { "label": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-3.1(C)", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do" }, { "label": "NMSA 1978, 7-8A-1 (definition of mineral proceeds)", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4340/index.do" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for New Mexico.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Oil Conservation Division pooling notice rules and the unclaimed property abandonment period were not reviewed.", "summary": "New Mexico has no nonuse or dormancy statute for severed mineral interests, so no dormancy rule addresses deceased, unknown or unlocated owners. The Oil and Gas Proceeds Payment Act requires the operator to give the payor each payee's name and address, requires a payor that cannot locate a payee to tell the operator, and requires payments that cannot be made on time to be held in a suspense account on the payor's books, or interpleaded into court, with interest until a final legal determination of entitlement. Mineral proceeds are also within the general unclaimed property act. No mineral specific receivership, trust or leasing procedure for missing owners was found.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. General quiet title and partition statutes in chapter 42 provide for \"unknown heirs\" as defendants but were not reviewed." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in mineral specific provisions read, apart from suspense of proceeds that cannot be paid on time (70-10-4(A))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "A payor unable to locate a payee notifies the operator (70-10-3.1(C)); unpaid proceeds go into a suspense account or are interpleaded, with interest (70-10-4)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy statute found in NMSA chapters 7, 37, 42 and 70.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in the mineral provisions read; general quiet title and partition statutes naming unknown heirs were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The operator supplies payee names and addresses; a payor unable to locate a payee must notify the operator. No further search standard is stated.", "cites": [ { "label": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-3.1(A)", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-3.1(C)", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in mineral specific provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed, beyond payment from suspense within thirty days after a final legal determination.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Payor suspense account or interpleader for oil and gas proceeds that cannot be paid on time, with interest; mineral proceeds also fall within the general unclaimed property act.", "cites": [ { "label": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-4(A)", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-4(B)", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "NMSA 1978, 7-8A-1(9)", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4340/index.do", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Are proceeds attributable to the owner held in a payor suspense account or interpleaded into court?", "Has the payor notified the operator that the owner cannot be located?" ], "dates_note": "Proceeds due \"not later than six months after the first day of the month following the date of first sale\" and then \"not later than forty-five days after the end of the calendar month\" of receipt (70-10-3). Interest on suspended funds runs \"from the date payment is due\" at the Dallas Federal Reserve discount rate \"plus one and one-half percent\" (70-10-4(B)). Payment from suspense \"within thirty days from the date that the persons are determined to be entitled\". Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-mexico#owners" } }, "NY": { "id": "NY", "name": "New York", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-york", "category": "registration_history", "category_label": "Registration or claim rules", "label": "Allegany State Park only: one time 20 year oil and gas lapse (Real Property Law § 329-a), claim window closed September 22, 2013", "answer": "New York has no statewide dormant mineral statute. Real Property Law 329-a extinguished unclaimed severed mineral interests only inside Allegany State Park, through a one time claim window that closed on September 22, 2013. New York does have compulsory integration of oil and gas interests (ECL 23-0901).", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "fixed_historical_dates", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "yes", "uses": [ "Oil and gas produced", "Operations conducted for injection, withdrawal, storage or disposal of water, gas or other fluid substances", "Rentals or royalties paid by the owner to delay or enjoy the use or exercise of the rights", "Use on any tract with which the interest is unitized or pooled for production", "Taxes paid on the interest by the owner", "Statement of claim filed by September 22, 2013; late filing saved only for inadvertence after diligent preservation of other interests in the county, within 60 days after notice of lapse or actual knowledge (§ 329-a(6))" ], "preservation": "Statement of claim filed in the office of the clerk of Cattaraugus County within two years after September 23, 2011, giving the owner's name and address and a description of the land, accompanied by a copy of the instrument creating or reserving the interest; any co-owner may file for all (§ 329-a(5)).", "sources": [ { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(1)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A" }, { "label": "L. 2011, ch. 501, §§ 1 to 3", "url": "https://www.parks.ny.gov/documents/inside-our-agency/Chapter501LawsNewYork2011.pdf" }, { "label": "OPRHP public notice dated January 16, 2014", "url": "https://www.parks.ny.gov/documents/inside-our-agency/AlleganyLapseLawNoticeExpirationTimeWithinWhichFile.pdf" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "The test used fixed dates: nonuse during the 20 years before September 23, 2011 and a claim deadline of September 22, 2013. A last use date cannot produce a future lapse date, and the rule never applied outside the park.", "historic_note": "Real Property Law 329-a applied only to Allegany State Park; its claim window closed on 22 September 2013.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "The Abandoned Property Law and any later amendment of ECL 23-0901 were not read.", "summary": "New York has no statewide dormant mineral statute; Real Property Law § 329-a lapsed unused oil and gas interests only under State land in Allegany State Park, unless a statement of claim was filed within two years after September 23, 2011, and the legislature declared that its published notice gave unknown owners ample notice. Section 329-a speaks only of the owner and lets one co-owner file for all. Separately, compulsory integration under ECL § 23-0901 requires the operator to identify owners who remain unknown or cannot be located after diligent efforts and to hold their royalty in an interest bearing account until they are located or the property is deemed abandoned.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Section 329-a does not mention a deceased owner, heirs or devisees; it speaks of the owner and lets one co-owner file for all (P4). An ECL integration order binds all owners and their heirs, successors and assigns (P12). Neither text treats a deceased owner separately from an unknown one." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "For the Allegany State Park lapse, the legislature declared that the act gave unknown owners ample notice (P3); notice was by publication, with mailing only where an address was of record or found on reasonable inquiry (P5, P6). In compulsory integration, tracts with unknown owners are listed, and royalty for an owner who cannot be determined after diligent efforts is held in an interest bearing account (P8, P9)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Under § 329-a mailing is required where the address is of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry (P6). In compulsory integration, tracts whose owners cannot be located after diligent efforts are identified (P8); the escrow sentence speaks of an owner who cannot be determined and holds funds until the owner is located (P9)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The only lapse statute found is Real Property Law § 329-a, limited to oil and gas interests under State land in Allegany State Park; an interest unused for twenty years before the 2011 effective date was extinguished and reverted to the State unless a statement of claim was filed within two years. The legislature declared that this gave unknown owners ample notice. No statewide dormancy statute was found (October review).", "cites": [ { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a (opening paragraph)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(1)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "L. 2011, ch. 501, § 1", "url": "https://www.parks.ny.gov/documents/inside-our-agency/Chapter501LawsNewYork2011.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Section 329-a speaks only of the owner and lets any one co-owner file for all owners; it does not mention heirs. An integration order under ECL § 23-0901 binds owners and their heirs, successors and assigns.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(5)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(e)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Section 329-a requires mailing of the lapse notice to an address shown of record or determinable upon reasonable inquiry. ECL § 23-0901 requires the operator's diligent efforts before an owner is treated as unknown or unlocated.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(7)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(c)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Section 329-a notice of lapse is published and mailed to a record or reasonably determinable address. In integration the operator gives actual notice to all uncontrolled owners plus notice by publication.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(7)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(c)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Section 329-a required publication of the new law in three Cattaraugus County newspapers within thirty days, and permits later publication of lapse notices. Integration notice by publication is in a form and manner the department prescribes.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(4)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(7)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(c)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Under § 329-a the owner preserved the interest by filing a statement of claim in the Cattaraugus County clerk's office within two years; a late filing within sixty days after a lapse notice or actual knowledge saves an interest lost through inadvertence if the other conditions are met.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(1)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(5)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(6)(b), (c)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "ECL § 23-0901 compulsory integration: an owner who does not elect becomes an integrated royalty owner, tracts with unknown or unlocatable owners are identified, and royalty for an owner who cannot be determined after diligent efforts is held by the operator in an interest bearing account until the owner is located or the property is deemed abandoned.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(c)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(c)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(a)(3)", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Does the interest lie under State land in Allegany State Park; if not, § 329-a does not apply.", "Was a statement of claim filed in the Cattaraugus County clerk's dormant oil and gas interest record within the two year window, or a late claim within sixty days?", "Did the parks office publish and record a lapse notice and affidavit of service for this interest?", "Is the tract in a spacing unit under an ECL § 23-0901 integration order, and is the owner listed as unknown or unlocated?", "Is royalty for this owner held in an operator's interest bearing account, or has it been treated as abandoned property?", "Who are the owner's heirs, successors or assigns bound by the integration order?" ], "dates_note": "Section 329-a: unused \"for a period of twenty years immediately prior to the effective date of this section\"; statement of claim \"within two years after the effective date\"; enactment notice \"Within thirty days after the effective date\"; lapse notice mailed \"within ten days after such publication\"; late claim \"within sixty days after publication of notice\" or \"within sixty days after receiving actual knowledge\". The section took effect immediately on September 23, 2011 (L. 2011, ch. 501, § 3). ECL § 23-0901(3)(c): actual notice \"no later than thirty days prior to the date of the integration hearing\"; escrow lasts \"until the owner is located or the property is deemed abandoned, whichever comes first\". Nothing is computed here.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-york#owners" } }, "NC": { "id": "NC", "name": "North Carolina", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-north-carolina", "category": "registration_history", "category_label": "Registration or claim rules", "label": "Ancient mineral claim acts with fixed historical recording windows (G.S. 1-42.1 to 1-42.9), plus a rolling 30 year rule in Avery County only", "answer": "North Carolina's ancient mineral claim statutes voided certain old interests unless a notice was recorded in fixed windows that all closed by 1988; there is no rolling statewide clock today. Avery County has its own 30 year rule, and a 2011 statute ends oil and gas leases and certain conveyances after 10 years without commercial production.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "fixed_historical_dates", "period_years": null, "self_executing": "yes", "uses": [ "The interest was in actual course of being mined, drilled, worked or operated, or was in the adverse possession of another (each act reaches only interests not so used)", "Listing the interest for ad valorem taxes in the county: G.S. 1-42.1 to 1-42.4 and 1-42.6 to 1-42.8 refer to interests not listed for 10 years before the stated date, joined to the nonworking condition by 'or'; G.S. 1-42.9 requires both nonworking and five years without listing ('and')", "Recording the sworn preservation notice within the act's two year window (Avery County: within the surface owner's 30 year record period)", "The act did not operate if the surface owner lacked the required unbroken record chain (50 years, or 30 years under 1-42.5 and 1-42.9) or the surface estate was in the adverse possession of another", "Governmental claims, State or federal, and claims under unexpired oil, gas or mineral leases are excluded", "G.S. 113-423(b): commercial production at the end of 10 years; 'production' includes injection, withdrawal, storage or disposal activities by the lessee and payment of rentals or royalties by the lessee" ], "preservation": "A written notice sworn to before an official authorized to take probate by G.S. 47-1 and probated as required by G.S. 47-14, recorded with the register of deeds of the county where the land or any part lies, in the book kept under G.S. 1-42 for severances of surface and subsurface rights. It must set forth the nature of the interest and the book and page where it is recorded, state the claimant's name and address and, if known, the surface owner's name (required in Avery County), and describe the land or incorporate the recorded reservation by reference. It may be made by the claimant or on behalf of a claimant under disability, unable to act, or one of an uncertain class; under 1-42.9 also by an authorized agent. The statewide windows ended September 1, 1967 (1-42.1), September 1, 1973 (1-42.2), September 1, 1976 (1-42.3) and January 1, 1988 (1-42.9, with the earlier 1983 deadline kept for some reservations in counties that published the 1983 notice). In Avery County the notice must fall within the surface owner's 30 year record period, which is a continuing requirement.", "sources": [ { "label": "G.S. 1-42.1(b)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.1.html" }, { "label": "G.S. 1-42.1(d)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.1.html" }, { "label": "1965 N.C. Sess. Laws c. 1072 (S.B. 372), s. 1 (G.S. 1-42.1(c) as enacted) and s. 3", "url": "https://archive.org/details/sessionlaws196365nort" }, { "label": "1967 N.C. Sess. Laws c. 905 (S.B. 351), s. 2", "url": "https://archive.org/details/sessionlaws19656667nort" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 7, "date_note": "The statewide and county acts ran on fixed statutory dates and every window closed between 1967 and 1988, so no present day deadline can be computed from a last use date and none should be shown as a rolling 21 year, 30 year or two year clock. Whether a particular old interest was extinguished depends on the instrument date, the county, tax listing, working status, the surface chain and whether a notice was recorded in time, which only a title examination can settle. The Avery County rule is rolling but keys on recording dates and the surface owner's 30 year record chain, not on last use. G.S. 113-423(b) keys on the execution date of a post June 15, 2011 lease or conveyance and on commercial production, not on last use.", "historic_note": "The registration windows under G.S. 1-42.1 to 1-42.9 closed by 1 January 1988. Avery County's rule under G.S. 1-42.5 runs from recording dates, and G.S. 113-423(b) ends oil and gas leases and certain conveyances made on or after 15 June 2011 after 10 years without commercial production. Neither is calculated here.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Amendments after the archived copies were not checked, and no appellate decision was found.", "summary": "North Carolina's ancient mineral claim acts (G.S. 1-42.1 to 1-42.9) worked by recording, not by notice to the mineral owner: qualifying old severed interests were declared void unless a sworn notice was recorded in a fixed two year window, all of which closed by 1988, except in Avery County, where a rolling 30 year rule still applies. The acts reach owners within or without the State, let a notice be recorded on behalf of a claimant under disability, unable to act, or one of a class whose identity is uncertain, and provided only a general county newspaper notice of each act. No provision read addresses deceased, unknown or unlocated owners by name, and no mechanism for unknown mineral owners was found in the oil and gas or unclaimed property chapters searched.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. The acts speak of the 'record titleholder' and the 'claimant' (P3, P4); nothing says how a deceased record owner, heirs or devisees list, record or are treated. Heirs are mentioned only as heirs of the surface owner (P9)." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "No specific rule. A notice may be recorded on behalf of a claimant who is 'one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain' (P4, P6); the provisions do not say whether unidentified heirs qualify. The acts operate whether or not the owner is known (P1, P2)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. The acts require no notice to the mineral owner, so location plays no role in the text; they reach persons 'within or without the State' (P2)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Self executing statutory voiding of qualifying old severed interests in favor of surface owners with long record chains, unless preserved by recording; statewide windows are closed and only Avery County's 30 year rule continues. The acts make no distinction for deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "cites": [ { "label": "G.S. 1-42.9(b)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "G.S. 1-42.9(c)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The 1986 act keys on the 'record titleholder' listing for tax; surface owners' successors in interest take the marketable title; notices may be recorded for claimants who are one of a class of uncertain identity. Heirs appear only as heirs of the surface owner.", "cites": [ { "label": "G.S. 1-42.9(a)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "G.S. 1-42.5(b)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.5.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "G.S. 1-42.9(d)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "The acts impose no search for mineral owners because they operate without notice to them. G.S. 1-42 to 1-42.9 read in full.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No individual notice to mineral owners is required by G.S. 1-42 to 1-42.9; the only notice is the county commissioners' general publication of each act (see publication).", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Boards of county commissioners published a general notice of each act once a week for four consecutive weeks before the window opened or closed. It was not conditioned on owners being unknown and was not addressed to any owner.", "cites": [ { "label": "G.S. 1-42.9(e)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "G.S. 1-42.5(d)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.5.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Preservation was by recording a sworn notice in the G.S. 1-42 book within the window (Avery County: within the surface owner's 30 year period), by the claimant, an agent under 1-42.9, or a person acting for a claimant under disability, unable to act, or of uncertain identity.", "cites": [ { "label": "G.S. 1-42.9(b)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "G.S. 1-42.5(b)", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.5.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "None found. G.S. Chapter 113 Article 27 (oil and gas conservation, including integration under 113-393), G.S. 113-423 and Chapter 116B (escheats and abandoned property) were searched in full text for unknown, unlocated, cannot be located, whereabouts, escrow, missing, absent, nonresident and heirs near mineral, oil, gas, royalty or lease; Chapter 116B does not use the words mineral or royalty. Probate, partition and quiet title procedures may apply and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Which act, if any, reaches this reservation by county, instrument date, surface record chain and tax listing (mechanism)?", "Was a sworn notice recorded in the G.S. 1-42 book within the window, and by whom (response, succession)?", "If the record titleholder had died, did anyone list the interest for tax or record a notice for the heirs or estate (succession)?", "In Avery County, does a notice fall within the current surface owner's 30 year record period (response)?" ], "dates_note": "Windows as stated: 1-42.1 'within two (2) years after September 1, 1965'; 1-42.9 'within two years after January 1, 1986', with 'five years prior to January 1, 1986' for tax listing and 30 years before January 1, 1986 for the reservation; Avery County 1-42.5 'within such 30-year period' of the surface owner's unbroken record chain. County publication 'once a week for four consecutive weeks prior to January 1, 1986' (1-42.9(e)). No provision says death of an owner suspends or extends any window, and none was found tolling the windows for disability or lack of knowledge.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-north-carolina#owners" } }, "ND": { "id": "ND", "name": "North Dakota", "url": "/research/states/north-dakota-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Termination of mineral interest statute, 20 years before published notice", "answer": "North Dakota deems a severed mineral interest abandoned if it went unused for the 20 years immediately before a surface owner first publishes a notice of lapse, unless a statement of claim was recorded. The owner of record can still record a claim or proof of use within 60 days after first publication. Nothing is lost by time alone.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "notice_lookback", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Any minerals are produced under the interest (38-18.1-03(1)(a)).", "Operations are being conducted on it for injection, withdrawal, storage, or disposal of water, gas, or other fluid substances (38-18.1-03(1)(b)).", "For solid minerals, production from a common vein or seam by the owners of the interest (38-18.1-03(1)(c)).", "The interest is subject to a lease, mortgage, assignment, or conveyance of the mineral interest recorded with the recorder of the county where it is located (38-18.1-03(1)(d)).", "The interest is subject to an order or an agreement to pool or unitize recorded with the county recorder (38-18.1-03(1)(e)).", "A proper statement of claim is recorded under 38-18.1-04 (38-18.1-03(1)(f)).", "After notice, 38-18.1-05: within 60 days after first publication, the owner of record records a statement of claim, or documentation that a 38-18.1-03(1) use took place in the 20 years immediately preceding first publication; or a person other than the owner of record records a sworn affidavit or declaration explaining the factual and legal basis of its claimed title, with supporting documentation or an explanation why none is available." ], "preservation": "Statement of claim under 38-18.1-04, recorded by the owner of the mineral interest or the owner's representative with the recorder of the county where the interest is located, before the end of the 20 year period. It must contain the owner's name and address, a legal description of the land, and the type of mineral interest. A joint tenant, but not a tenant in common, may record for all joint tenants. A claim filed after July 31, 2009 by a person other than the owner of record is not effective unless it references the record owner under whom the claimant claims. The Department of Mineral Resources posts a statement of claim form as a convenience.", "sources": [ { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-02", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf" }, { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-01", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf" }, { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-03(2)", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf" }, { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-04", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 5, "date_note": "A calculator cannot turn one last use date into a lapse date. The 20 years run back from the first publication of a surface owner's notice, which may never happen; until then nothing lapses, and a later recorded lease, conveyance, pooling order or statement of claim is a new use. Even after publication, the record owner has 60 days to record a statement of claim or proof of use. Last use plus 20 years is only the earliest date on which a published notice could find an empty 20 year window; it is illustrative, not a deadline or a loss date, and must not be labeled window closed. Given an actual first publication date, a calculator could show the 20 year look back window, the mailing deadline (ten days after the last of the three weekly publications) and the owner's 60 day response deadline.", "notice": { "lookback_years": 20, "window_phrase": "immediately before the first publication of the notice", "response_days": 60, "response_from": "first publication of the notice", "response_action": "Within that time the owner of record can record a statement of claim or proof of a use in the window (N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-05)." }, "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Whether mail to a record address still suffices for an owner known to be dead under the 2009 text is open; the case search was not exhaustive.", "summary": "North Dakota's dormant mineral chapter runs against the record owner: the notice names the record owner and is mailed only if an address is of record or found by a defined reasonable inquiry, which since 2009 includes the Social Security death index and searches for known heirs. Under the pre 2009 text the Supreme Court held that a record address suffices even when the surface owner knows the record owner is dead, and no decision was found applying that rule to the 2009 text, which also requires proof of the inquiry to perfect title in court. Heirs own the interest from death, their recorded leases count as use, and they or their representatives can respond within sixty days. A separate chapter lets a co owner ask the district court to put the shares of unlocatable owners in a county treasurer trust, which does not block a lapse.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Notice names the record owner (38-18.1-06(3)(a)); the 2009 inquiry includes the Social Security death index if the owner is deceased and searches for known heirs (06(6)). Under the pre 2009 text, mailing to a dead record owner's record address complied (Capps 2014 ND 201). Heirs own from death and their recorded leases are uses (Christeson 2013 ND 50); non record owners respond by sworn affidavit within sixty days (38-18.1-05(2))." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not separately addressed. The inquiry includes public databases to identify the owner or known heirs (06(6)(d)); where no address is of record or found, the provisions read require only publication. The 38-13.1 trust is framed around unknown whereabouts, not unknown identity." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Publication alone where no address is of record or found by reasonable inquiry (06(2)). Proceeds held in an account for a person who cannot be located are not a use (03(2)). A co owner may petition for a county treasurer trust for owners whose whereabouts cannot reasonably be ascertained (38-13.1-01); the trust does not affect a lapse (38-13.1-03)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Twenty years of nonuse before first publication, then notice; title vests in the surface owner unless the owner responds. Account payments for an unlocatable owner are not a use, while a recorded lease by an unrecorded heir is.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-02", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-03(2)", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Estate of Christeson v. Gilstad, 2013 ND 50, paragraph 15", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2013/04/04/waslaski_v._state.wpd", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Heirs own from death and may preserve the interest; post 2009 claims by non record owners must reference the record owner, and non record owners respond by sworn affidavit. Devolution to heirs did not displace the record address for notice under the old text.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-05(2)", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-04", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201, paragraph 12", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/10/31/capps_v._weflen.wpd", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Estate of Christeson v. Gilstad, 2013 ND 50, paragraph 9", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2013/04/04/waslaski_v._state.wpd", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Since 2009, subsection 6 defines the reasonable inquiry (recorder, clerk of court and probate records, death index, public internet databases for owner or heirs) and proof of it is required to perfect title in court. Under the pre 2009 text the inquiry was required only where no address appeared of record, even if the owner was known to be dead.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(6)(c) and (d)", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06.1(2)", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201, paragraph 13", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/10/31/capps_v._weflen.wpd", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Publication plus mailing to the owner within ten days after the last publication if an address is of record or found. Case law under the old text: mail to the deceased owner's record address, to the most recent record address, statutory mailing is not a civil action, notice scheme is constitutional, mailing defects do not void a later quiet title judgment for want of jurisdiction.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(2)", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(3)(a)", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201, paragraph 12", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/10/31/capps_v._weflen.wpd", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Nelson v. McAlester Fuel Co., 2017 ND 49, paragraph 1", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2017/03/07/nelson_v._mcalester_fuel_company.wpd", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication once a week for three weeks in the official county newspaper is always required; no separate condition must be met before publication is used.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(1) and (2)", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Record owner records a statement of claim or proof of use within sixty days after first publication; a representative may record for heirs.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-05(1)", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Larson v. Norheim, 2013 ND 60, paragraph 18", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2013/04/08/larson_v._norheim.wpd", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Chapter 38-13.1, trusts for unlocatable mineral owners: district court trust, county treasurer as trustee with power to lease, diligent search required, no effect on a lapse under 38-18.1.", "cites": [ { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-13.1-01", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c13-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-13.1-01", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c13-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "N.D.C.C. 38-13.1-03", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c13-1.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Was the notice mailed to the most recent record address of the record owner, and was a subsection 6 reasonable inquiry done and documented (notice, search)?", "Is the record owner deceased, and did any heir record a lease, conveyance or claim in the twenty year window (succession, mechanism)?", "Did anyone other than the record owner file a sworn affidavit or reference the record owner within sixty days after first publication (response, succession)?", "Has a quiet title judgment under 38-18.1-06.1 been entered, and on what proof of inquiry (search)?", "Is any share held in a 38-13.1 trust or in a suspense account (special_mechanism, mechanism)?" ], "dates_note": "Abandonment: unused 'for a period of twenty years immediately preceding the first publication of the notice' (38-18.1-02). Publication 'once each week for three weeks' (06(2)). Mailing 'within ten days after the last publication is made' (06(2)); Halvorson v. Starr, 2010 ND 133, applies N.D.C.C. 1-02-15 to count it. Response 'within sixty days after first publication' (38-18.1-05). Statement of claim by non record owner rule applies to claims 'filed after July 31, 2009' (38-18.1-04). Account for an unlocatable person 'in existence for three years is deemed to be abandoned property' (03(2)). The provisions read say nothing about the death of an owner pausing or restarting any period.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/north-dakota-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "OH": { "id": "OH", "name": "Ohio", "url": "/research/states/ohio-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Dormant Mineral Act, surface owner notice with a 20 year look back", "answer": "Ohio's Dormant Mineral Act lets a surface owner take over a severed mineral interest only through notice. The interest can be deemed abandoned if none of the listed savings events happened in the 20 years before the surface owner's notice and the holder does not respond within 60 days. Nothing is lost by the passage of time alone. Coal and government interests are excluded.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "notice_lookback", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "(B)(3)(a) The mineral interest has been the subject of a title transaction filed or recorded with the recorder of the county where the lands are located. A recorded oil and gas lease is such a title transaction; the unrecorded expiration of a recorded lease is not (Chesapeake Exploration v. Buell, 2015-Ohio-4551, syllabus).", "(B)(3)(b) Actual production or withdrawal of minerals by the holder from the lands, from lands covered by a lease to which the interest is subject, from a mine partly beneath the lands, or, for oil or gas, from lands pooled, unitized or in unit operations under R.C. 1509.26 to 1509.28 in which the interest participates, if the pooling or unitization instrument or order is recorded in the county.", "(B)(3)(c) The mineral interest has been used in underground gas storage operations by the holder.", "(B)(3)(d) A drilling or mining permit under R.C. Chapter 1509, 1513 or 1514 has been issued to the holder, if an affidavit stating the permit holder, permit number, permit type and a legal description of the lands is recorded in the county under R.C. 5301.252.", "(B)(3)(e) A claim to preserve has been filed under R.C. 5301.56(C).", "(B)(3)(f) For a separated mineral interest, a separately listed tax parcel number has been created for it on the county auditor's tax list and the county treasurer's duplicate tax list.", "After notice, R.C. 5301.56(H)(1): within 60 days after service or publication, the holder records either a claim to preserve under (C) or an affidavit identifying a (B)(3) event in the 20 years preceding the notice. A timely claim to preserve alone is enough (Dodd v. Croskey, 2015-Ohio-2362; Walker v. Shondrick-Nau, 2016-Ohio-5793)." ], "preservation": "Claim to preserve under R.C. 5301.56(C), filed for record by a holder with the county recorder and recorded under R.C. 5301.56(H), 317.18 to 317.20 and 5301.52. It must state the nature of the mineral interest claimed and any recording information on which the claim is based, otherwise comply with R.C. 5301.52, and state that the holder does not intend to abandon, but instead to preserve, the holder's rights. One compliant claim preserves the rights of all holders of a mineral interest in the same lands; a gas storage holder may file a single claim for the whole storage field. Filed before any notice it is a savings event for 20 years; filed within 60 days after a notice it defeats that notice.", "sources": [ { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(B) and (B)(3)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56" }, { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(E)(1)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56" }, { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(H)(1)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56" }, { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(H)(2)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 6, "date_note": "No date can be computed from a single last use date. Abandonment can only follow a surface owner's notice, and the 20 year window is counted back from the date that notice is served or published, which the holder does not control and which may never happen. Even with no savings event in the window, a claim to preserve recorded within 60 days after notice defeats it. Last use plus 20 years is therefore only the earliest date from which a notice could find an empty window; it is not a deadline or a loss date and must not be shown as window closed. Given an actual notice date, a calculator could show the window start (notice date minus 20 years), the holder's response deadline (60 days after service or publication) and the surface owner's affidavit window (30 to 60 days after notice). The Marketable Title Act question listed under Open questions for a specialist runs on a different, 40 year root of title computation.", "notice": { "lookback_years": 20, "window_phrase": "immediately before the date the notice is served or published", "response_days": 60, "response_from": "service or publication of the notice", "response_action": "Within that time the holder can record a claim to preserve or an affidavit identifying a savings event (R.C. 5301.56(H))." }, "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "The Marketable Title Act route kept open by West v. Bode, and Supreme Court of Ohio decisions after Gerrity, were not reviewed for owner status.", "summary": "Ohio's Dormant Mineral Act, R.C. 5301.56, treats heirs and successors of the record owner as holders who must receive notice by certified mail at the last known address, and allows newspaper publication when service cannot be completed. The Supreme Court of Ohio held in Gerrity v. Chervenak (2020) that a surface owner must use reasonable diligence, generally a search of county property and probate records, and may then publish to unknown or unlocated holders without naming them. Any holder or successor can stop the process by recording a claim to preserve within 60 days after notice. Nothing in the statute or these decisions says death changes the 20 year look back.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "The heirs or devisees of a deceased record owner are holders (R.C. 5301.56(A)(1), Gerrity paragraph 15) and must be served as the holder's successors or assignees if they can be identified by reasonable diligence. In Gerrity, notice mailed to the deceased owner's last record address was returned, the county records showed no death or heir, and publication was upheld. Whether mail to a decedent is effective when the surface owner knows of the death is not settled by the sources read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Holders whose identity cannot be found after a reasonable search may be notified by publication, including as a class of unknown heirs, without being named (Gerrity paragraphs 19, 21, 41)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Holders who are identified but whose address cannot be found after a reasonable search may be notified by publication without a prior certified mail attempt (Gerrity paragraphs 24, 41)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "The Dormant Mineral Act lets a surface owner reunite a non coal severed interest only by serving or publishing notice, recording an affidavit of abandonment and, if no timely preserving filing is made, recording a notice of failure to file. Nothing lapses automatically. The statute and the decisions read do not say that a holder's death pauses, resets or extends the 20 year look back. Separately, the Supreme Court of Ohio treats the Marketable Title Act as an independent, alternative route (West v. Bode, 2020); this record does not analyze how that route treats a deceased or unlocated owner.", "cites": [ { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(B)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(B)(3)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(E)(2)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(H)(2)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Holder is defined broadly to include anyone deriving rights from the record holder. The Supreme Court of Ohio treated the unrecorded sole heir of a deceased record owner as a holder.", "cites": [ { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(A)(1)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Gerrity v. Chervenak, 162 Ohio St.3d 694, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 15", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "case_law", "status_label": "Court decision", "statement": "The statute sets no search standard. Gerrity requires reasonable diligence, generally met by searching county property and court records including probate, with further searching only where the surface owner's knowledge or the records point elsewhere. No bright line internet or genealogy search requirement.", "cites": [ { "label": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 41", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 36", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 36", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 34", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Certified mail, return receipt requested, to each holder or the holder's successors or assignees at the last known address, naming them as applicable. Notice is mandatory. Neither the statute nor Gerrity holds in general terms whether mail addressed to a deceased holder is valid notice; in Gerrity the mail to the dead owner's last address came back undeliverable and the surface owner then published.", "cites": [ { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(E)(1)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(F)(1)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Albanese v. Batman, 148 Ohio St.3d 85, 2016-Ohio-5814, paragraph 20", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2016/2016-Ohio-5814.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Publication once in a newspaper of general circulation in each county is allowed when service cannot be completed to any holder. After a reasonable unsuccessful search, the surface owner may publish without first mailing to unknown or unlocated holders, and may publish to classes of unknown holders.", "cites": [ { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(E)(1)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 41", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 21", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Within 60 days after notice is served or published, a holder or successor or assignee records a claim to preserve or a savings event affidavit and notifies the surface owner. A timely claim to preserve alone defeats abandonment, and a compliant claim preserves the rights of all holders of the interest.", "cites": [ { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(H)(1)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "R.C. 5301.56(C)(2)", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Dodd v. Croskey, 143 Ohio St.3d 293, 2015-Ohio-2362, paragraph 37", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2015/2015-Ohio-2362.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No separate receivership, trust, escrow or leasing mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners was found in the provisions read. R.C. 1509.27 (mandatory pooling) contains none. Other routes such as quiet title, probate and the Marketable Title Act were not reviewed for this question.", "cites": [ { "label": "R.C. 1509.27", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1509.27", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Did the surface owner search county property and court records, including probate, in the county where the land lies before publishing?", "Did the surface owner know, or did the records reveal, facts such as a death, an out of county probate or a new address that called for a wider search?", "Was certified mail sent to every identified holder and successor at the last known address, and what happened to each mailing?", "Was the notice published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in every county where the land lies, and does it describe unknown heirs as a class where names were not found?", "Was the affidavit of abandonment recorded 30 to 60 days after service or publication, and was a notice of failure to file recorded?", "Did any holder, heir or successor record a claim to preserve or savings event affidavit within 60 days after notice, or a savings event within the 20 years before notice?" ], "dates_note": "R.C. 5301.56(B)(3): savings events count if they occurred within the twenty years immediately preceding the date on which notice is served or published. (E)(2): affidavit of abandonment at least thirty, but not later than sixty days after the notice is served or published. (H)(1): holder's claim to preserve or savings event affidavit not later than sixty days after the date the notice was served or published. (H)(2): vesting immediately after the notice of failure to file is recorded. Corban: the 2006 procedure governs claims asserted after June 30, 2006. None of these provisions mentions death of the holder.", "open_questions": 5, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/ohio-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "OK": { "id": "OK", "name": "Oklahoma", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-oklahoma", "category": "missing_owner", "category_label": "Missing owner procedure", "label": "State judicial sale of mineral interests whose proceeds have been abandoned 15 years under the unclaimed property act; no nonuse lapse", "answer": "Oklahoma has no dormant mineral act, and its Marketable Record Title Act expressly does not bar or extinguish severed mineral or royalty interests (16 O.S. 76).", "evidence": "partial", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": 15, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Not a use test. Mineral proceeds are presumed abandoned only if unclaimed by the owner for more than five years after becoming payable or distributable (60 O.S. 658(A)), so an owner who claims the proceeds is not in the abandonment chain", "Any person claiming an interest may appear and contest the State's petition, within 30 days of first publication unless the court orders otherwise (84 O.S. 275)", "After a sale, the net proceeds are treated as unclaimed property under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (84 O.S. 276), so the former owner's claim shifts to the money" ], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "84 O.S. 271.1", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf" }, { "label": "84 O.S. 271.1(3)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf" }, { "label": "60 O.S. 658.1", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os60.pdf" }, { "label": "60 O.S. 658(A)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os60.pdf" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 4, "date_note": "No last use date applies. The trigger is 15 years of abandoned proceeds under the unclaimed property act, measured from a start point the text does not pin down, followed by a State petition, judgment and sheriff's sale; a calculator cannot produce a date, and nonuse of a mineral interest that generates no proceeds does nothing.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "The case search was rate limited, and no decision on the 52 O.S. 521 receivership was located.", "summary": "Oklahoma has no dormant mineral act. Three statutes deal with owners who cannot be found: a district court may appoint a receiver to sell an oil and gas lease on a minority mineral interest whose owners' whereabouts cannot be ascertained after due diligence, with the money held in the court registry (52 O.S. 521 to 523); money due under a pooling order to persons who are unknown or cannot be located is escrowed and then held by the State Treasurer in the Mineral Owner's Fund (52 O.S. 551 to 558); and a mineral interest whose proceeds have been abandoned for fifteen years can be sold by the State on the Attorney General's or a district attorney's petition, served by publication (84 O.S. 271.1 to 277).", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed as such. The Mineral Owner's Fund pays the rightful owner or the owner's heirs, devisees or assigns on proof of ownership (52 O.S. 554(C)); the receivership and abandoned mineral sale provisions read do not mention death or heirs." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Pooling money owed to persons who are unknown is escrowed on the same footing as for persons who cannot be located (52 O.S. 552(A)(2)). The abandoned mineral sale summons by publication runs to all persons interested (84 O.S. 274). The 52 O.S. 521 receivership is framed around whereabouts, not identity." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "A minority owner whose residence, business address or whereabouts cannot be ascertained after due diligence may have a receiver appointed to lease the interest (52 O.S. 521, 522); pooling money owed to persons who cannot be located after due diligence is escrowed (52 O.S. 552)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "There is no nonuse mechanism; the abandoned mineral interest sale runs from fifteen years of abandoned proceeds under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act and requires a court judgment and sale.", "cites": [ { "label": "84 O.S. 271.1", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Only the Mineral Owner's Fund provision names heirs, devisees or assigns, as persons who may claim escrowed pooling money on proof of ownership. The receivership and abandoned sale provisions read do not address heirs.", "cites": [ { "label": "52 O.S. 554(C)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A 52 O.S. 521 plaintiff must state the record interest, the last known address, the sources checked and that due diligence failed. Unclaimed mineral proceeds holders must report owners of record and last known addresses. Pooling escrow applies after due diligence fails.", "cites": [ { "label": "52 O.S. 522(a)(3)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "60 O.S. 658.1", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os60.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "52 O.S. 552(A) and (B)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Receivership: one newspaper publication and mail to the last known address, if any. Pooling: mail, return receipt requested, to owners whose addresses are known or could be known with due diligence, plus publication. Abandoned mineral sale: summons as in civil cases and summons by publication. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has held publication alone insufficient where names and addresses are known or easily ascertainable.", "cites": [ { "label": "52 O.S. 522(b)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "52 O.S. 87.1(e)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "84 O.S. 274", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Cravens v. Corporation Commission, 613 P.2d 442 (Okla. 1980)", "url": "https://static.case.law/p2d/613/cases/0442-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication is required in each procedure (52 O.S. 522(b), 87.1(e), 84 O.S. 274). In the abandoned mineral sale the surface owner of record also gets mailed notice of the sale at least thirty days ahead (84 O.S. 271.1(3)).", "cites": [ { "label": "52 O.S. 522(b)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "84 O.S. 274", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "84 O.S. 271.1(3)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A receivership defendant who answers and asks for dismissal is dismissed. In an abandoned mineral sale, claimants must appear within thirty days of first publication or default judgment is entered for the State.", "cites": [ { "label": "52 O.S. 522(c)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "84 O.S. 275", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Court receivership to lease minority mineral interests of owners who cannot be located (52 O.S. 521 to 523); Corporation Commission escrow and the State Treasurer's Mineral Owner's Fund for pooling money of unknown or unlocated owners (52 O.S. 551 to 558); judicial sale of mineral interests with fifteen years of abandoned proceeds (84 O.S. 271.1 to 277, 60 O.S. 658.1).", "cites": [ { "label": "52 O.S. 521", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "52 O.S. 523", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "52 O.S. 552(A) and (B)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "52 O.S. 554(A)", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is any interest in the chain subject to a 52 O.S. 521 receivership, and did the receiver's lease meet the court's minimum bonus, rental and royalty terms?", "Did the receivership petition recite the sources checked and due diligence, and was notice both published and mailed to any last known address?", "Is pooling money for the interest in escrow or in the Mineral Owner's Fund, and has an heir, devisee or assign made a claim?", "Has the State Treasurer reported the interest as unclaimed under 60 O.S. 658.1, or has a 84 O.S. 271.1 sale judgment been entered?" ], "dates_note": "Receivership: hearing at least fifteen (15) days from the date of filing; publication and mailing at least seven (7) days prior to the hearing; lease primary term not to exceed five (5) years (52 O.S. 522(b), 523). Pooling escrow: reports within one (1) year after the pooling order; money transferred to the Unclaimed Property Fund five (5) years or more after the date of pooling (52 O.S. 552(C), 556). Pooling notice: at least fifteen (15) days before the hearing (52 O.S. 87.1(e)). Abandoned mineral sale: proceeds abandoned for fifteen (15) years; answer within thirty (30) days from first publication; surface owner mailed notice at least thirty (30) days prior to the sale (84 O.S. 271.1, 274, 275). Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-oklahoma#owners" } }, "OR": { "id": "OR", "name": "Oregon", "url": "/research/states/oregon-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Dormant mineral interest statute, 30 year statement of claim or acquisition window, surface owner notice with a 60 day cure", "answer": "Oregon lets a landowner extinguish a severed mineral interest by published and mailed notice unless, in the last 30 years, the holder recorded a statement of claim or acquired the interest; production and leasing do not count. The holder can still keep it by recording a claim within 60 days after the last publication.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "explain_only", "period_years": 30, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "517.180(1)(a): the holder submitted a statement of claim for recording within the last 30 years", "517.180(1)(b): the holder acquired the mineral interest within the previous 30 years", "517.180(8): the holder submits a statement of claim to the county clerk within 60 days after the last publication of the notice of lapse", "Not listed in the statute: production, leasing, payment of rentals or royalties, pooling, or payment of taxes; none of these bars the procedure on the statute's words" ], "preservation": "Statement of claim submitted for recording with the clerk of the county where the land affected lies, containing the name and address of the holder as that name is shown in the instrument that created the original mineral interest, and the name and address of the current holder (ORS 517.180(3)). The clerk records it in the Mineral and Mining Record, cross references the current and original holders, and where possible notes it in the margin of the creating instrument (517.180(9)). To stay outside 517.180(1)(a) the statement must be recorded again within each 30 years.", "sources": [ { "label": "ORS 517.180(1)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html" }, { "label": "ORS 517.180(1)(a), (b)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html" }, { "label": "ORS 517.180(2)(a)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html" }, { "label": "ORS 517.180(8)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 4, "date_note": "The test looks back 30 years from the owner of land's notice for a recorded statement of claim or an acquisition by the holder. A calculator needs the date of the holder's most recent recorded statement of claim and the date the holder acquired the interest; the owner of land may proceed once 30 years have passed since the later of the two, and the holder can still cure within 60 days after the last publication. A last use date is irrelevant under the text, so a calculator driven by last use would give wrong Oregon results.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: heirs, devisees and successors.", "summary": "Oregon's ORS 517.180 lets a landowner extinguish a mineral interest by publishing a notice of lapse for three consecutive weeks and recording an affidavit, unless the holder recorded a statement of claim or acquired the interest within the last 30 years. Publication is always required; mailing is required only if the holder's address is known or can be determined by due diligence, and otherwise the affidavit must describe the search. The statute speaks only of \"the holder\" and does not mention death, heirs or devisees, so it does not say whether inheritance restarts the 30 years or whom to notify for a deceased holder. A separate co-owner forfeiture procedure, with publication when the co-owner cannot be found, applies only to quartz and placer mining claims.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. The notice goes to \"the holder of the mineral interest, as shown of record\" and mailing to \"the holder\"; the section does not say whether heirs or devisees must be identified or whether an inheritance is an acquisition under 517.180(1)(b)." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not separately addressed. Publication is required in every case, and the notice names the holder as shown of record." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "If the holder's address cannot be determined by due diligence, no mailing is required, and the affidavit must give a detailed, dated description of the efforts made (517.180(4), (7)(b))." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Extinguishment by publication and recorded affidavit, barred by a statement of claim or an acquisition within 30 years; the section does not refer to the holder's death, identity or whereabouts.", "cites": [ { "label": "ORS 517.180(1)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "requires_case_specific_review", "status_label": "Requires case-specific review", "statement": "The statute distinguishes the holder named in the original instrument from the \"current holder\" and bars extinguishment if the holder \"acquired\" the interest within 30 years, but it does not mention heirs, devisees or death, and \"acquired\" is not defined.", "cites": [ { "label": "ORS 517.180(1)(b)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "ORS 517.180(3)(a), (b)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Due diligence to determine the holder's address; if no mailing, a detailed dated description of the efforts in the affidavit.", "cites": [ { "label": "ORS 517.180(4)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "ORS 517.180(7)(b)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Mailed notice to the holder before first publication if the address is known or determinable by due diligence; the notice names the holder as shown of record.", "cites": [ { "label": "ORS 517.180(4)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "ORS 517.180(5)(a)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication once a week for three consecutive weeks in a county newspaper is required in every case.", "cites": [ { "label": "ORS 517.180(4)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The holder preserves the interest by submitting a statement of claim within 60 days after the last publication.", "cites": [ { "label": "ORS 517.180(3)(a), (b)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "ORS 517.180(8)", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Only for co-owners of quartz or placer mines: a delinquent co-owner who cannot be found in the state is served by 90 days of publication, and the interest vests in the contributing co-owners if unpaid. No mechanism for missing owners of severed oil, gas or mineral estates was found in ORS 517 or 520.", "cites": [ { "label": "ORS 517.250", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "ORS 517.270", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Did the holder, or anyone claiming as current holder, record a statement of claim within the last 30 years?", "Did the holder acquire the interest within the previous 30 years, and if the interest passed by death, has anyone decided whether that counts as an acquisition?", "Was the address known or determinable by due diligence, and does the affidavit either show mailing or describe the efforts with dates?", "Was notice published three consecutive weeks and the affidavit submitted within 15 days of the last publication?" ], "dates_note": "Statement of claim or acquisition \"within the last 30 years\" or \"within the previous 30 years\" (517.180(1)). Publication \"at least once each week for three consecutive weeks\" (517.180(4)). Copy of notice and affidavit submitted \"within 15 days after the date of the last publication\" (517.180(6)). Statement of claim \"within 60 days after the date of the last publication\" (517.180(8)). Co-owner notice published \"at least once a week for a period of 90 days after the first publication\" and vesting at \"the expiration of 90 days\" from personal service or last publication (517.250, 517.270). Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/oregon-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "PA": { "id": "PA", "name": "Pennsylvania", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-pennsylvania", "category": "missing_owner", "category_label": "Missing owner procedure", "label": "Court appointed trustee for unknown or unlocatable oil and gas owners; no lapse", "answer": "Pennsylvania's Dormant Oil and Gas Act (Act 115 of 2006) does not end or transfer any interest for nonuse, and it states that its purpose is not to vest severed oil and gas in the surface owner.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Not a use test. The act reaches only owners whose identity, present residence or present address is unknown and cannot be determined by diligent efforts (section 4(a)); an owner who can be found is outside it", "An owner later identified receives the funds held in trust; the trust remains until the unknown owners are identified and paid (sections 5(b) and 5(c))" ], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 2", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM" }, { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(a)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM" }, { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(c)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM" }, { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(c) and (d)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 4, "date_note": "Title never passes to anyone under this act, so there is no lapse date to compute. Nonuse has no legal effect under it; the only trigger is that an owner cannot be found, and the court decides that.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Act 115 was read only as enacted in 2006; later amendments, its codification and the 2014 Superior Court ruling were not read.", "summary": "Pennsylvania has no statute that ends a mineral interest for nonuse. Its Dormant Oil and Gas Act (Act 115 of 2006) lets any oil and gas interest owner ask the county court of common pleas to declare a trust for owners who are unknown or cannot be found by diligent efforts, with a financial institution trustee that signs leases and receives the money. The trust lasts until the owners are identified and paid, and the funds are subject to the Fiscal Code unclaimed property article. The Act does not mention heirs or death, and it sets no notice or publication rule for the petition.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. The Act defines owner to include a legal representative but says nothing about heirs, devisees or death." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Covered: an owner who is unknown, after diligent efforts, may be placed in a court declared trust (sections 3 and 4)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Covered by the same definition: an owner whose present residence or address cannot be found by reasonable efforts (section 3). The Act treats unknown and unlocated owners the same." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Pennsylvania's Dormant Oil and Gas Act does not end or transfer any interest for nonuse. It is a court trust for unknown or unlocatable oil and gas owners, and it states it is not meant to vest severed oil and gas in the surface owner.", "cites": [ { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 2", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The Act defines owner to include a person's legal representative but does not mention heirs, devisees or the effect of death.", "cites": [ { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 3, \"Owner\"", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The petitioner must show a diligent effort to locate the owner; unknown owners are those whose identity or address cannot be found by reasonable efforts. No list of records to search is given.", "cites": [ { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 3, \"Unknown owner or owners\"", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(b)(1) and (2)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The Act sets no notice requirement for the trust petition itself. It mentions only notice of the trust's termination to all interested parties. Court rules on service in such proceedings were not reviewed.", "cites": [ { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(b)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "The Act does not mention publication. Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure and local court practice were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A missing owner's remedy is to be identified to the trustee's satisfaction and paid; the trust lasts until then. No deadline and no transfer to the surface owner appears in the Act.", "cites": [ { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(c)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(a) and (b)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A county court of common pleas may declare a trust for unknown owners on petition of any oil and gas interest owner and appoint a financial institution trustee to lease; income goes to the trustee and the funds are subject to the Fiscal Code unclaimed property article.", "cites": [ { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(a)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(c)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(d)", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is any oil and gas interest under the tract held by a court declared Act 115 trust, and who is the trustee?", "What diligent efforts did the petitioner show the court before the trust was declared?", "Has a claimed heir or successor been identified to the trustee's satisfaction, or have trust funds passed to the Treasury under the Fiscal Code?" ], "dates_note": "Section 5(c): the trust remains in force until the unknown owners have been identified to the satisfaction of the trustee and received their share. Section 7: a payor who fails to pay amounts due to unknown owners to the trustee within six months of the date those funds become due is liable for attorney fees, court costs and interest. No period ends an owner's interest.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-pennsylvania#owners" } }, "RI": { "id": "RI", "name": "Rhode Island", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-rhode-island", "category": "marketable_title", "category_label": "Marketable title act", "label": "Marketable Record Title Act, 40 years, no mineral exception (R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 34-13.1)", "answer": "A person with an unbroken record chain of title to an interest in land for 40 years holds marketable record title free of every interest that depends on an act, transaction, event or omission before the effective date of the root of title, unless that interest is carried in the muniments by specific reference, preserved by a recorded notice of claim, or excepted.", "evidence": "partial", "date_model": "explain_only", "period_years": 40, "self_executing": "yes", "uses": [ "Notice of claim, verified by oath, recorded during the 40 year period after the root of title (§ 34-13.1-5(a))", "Continuous possession of a possessory interest by the same record owner for 40 years, which counts as a recorded notice (§ 34-13.1-5(b))", "Specific identification, in the muniments of the chain of title, of the recorded title transaction that created the interest (§ 34-13.1-3(1))", "A title transaction affecting the interest recorded after the root of title (§ 34-13.1-3(4))" ], "preservation": "Notice of claim verified by oath stating the nature of the claim, with an accurate and full description of all land affected in particular terms (or the description in the recorded instrument the claim is founded on) and the current owners of record; recorded in the land records of the town where the land lies and indexed in the grantor index under the record owners and the grantee index under the claimant (§§ 34-13.1-5, 34-13.1-6).", "sources": [ { "label": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-4", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-4.htm" }, { "label": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-5(a)", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-5.htm" }, { "label": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-7", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-7.htm" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "The bar depends on the date of the surface owner's root of title and on what is recorded in the chain, not on a last use date, so no date can be computed from use.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "Rhode Island has no mineral nonuse statute; its Marketable Record Title Act bars any interest, a severed mineral interest included, that depends on events before a forty year root of title unless it is carried in the chain or preserved by a recorded notice of claim. The bar applies whether the holder is under a disability, outside the state or unaware, and the chapter requires no search for or notice to the holder. A notice of claim may be recorded by another person for a claimant of uncertain identity, and title by will or descent is a title transaction. Deceased owners are not otherwise addressed in the provisions read.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "The chapter does not address a deceased owner of a mineral interest as such. A title transaction includes title by will or descent (P5), and disability or lack of knowledge does not suspend the forty year period (P2). Whether death has any other effect is not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "A notice of claim may be recorded by another person on behalf of a claimant who is one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain (P4). The bar applies regardless of disability (P1)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Interests are void whether the claimant is within or outside the state (P1), and lack of knowledge does not suspend the period (P2). The chapter gives no notice to the barred holder, so it has no rule for an owner who cannot be found." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Rhode Island has no nonuse statute. Under the Marketable Record Title Act a forty year unbroken record chain makes title free of interests depending on events before the root of title, and a severed mineral interest outside that chain can be barred unless preserved. The bar applies whatever the claimant's disability, location or knowledge.", "cites": [ { "label": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-4", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-4.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-5(a)", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-5.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A title transaction includes title by will or descent. The chapter does not otherwise address heirs or devisees of a mineral owner.", "cites": [ { "label": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-1(f)", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-1.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "The chapter operates on the land records and imposes no duty on anyone to search for or identify the holder of the interest being barred. General quiet title, probate and partition procedures were not reviewed and may apply where a court action is brought.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The only notice in the chapter is the claimant's own recorded notice of claim, indexed under the record owners and the claimant. No notice to the holder of the barred interest is required.", "cites": [ { "label": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-6(b)", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-6.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "The chapter contains no publication step. Publication rules in general court procedure were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The holder preserves the interest by recording a verified notice of claim during the forty years after the effective date of the surface owner's root of title; another person may record it for a claimant under a disability, unable to act, or of uncertain identity.", "cites": [ { "label": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-5(a)", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-5.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-5(a)", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-5.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "What is the surface owner's root of title, and does the severed mineral interest appear in or depend on events before it?", "Do the muniments of the surface chain specifically identify the recorded instrument creating the mineral interest?", "Was a verified notice of claim recorded for the mineral interest within the forty year period, by the claimant or someone acting for a claimant of uncertain identity?", "Has a transfer of the mineral interest by will or descent been recorded after the root of title?" ], "dates_note": "Root of title: the most recent recorded title transaction \"as of a date forty (40) years prior to the time when marketability is being determined\" (34-13.1-1(e)). Notice of claim: recorded \"during the forty (40) year period immediately following the effective date of the root title\" (34-13.1-5(a)). Transitional: a period expiring before two years after the statute's effective date was \"extended two (2) years after the effective date of this statute\" (34-13.1-11). Nothing is computed here.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-rhode-island#owners" } }, "SC": { "id": "SC", "name": "South Carolina", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-south-carolina", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "answer": "No South Carolina statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest for nonuse, requires a statement of claim, provides a procedure for unknown mineral owners, or makes old mineral reservations unmarketable. The property title of the Code does not use the word mineral at all.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Survey of Code Titles 10, 12, 15, 27, 30, 48 (full text)", "url": "https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/title27.php" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 3, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for South Carolina.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "South Carolina case law on abandonment and presumed grant of severed minerals was not reviewed.", "summary": "No South Carolina provision was found that addresses a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner of a severed mineral interest. The state has no dormant mineral or mineral marketable title statute, its oil and gas integration section contains no unknown owner procedure, and its unclaimed property chapter does not mention mineral payments. Nothing here means that general probate, quiet title or partition procedures do not apply; they were not reviewed.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No dormancy, nonuse, statement of claim or marketable title provision for severed minerals was found in the Code titles searched, so no mechanism treats deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees, successors or the identity of the holder was found. Probate, heirship, quiet title, partition and receivership procedures of general application may apply and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific search or diligence requirement was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice requirement to owners was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No preservation or response procedure for mineral owners was found, because no lapse mechanism exists in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "None found. Section 48-43-340 (integration of tracts in a spacing unit) and the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (chapter 27-18) were read or searched; neither contains a mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners or mineral proceeds. Probate, heirship, quiet title, partition and receivership procedures of general application may apply and were not reviewed.", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Because no statute clears an old severed interest, who are the current owners of record of the mineral interest and, if the owner of record died, how did title pass under general probate law (succession)?", "If a well is integrated under 48-43-340, how does the order treat owners who could not be found (special_mechanism)?" ], "dates_note": "No period or deadline concerning owner status was found in the provisions read.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-south-carolina#owners" } }, "SD": { "id": "SD", "name": "South Dakota", "url": "/research/states/south-dakota-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Abandoned mineral interest statute, 23 years of nonuse, surface owner notice with a 60 day cure", "answer": "SDCL chapter 43-30A treats a severed mineral interest as abandoned if it has not been used for 23 years or more, and title then vests in the surface owner.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "period_years": 23, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "43-30A-3(1): minerals are produced by or with the express permission of the record owner of the mineral interest", "43-30A-3(2): operations are conducted for injection, withdrawal, storage, or disposal of water, gas, or other fluid substances to produce or enhance the production of minerals by or with the express permission of the record holder", "43-30A-3(3): for solid minerals, there is production from a common vein or seam by or with the express permission of the record owner", "43-30A-3(4): any valid conveyance, lease, mortgage, assignment, probate distribution, termination of joint tenancy interest affidavit, termination of life estate affidavit, transfer on death deed, or any judgment or decree that makes specific reference to the record owner's mineral interest is recorded within the last 23 years in the register of deeds for the county", "43-30A-3(5): the mineral interest is subject to an agreement to pool or unitize", "43-30A-3(6): a statement of claim is recorded in compliance with 43-30A-4", "43-30A-3(7): a proper instrument describing the mineral interest was recorded before an affidavit recorded under prior law pursuant to SDCL 43-30-7", "43-30A-5: a statement of claim recorded by the record owner within 60 days after completion of publication of the notice of lapse" ], "preservation": "Statement of claim recorded in the register of deeds office for the county where the mineral interest is located, for the record owner, before the end of the 23 year period, containing the record owner's name and mailing address and a legal description of the land on or under which the interest lies (SDCL 43-30A-4). A joint tenant, but not a tenant in common, may record on behalf of the other joint tenants. It puts the interest in use on the recording date, so it restarts the 23 years. A statement recorded within 60 days after completion of publication of a notice of lapse also saves the interest (43-30A-5). Keeping an address of record with the register of deeds matters because without one the owner waives mailed notice (43-30A-6).", "sources": [ { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-2", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A" }, { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-5", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A" }, { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-6", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A" }, { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-1", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 5, "date_note": "Last use plus 23 years gives the earliest date on which the surface owner could start the notice procedure, not a lapse date. Ownership passes only after three weeks of publication, mailing, and 60 days after publication with no statement of claim, and any use or recorded statement of claim inside the 23 years restarts the count. A calculator can show last use plus 23 years if it is labeled as the earliest notice date and says the owner can still cure after notice.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Whether heirs of a deceased record owner must receive notice under the 2016 text is open.", "summary": "South Dakota's abandonment chapter is written around the record owner: production counts only with the record owner's permission, notice is mailed only to the record owner at the address of record, the surface owner may rely on that address, and a record owner who keeps no address waives mailing. Heirs are reached only indirectly: a recorded probate distribution or transfer on death deed referring to the record owner's interest is a use. The one Supreme Court decision, Holsti v. Kimber (2014), applied the pre 2016 text, held heirs own from death, and left open whether heirs must be notified. A separate chapter lets anyone with an interest in the tract ask the court for a county treasurer trust for an owner whose location or identity cannot be determined, but trustee acts are not use under the abandonment chapter.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Notice goes to the record owner at the address of record (43-30A-6); the provisions read do not mention heirs. A recorded probate distribution or transfer on death deed referencing the record owner's interest is a use (43-30A-3(4)). Holsti (pre 2016 text) held heirs owned from death and did not decide whether heirs must be notified." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in 43-30A. Chapter 43-30B allows a court trust where the identity of the owner cannot be determined." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Mailing goes to the address of record and the surface owner may rely on it; failure to maintain an address of record waives mailing (43-30A-6). Chapter 43-30B allows a court trust where the location cannot be determined; trustee acts are not use (43-30B-6)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Twenty three years of nonuse; uses are tied to the record owner in the current text. Holsti read the earlier text as not limited to the record owner.", "cites": [ { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-2", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-3(1)", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, paragraph 16", "url": "https://ujs.sd.gov/media/vkubegdt/26821.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Recorded probate distributions, transfer on death deeds and similar instruments referencing the record owner's interest are uses; statements of claim are recorded for the record owner. Holsti: heirs own from death.", "cites": [ { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-3(4)", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-4(1) and (2)", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, paragraph 15", "url": "https://ujs.sd.gov/media/vkubegdt/26821.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No search duty; the surface owner may rely on the record owner's last address of record.", "cites": [ { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-6", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Registered or certified mail to the record owner at the address of record within ten days after the last publication; failure to maintain an address waives mailing. Whether heirs must be notified was left open in Holsti.", "cites": [ { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-6", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-6", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, paragraph 20", "url": "https://ujs.sd.gov/media/vkubegdt/26821.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication once a week for three weeks is always required; no condition precedent is stated.", "cites": [ { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-6", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Record owner records a statement of claim within sixty days after publication is completed.", "cites": [ { "label": "SDCL 43-30A-5", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Chapter 43-30B, trust for unlocated or unidentified mineral interest owners: court trust, county treasurer or other trustee may lease, due diligence showing, trustee acts are not use under 43-30A.", "cites": [ { "label": "SDCL 43-30B-1", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "SDCL 43-30B-2", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "SDCL 43-30B-3", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "SDCL 43-30B-6", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Who is the record owner, and is there a recorded probate distribution, transfer on death deed or decree referencing that interest within twenty three years (succession)?", "Was notice mailed by registered or certified mail to the record owner's last address of record, or did the record owner maintain no address (notice)?", "Did anyone record a statement of claim within sixty days after publication was completed (response)?", "Is any share held by a 43-30B trustee, remembering that trustee leases are not use (special_mechanism)?", "Was the abandonment governed by the pre 2016 text, under which Holsti applies (mechanism)?" ], "dates_note": "Abandonment if not used 'for a period of twenty-three years or more' (43-30A-2). Recorded instruments count if recorded 'within the last twenty-three years' (43-30A-3(4)). Publication 'once each week for three weeks'; mailing 'no later than ten days after the last publication' (43-30A-6). Response 'within sixty days after completion of the publication of the notice of lapse' (43-30A-5). The provisions read do not say that death pauses or restarts the period, and trustee acts under 43-30B do not count as use.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/south-dakota-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "TN": { "id": "TN", "name": "Tennessee", "url": "/research/states/tennessee-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Dormant mineral statute, 20 years with no use and no taxes paid, lapse declared by chancery order", "answer": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108 extinguishes any interest in coal, oil and gas and other minerals that goes unused for 20 years unless the owner has filed a statement of claim, and ownership reverts to the surface owner. 'Use' includes production, injection or storage operations, rentals or royalties being paid, use on a pooled or unitized tract, and payment of taxes on the mineral interest, so an interest on which taxes are paid is not dormant; tax payment counts only if the owner has identified the interest's location to the county assessor (67-5-809(d)).", "evidence": "partial", "date_model": "court_determination", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "66-5-108(b)(3): any minerals being produced thereunder", "66-5-108(b)(3): operations being conducted thereon for injection, withdrawal, storage or disposal of water, gas or other fluid substances", "66-5-108(b)(3): rentals or royalties being paid to the owner for the purpose of delaying or enjoying the use or exercise of the rights; an unexercised lease option on the tract did not qualify in Currence (2015)", "66-5-108(b)(3): any such use being carried out on any tract with which the mineral interest may be unitized or pooled for production purposes", "66-5-108(b)(3): taxes paid on the mineral interest ('by the owner of the land' in the quoted text); counts only if the owner identified the interest's location to the county property assessor under 67-5-804, per 67-5-809(d)", "66-5-108(c), (d): a statement of claim filed before the end of the 20 year period, or by July 1, 1990 if later; prima facie evidence of use on its filing date", "66-5-108(e)(4): an answer alleging a claim filed with the clerk and master within 60 days after publication stops the default order, but the claim then turns on whether a statutory use occurred" ], "preservation": "Statement of claim filed with the register of deeds of the county where the land lies, containing the name and address of the owner or owners of the mineral interest, the tax map and parcel numbers of the surface owner or owners above the mineral estate, and a reference to the instrument under which the interest is claimed (66-5-108(d)(2), (d)(3)), filed before 20 years pass without use. The register records it in the Dormant Mineral Interest Record (66-5-108(f)). Separately, mineral owners must identify their interests with the county property assessor (67-5-804(b), as quoted in Currence); without that identification, paying taxes cannot be claimed as a use (67-5-809(d)).", "sources": [ { "label": "Currence v. Harrogate Energy, LLC, No. M2014-01263-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 11, 2015), slip op. 5 to 6, quoting Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(c) (the quotation runs across a page break; footnote 5 sits between \"revert to\" and \"the owner of the surface\" in the slip opinion)", "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/currencecharles.opn_.pdf" }, { "label": "Currence, slip op. 6, quoting Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(b)(3)", "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/currencecharles.opn_.pdf" }, { "label": "Currence, slip op. 6, quoting Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-809(d)", "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/currencecharles.opn_.pdf" }, { "label": "Cunningham v. Gill, No. M2003-01374-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 20, 2004), slip op. 5", "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/043/Cunningh.pdf" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 7, "date_note": "Last use plus 20 years, but not earlier than July 1, 1990, is the earliest date on which a surface owner's lapse complaint could succeed. The reversion takes effect through the chancellor's order after the 60 day notice period and must be recorded, so the date is set by the court, and an owner who answers forces a contested hearing. Because payment of taxes on an identified mineral interest is itself a use, an interest that is being taxed and paid does not age at all; a calculator that ignores tax payments overstates dormancy.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "Tennessee extinguishes a mineral interest unused for 20 years unless the owner files a statement of claim, and a surface owner completes the lapse through a chancery complaint. The clerk and master publishes notice three times and mails it by certified mail to the owner the plaintiff names; the owner's name and address appear only if known, and the text read says nothing about heirs, devisees, unknown heirs or returned mail. If no answer is filed within 60 days after publication the chancellor declares the lapse, and a contest is barred three years after the interest lapsed. Whether notice to a deceased owner of record or to a last known address satisfies due process in a given case is not settled by the provisions or decisions read.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. Section 66-5-108 speaks only of 'the owner' and 'a person who shall succeed' on lapse (P2, P3). In Cunningham the interest had passed to an identified heir who answered, and the court counted information supplied by the heir or his predecessor toward use (P10, P11). No provision or decision read says whether notice must go to heirs or devisees of a deceased owner of record." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "The complaint form and every notice give the owner's name only 'if known' (P4, P6), and publication occurs in every case (P5). No other rule for an owner whose identity is unknown appears in the text read." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Certified mail goes to the owner identified by the plaintiff (P5); the form gives the address only 'if known' (P4). The text read does not address an identified owner who cannot be found, a returned mailing or a duty to search for a current address." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Twenty years without a statutory use extinguishes the interest unless a statement of claim is filed, and the surface owner may complete the lapse by verified complaint in chancery; the Court of Appeals describes the target as unused, unregistered and generally undiscoverable interests. No provision treats deceased, unknown or unlocated owners differently.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(c)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "Currence v. Harrogate Energy, LLC, No. M2014-01263-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 11, 2015), slip op. 5", "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/currencecharles.opn_.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "The statute refers to 'the owner' and to the person who will succeed on lapse, names no heirs, devisees or personal representatives, and limits parties of interest to an owner and the successor surface owner. Cunningham shows an heir defending on the basis of use by himself and his predecessor.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(d)(1)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(l)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "Cunningham v. Gill, No. M2003-01374-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 20, 2004), slip op. 2", "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/043/Cunningh.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Cunningham v. Gill, slip op. 6", "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/043/Cunningh.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The complaint form recites inquiry with the county property assessor and reasonable inquiry about use. No search for heirs or for a current address is prescribed; a filing made without reasonable inquiry, without factual basis and for harassment can draw a fee award, while a complaint is deemed in good faith if no taxes paid or statement of claim referencing the parcel appears of record.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(1), complaint form paragraphs 3 and 4", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(k)(1)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(k)(2)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Notice runs to the owner identified by the plaintiff, by certified mail within ten days after publication, and states the owner's name only if known as shown of record. Contrary to the brief's working note, the text read contains no requirement of notice to heirs.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(3)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(5)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication is mandatory in every case, not conditioned on the owner being unknown: once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(3)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The owner preserves by a timely statement of claim, or after a complaint by filing an answer alleging a claim within 60 days after publication; otherwise the chancellor declares the lapse. Any contest is barred three years after the interest lapsed.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(d)(1)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(4)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false }, { "label": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(j)", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "kind": "statute", "official": false } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Was a statement of claim recorded, and by whom, before 20 years passed without a statutory use (mechanism, response)?", "Was the owner of record alive when any complaint was filed, and if not, who was named and mailed (notice, succession)?", "Was the certified mailing sent within ten days after the third publication, and to what address (notice)?", "Was a certified copy of the chancellor's order recorded with the register of deeds, as 66-5-108(e)(7) requires for effect against subsequent holders (response)?", "Have three years passed since the interest lapsed, barring a contest under 66-5-108(j) (response)?" ], "dates_note": "Twenty years unused, per 66-5-108(c). Statement of claim 'prior to the end of the twenty-year period set forth in subsection (c) or within three (3) years after July 1, 1987, whichever is later' (d)(1). Publication 'once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks'; certified mail 'within ten (10) days after such publication'; answer 'within sixty (60) days after publication' (e)(3), (e)(4). No complaint accepted 'prior to July 1, 1990' (e)(9). Contest barred 'after three (3) years from the date such interest lapsed' (j). No provision says that death of the owner pauses, resets or continues any of these periods.", "open_questions": 5, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/tennessee-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "TX": { "id": "TX", "name": "Texas", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-texas", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified; court receivership for absent owners and unclaimed proceeds rules instead", "answer": "No Texas statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest because it went unused.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Not applicable: no lapse statute identified" ], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(b-1)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm" }, { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(e)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm" }, { "label": "Tex. Prop. Code 75.101(a)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.75.htm" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 5, "date_note": "No lapse, so there is no date to compute; There is no Texas lapse date. A receivership never ends the absent owner's title.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "The diligence required before publication under Tex. R. Civ. P. 109 and two appellate decisions on receiver leases were not read.", "summary": "Texas has no dormant mineral act, so no nonuse clock runs against a deceased, unknown or unlocated mineral owner. Instead a co-owner may ask a district court to appoint a receiver to lease, assign or ratify for an undivided mineral, leasehold or royalty interest whose owner's residence or identity is unknown or who is a nonresident and has not paid or rendered taxes on it for five years; the money stays in the court registry until the owner or the owner's heirs, assigns or personal representatives appear. Separately, mineral proceeds unclaimed for over three years, with the right to receive them, are presumed abandoned.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not named as such. The receivership statutes speak of the defendant or the defendant's heirs, assigns or personal representatives appearing to claim the interest (64.091(e), 64.093(e)); in Clay Exploration the receivership covered the unknown heirs of a record owner." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "A defendant whose identity is unknown qualifies for a receivership on the same terms as one whose residence is unknown (64.091(b-1), 64.093(b))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "A defendant whose residence is unknown, or a nonresident, qualifies if the other conditions are met; the plaintiff must prove a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the defendant (64.091(c))." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No Texas nonuse or dormancy mechanism was identified in the October review, so there is no dormancy rule to apply to these owners; the receivership below is the mineral specific mechanism.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "The receivership statutes name heirs, assigns and personal representatives only as persons who end the receivership's indefinite run by appearing in court. A Houston court of appeals held that an heirship claim made outside court did not end a receivership or void the receiver's lease.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(e)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.093(e)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Clay Exploration, Inc. v. Santa Rosa Operating, LLC, 442 S.W.3d 795 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2014), slip op. at 7", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/08/14/clay_exploration_inc._v._santa_rosa_operating_llc_1.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The plaintiff must plead in a verified petition and prove a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the defendant. The statute does not say what records must be searched.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(c)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "The plaintiff names the last known or last record owner as defendant and serves notice by publication under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. In 1986 the Supreme Court of Texas treated a posted notice in such a case as akin to citation by publication.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(d)(1) and (2)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Gray v. PHI Resources, Ltd., 710 S.W.2d 566 (Tex. 1986) (per curiam)", "url": "https://static.case.law/sw2d/710/cases/0566-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication is the stated method of service on the absent or unknown defendant in 64.091(d)(2) and 64.093(d)(2); the conditions for publication in the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure were not read.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(d)(1) and (2)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "The owner or heirs, assigns or personal representatives respond by appearing in court to claim the interest; until then the receivership continues. Successors served by posting had two years to move for a new trial in Gray v. PHI Resources.", "cites": [ { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(e)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Gray v. PHI Resources, Ltd., 710 S.W.2d 566 (Tex. 1986) (per curiam)", "url": "https://static.case.law/sw2d/710/cases/0566-01.json", "kind": "case_law", "official": true }, { "label": "Clay Exploration, Inc. v. Santa Rosa Operating, LLC, 442 S.W.3d 795 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2014), slip op. at 8 to 9", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/08/14/clay_exploration_inc._v._santa_rosa_operating_llc_1.pdf", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Court appointed receivers for undivided mineral and leasehold interests (64.091) and royalty interests (64.093) of nonresident, absent or unknown owners, with proceeds held in the court registry; a general missing person receivership (64.001(d)); and the three year presumption of abandonment for unclaimed mineral proceeds (Prop. Code 75.101).", "cites": [ { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(b)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(b-1)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(f)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(h)", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is any undivided mineral, leasehold or royalty interest in the chain held by a 64.091 or 64.093 receiver, and what does the appointment order authorize the receiver to sign?", "Has the record owner, or an heir, assign or personal representative, appeared in the receivership case to claim the interest, and has the court acted on it?", "Was notice by publication made against the last known or last record owner, and was the diligent search pleaded and proved?", "Was a lease signed by the receiver within the authority of the appointment order?", "Have proceeds for the interest been reported to the Comptroller as presumed abandoned under Prop. Code 75.101?" ], "dates_note": "Receivership eligibility: the defendant has not paid taxes on the interest or rendered it for taxes during the five-year period immediately preceding the filing of the action (64.091(b-1), 64.093(b)). Receivership duration: continues as long as the defendant or heirs, assigns or personal representatives fail to appear (64.091(e)). Unclaimed proceeds: unclaimed for longer than three years after they became payable or distributable (Prop. Code 75.101(a)). Motion for new trial after service by posting: within two years from the date the judgment was signed (Gray v. PHI Resources, applying Tex. R. Civ. P. 329). Missing person receivership: a term not exceeding six months, extendable (64.102(e)). Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-texas#owners" } }, "UT": { "id": "UT", "name": "Utah", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-utah", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified; the marketable record title act excludes minerals", "answer": "No Utah statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse. The Marketable Record Title Act (Utah Code 57-9-1 to 57-9-10, 40 year chain of title) may not be applied to extinguish any interest in minerals.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Utah Code 57-9-6(5) (this chapter 'may not be applied to')", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title57/Chapter9/C57-9_1800010118000101.pdf" }, { "label": "S.B. 78 (2019), amending Utah Code 75-2-105(4)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/~2019/bills/sbillenr/SB0078.pdf" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 4, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Utah.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: notice by publication.", "summary": "Utah has no nonuse or dormancy statute for severed minerals, and its Marketable Record Title Act may not be used to extinguish mineral interests. For a deceased owner, Utah Code 75-2-105 provides that when an intestate decedent has no taker the estate passes to the state, minerals and mineral proceeds are administered by the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, and an operator, owner or payor that has not located an heir must report a good faith heir search to that agency. The state may sue to quiet title, and wins only if no interested person appears and shows entitlement after the required notice. Separately, oil and gas proceeds that cannot be paid on time go into an interest bearing escrow account under 40-6-9.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "For an intestate decedent with no taker, minerals and proceeds pass to the state and are administered by the Trust Lands Administration (75-2-105(2), (3)); an operator, owner or payor that has not located an heir must report a good faith heir search (75-2-105(6)). Testate decedents and decedents whose heirs are known are not addressed by this section." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Addressed only for unlocated heirs of an intestate decedent (75-2-105(6)) and for unknown defendants in the resulting quiet title action (78B-6-1315(3)). Proceeds that cannot be paid go to escrow (40-6-9(3)(b))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not separately addressed. Oil and gas proceeds that cannot be paid within the statutory periods, for any reason, are escrowed (40-6-9(3)(b))." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy mechanism found; the Marketable Record Title Act may not be applied to extinguish mineral interests.", "cites": [ { "label": "Utah Code 57-9-6(5)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title57/Chapter9/C57-9_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Intestate estates with no taker pass to the state; minerals and proceeds are administered by the Trust Lands Administration.", "cites": [ { "label": "Utah Code 75-2-105(2)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Utah Code 75-2-105(3)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "An operator, owner or payor that has not located an heir of an intestate decedent reports the results of a good faith search for heirs.", "cites": [ { "label": "Utah Code 75-2-105(6)(a)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The state's quiet title action requires notice under 78B-6-1303 (notice of pendency) and in the manner described in 75-1-401, which was not read.", "cites": [ { "label": "Utah Code 75-2-105(5)(a)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Utah Code 78B-6-1303(3)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter6/C78B-6-P13_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "An interested person defeats the state's claim by appearing and demonstrating entitlement; no default judgment against unknown defendants.", "cites": [ { "label": "Utah Code 75-2-105(5)(a)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Utah Code 78B-6-1315(3)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter6/C78B-6-P13_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Escheat of intestate minerals with no taker to the state, administered by the Trust Lands Administration with a quiet title action, plus mandatory escrow of oil and gas proceeds that cannot be paid on time.", "cites": [ { "label": "Utah Code 75-2-105(3)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Utah Code 75-2-105(4)(a)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Utah Code 40-6-9(3)(b)(i)", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title40/Chapter6/C40-6_1800010118000101.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Did the record owner die intestate, and has anyone established a taker under chapter 75-2?", "Has an operator or payor reported an unlocated heir to the Trust Lands Administration, and has the state brought a 75-2-105 quiet title action?", "Are proceeds held in escrow under 40-6-9(3)?" ], "dates_note": "Operator, owner or payor report due \"within 180 days of acquiring the information\" (75-2-105(6)(b)). Proceeds due \"not later than 180 days after the first day of the month following the date of the first sale\" and then \"not later than 30 days after the end of the calendar month\" of receipt (40-6-9(1)(a)); escrow payout \"within 30 days from the date of receipt by the escrow agent of final legal determination of entitlement\" (40-6-9(3)(b)(iv)). Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-utah#owners" } }, "VT": { "id": "VT", "name": "Vermont", "url": "/research/states/vermont-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Oil and gas abandonment statute, 10 years of nonuse (29 V.S.A. § 563); a 40 year marketable record title act also applies", "answer": "An interest in oil and gas is deemed abandoned when it has been unused for a continuous 10 years after July 1, 1973 and no statement of interest has been filed within the preceding five years; the abandoned interest reverts to and merges with the surface estate from which it was severed.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "period_years": 10, "self_executing": "yes", "uses": [ "Actual production of oil or gas, including production from lands covered by a lease to which the interest is subject, or from lands pooled or unitized with such lands", "Oil and gas operations conducted under the terms of the instrument creating the interest", "Payment of rental or royalties for the purpose of delaying or continuing the use of the interest", "Payment of taxes on the oil and gas interest", "A currently valid permit under 10 V.S.A. chapter 151, or a currently valid drilling permit under chapter 14 (the drilling permit provisions were repealed in 2023)", "A statement of interest recorded within the preceding five years (§ 563(b)(2) and (f))" ], "preservation": "Statement of interest recorded in the land records of any municipality where the land lies, containing a description of the land, the nature of the interest claimed, the book and page of recording of the original grant, and the claimant's name and address (§ 563(f)). Under the MRTA, a notice of claim verified by oath and recorded within the 40 year period, indexed under the claimant and the current record owner, preserves an interest for 40 years from filing (27 V.S.A. §§ 603, 605).", "sources": [ { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(a), (b)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014" }, { "label": "2024, No. 161, §§ 36 and 58", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/ACTS/ACT161/ACT161%20As%20Enacted.pdf" }, { "label": "29 V.S.A. ch. 14, history note", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014" }, { "label": "27 V.S.A. § 603", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 5, "date_note": "A calculator can show the later of last qualifying use plus 10 years and July 1, 1983, valid only if no statement of interest was recorded in the five years before that date. It is illustrative because the statute was repealed from June 8, 2023 until June 6, 2024 and the effect of that gap is unsettled. The MRTA runs from the surface owner's root of title, not from use.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "Vermont deems an oil and gas interest abandoned after ten continuous years of nonuse with no statement of interest in the preceding five years, and the abandoned interest reverts to the surface estate; a surface owner's published and filed notice makes it presumed abandoned unless a court finds otherwise. The statute names the record owner, mails notice only to an address shown on record, requires no search, and says nothing about deceased, unknown or unlocated owners, though it exempts interests still held by the original severing owner. The separate Marketable Record Title Act lets a notice of claim be filed for a claimant of uncertain identity and says absence does not suspend its 40 year period. No Vermont decision was located.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "29 V.S.A. § 563 does not mention a deceased owner, heirs or devisees. Its exemption covers an interest retained by the owner who originally severed the minerals, and the text does not say whether it survives that owner's death (P3). Under the Marketable Record Title Act, a transfer by inheritance or descent occasioned by death counts as a conveyance (P9)." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Section 563 does not address an owner whose identity is unknown. Its notice names the record owner and is always published (P5, P6). Under the Marketable Record Title Act, a notice of claim may be filed for a claimant who is one of a class whose identity is uncertain (P10)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Section 563 requires mailing only where the owner's address is shown on record; publication is the only other notice (P6). It requires no search for a current address. Under the Marketable Record Title Act, absence does not suspend the 40 year period (P8)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Section 563 deems an oil and gas interest abandoned after ten continuous years of nonuse after July 1, 1973 with no statement of interest in the preceding five years; it then reverts to the surface estate. A surface owner's published notice and affidavit, once filed, make the interest presumed abandoned unless a court finds otherwise. Separately, the Marketable Record Title Act bars pre root interests after 40 years, and absence or lack of knowledge does not suspend that period.", "cites": [ { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(a)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(b)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(h)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "27 V.S.A. § 602(b)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Section 563 exempts interests retained by the original severing owner and is silent on heirs and devisees. The Marketable Record Title Act treats inheritance or descent as a conveyance.", "cites": [ { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(c)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "27 V.S.A. § 602(c)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No search is required by § 563. Mailing is required only to an address of the owner shown on record.", "cites": [ { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(g)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The notice of abandonment names the record owner, describes the land and the interest, and states that the interest is presumed abandoned. It is mailed only to a record address.", "cites": [ { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(g)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(g)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the town or towns where the land lies is required in every case, not only when the owner cannot be found.", "cites": [ { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(g)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The owner preserves the interest by filing a statement of interest in the land records; under § 563(b) a filing within the preceding five years prevents abandonment. Section 563 names only the owner as filer. A Marketable Record Title Act notice of claim may be filed by someone acting for a claimant who is unable to act or of uncertain identity.", "cites": [ { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(b)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "29 V.S.A. § 563(f)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "27 V.S.A. § 605(b)", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Has a surface owner filed a notice of abandonment and affidavit under 29 V.S.A. § 563(h), and has any court found to the contrary?", "Is the oil and gas interest still held by the owner who originally severed it, or has it passed by death, deed or devise?", "Has any owner filed a statement of interest in the land records, and when?", "Was the notice published in a newspaper of general circulation in each town where the land lies?", "Was an address of the owner shown on record, and if so was a copy mailed within 10 days after publication?", "Is the mineral interest outside the surface owner's 40 year record chain, and was a Marketable Record Title Act notice of claim filed?" ], "dates_note": "Section 563(b): \"unused for a continuous period of 10 years after July 1, 1973\" and no statement of interest \"filed at any time within the preceding five years\". Section 563(g): copy mailed \"within 10 days after the date of publication\". Section 563 took effect June 6, 2024 (2024, No. 161, § 36). Marketable Record Title Act: unbroken chain \"for 40 years\" (27 V.S.A. § 601(a)); a notice of claim \"shall remain effective for a period of 40 years from the date of filing\" (§ 605(c)). Nothing is computed here.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/vermont-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "VA": { "id": "VA", "name": "Virginia", "url": "/research/states/virginia-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Court action to extinguish old, unused, untaxed mineral claims, 35 years, lands east of the Blue Ridge only", "answer": "Virginia lets a landowner east of the Blue Ridge sue to extinguish a mineral claim from a writing at least 35 years old that has gone unused and untaxed for 35 years; the court ends it only if no commercial minerals are shown after a six month exploration period. It is never automatic.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "explain_only", "period_years": 35, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Exercise of the right to explore or mine within the 35 years", "The claimant having been charged with taxes on the claim or right", "A deed of bargain and sale of the claim or reservation recorded in the clerk's office of the county where the land lies", "Proof in the action that commercial coal, mineral, ore, oil or subsurface substance exists in or on the land" ], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "Va. Code § 45.2-400(A)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/" }, { "label": "Va. Code § 45.2-400(B)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/" }, { "label": "Va. Code § 45.2-401(B), (C)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/" }, { "label": "Va. Code §§ 45.2-602, 45.2-604, 45.2-605", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-602/" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 4, "date_note": "No date follows from a last use date alone. The presumption needs a 35 year old writing, 35 years without exercise, no taxes charged to the claimant, all taxes paid by the landholder and no recorded deed of the claim, and the claim ends only by court order after a six month exploration window, which commercial minerals defeat.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "How unknown defendants are served in a 45.2-401 action was not reviewed, and the case search was not exhaustive.", "summary": "Virginia's dormancy rule (Va. Code 45.2-400 and 45.2-401) works only through a landowner's court action, east of the Blue Ridge, against a mineral claim from a writing at least 35 years old that has gone unexercised and untaxed; the original claimant or his successors are sued by name so far as known or as unknown defendants. The sections read set no search, notice or publication rule. Separately, unknown or missing coal owners can be placed in a court trust that leases the coal (45.2-602 to 45.2-606), and unknown gas or oil owners in a pooled unit are deemed to lease, with their share escrowed by the Gas and Oil Board as unclaimed property (45.2-1620(D)).", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed as such. Successors in title of the original claimant are defendants, by name so far as known or as unknown defendants (45.2-401(A))." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Unknown successors in title are sued as defendants unknown (45.2-401(A)). Unknown coal owners may be placed in a court trust (45.2-602); unknown pooled gas or oil owners are deemed to lease (45.2-1620(D))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in 45.2-400 or 45.2-401. The coal trust covers missing owners and excludes those whose location can be ascertained (45.2-604(C)); pooling covers owners whose identity and location remain unknown (45.2-1620(D))." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Virginia's rule is a presumption, used only in a court action, that no minerals exist under a claim from a writing at least 35 years old where the right has gone unexercised and untaxed for 35 years, east of the Blue Ridge. The provisions read do not mention death of the claimant or a pause in the 35 years.", "cites": [ { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-400(A)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-400(B)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The original claimant or his successors in title must be defendants, named so far as known or sued as unknown defendants.", "cites": [ { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-401(A)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Sections 45.2-400 and 45.2-401 set no search standard before suing unknown successors. The separate coal trust requires a diligent effort (see special_mechanism).", "cites": [ { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-602(C)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-602/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Sections 45.2-400 and 45.2-401 do not say how defendants, known or unknown, are served; general Virginia service and order of publication statutes were not reviewed. Gas and oil pooling has its own notice rule.", "cites": [ { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-1618(A)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1618/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not addressed in 45.2-400 or 45.2-401. The coal trust requires two weeks of newspaper notice (45.2-603).", "cites": [ { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-603", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-603/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The defendant has at least six months from docketing to explore and can defeat extinguishment by proving commercial minerals, in which case they are taxed.", "cites": [ { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-401(B)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-401(C)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-604(C)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-604/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A circuit court trust for unknown or missing coal owners, leased by a trustee, with proceeds going to unclaimed property five years after first production; and, in gas and oil pooling, a deemed lease and Board escrow for unknown owners treated as unclaimed property.", "cites": [ { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-602(A)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-602/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-605(B)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-605/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Va. Code 45.2-1620(D)", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1620/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is the land east of the Blue Ridge, and is the mineral claim from a writing at least 35 years old with no exercise, taxation or recorded deed for 35 years?", "Were the original claimant and every known successor named, and unknown successors sued as unknown defendants?", "How were unknown defendants served in the extinguishment action?", "Is any coal interest under a 45.2-604 trust, or any gas or oil interest escrowed under a pooling order as an unknown owner's share?" ], "dates_note": "45.2-400: a writing made 35 years or more prior to the institution of the action; nonuse, nontaxation and nonrecording for a period of 35 years or more. 45.2-401(B): not less than six months from the time the cause is docketed and set for hearing. 45.2-603: once a week for two consecutive weeks. 45.2-605(B): five years after the date of first commercial production of the coal interests. 45.2-1620(D): designated operator files a disbursement petition within 30 days after discovering an unknown owner. None of these provisions mentions death of the owner.", "open_questions": 3, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/virginia-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "WA": { "id": "WA", "name": "Washington", "url": "/research/states/washington-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Dormant mineral interest statute, 20 years unused, surface owner notice and claim of abandonment", "answer": "Chapter 78.22 RCW lets the surface owner extinguish a mineral interest held by another person if the interest has been unused for 20 years.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "78.22.030(1): any minerals produced in connection with the mineral interest", "78.22.030(2): operations for injection, withdrawal, storage or disposal of water, gas, or other fluid substances conducted in connection with the mineral interest", "78.22.030(3): rents or royalties paid for the purpose of delaying or enjoying the use or exercise of the mineral interest", "78.22.030(4): use or exercise of the mineral interest on any tract with which it may be unitized or pooled for production purposes", "78.22.030(5): for coal or other solid minerals, production from a common vein or seam", "78.22.030(6): taxes have been paid on the mineral interest (the text does not say by whom)", "78.22.030(7): any use pursuant to or authorized by the instrument creating the mineral interest", "78.22.030(8): a sale, lease, mortgage, or other transfer of the mineral interest recorded with the county auditor before the end of the 20 year period or within two years after June 7, 1984, whichever is later" ], "preservation": "Statement of claim filed by the current owner in the county auditor's office of the county where the land lies, before the end of the 20 year period (or by June 7, 1986 if later), stating the name and address of the current owner and the name of the original holder substantially as shown on the instrument that created the interest, with the recording fee under RCW 36.18.010 (RCW 78.22.040). The auditor records it in the dormant mineral interest index and, where possible, notes it in the margin of the creating instrument (78.22.070). A statement filed within the 60 day notice period also preserves the interest (78.22.060).", "sources": [ { "label": "RCW 78.22.010", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22.010" }, { "label": "RCW 78.22.030(3), (6)", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22.030" }, { "label": "RCW 78.22.050(1)", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22.050" }, { "label": "RCW 78.22.060", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22.060" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 4, "date_note": "Last use plus 20 years, but not earlier than June 7, 1986, is the earliest date on which the surface owner could serve the 60 day notice. Extinction happens only when the claim of abandonment is filed after the notice period with no statement of claim, so the actual date depends on the surface owner. Because tax payments on the interest count as use, a calculator must treat the most recent tax payment as the last use.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Whether registered mail to a deceased owner’s address is valid notice, and whether publication reaches an identified owner who cannot be found, is open; the case search was incomplete.", "summary": "Washington's chapter 78.22 RCW lets the surface owner extinguish a mineral interest unused for 20 years by giving the \"current mineral interest owner\" 60 days notice and then filing a claim of abandonment. Notice goes by personal service or registered mail to the owner's last known address, using the name and address the county treasurer supplies from tax records; publication for three consecutive weeks is allowed only if the owner is unknown to the treasurer and cannot be determined after due diligence. The chapter does not mention death, heirs or devisees, and does not say whether mailing to a deceased owner's last known address is enough.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. Notice goes to the \"current mineral interest owner\" at the last known address, and the chapter does not mention heirs, devisees or a deceased owner." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "If the current owner is unknown to the county treasurer and cannot be determined after due diligence, notice may be published once a week for three consecutive weeks (78.22.050(1))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Registered mail goes to the \"last known address\" (78.22.050(1)); the affidavit must describe due diligence efforts to find the address if notice was not mailed (78.22.050(4)(b)). Publication is tied to the owner being unknown, and the text does not separately address an identified owner who cannot be found." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Extinguishment by the surface owner after 20 years of nonuse, notice and a filed claim; the chapter does not refer to the owner's death.", "cites": [ { "label": "RCW 78.22.010", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The chapter acts through the \"current owner\" and the original holder; it does not mention heirs, devisees or how a successor proves current ownership.", "cites": [ { "label": "RCW 78.22.040", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "County treasurer tax records supply the name and address; due diligence is required before publication, and the affidavit describes the efforts when notice was not mailed.", "cites": [ { "label": "RCW 78.22.050(1)", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "RCW 78.22.050(4)(b)", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Personal service or registered mail to the current owner's last known address, 60 days before the claim is filed.", "cites": [ { "label": "RCW 78.22.050(1)", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Publication for three consecutive weeks only when the current owner is unknown to the county treasurer and cannot be determined after due diligence.", "cites": [ { "label": "RCW 78.22.050(1)", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The current owner files a statement of claim within 60 days after last publication or perfected service.", "cites": [ { "label": "RCW 78.22.060", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "RCW 78.22.050(2)(f)", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners found in chapters 78.22, 78.52, 78.44 or 78.08 RCW. This does not exclude general probate, quiet title or unclaimed property procedures, which were not reviewed.", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "Was there any use listed in 78.22.030, including tax payment, royalties, pooled use or a recorded transfer, within 20 years?", "Is the owner shown on the county tax records alive, and if not, who is the current owner?", "Was the owner unknown to the county treasurer and undeterminable after due diligence before publication was used, and does the affidavit describe the efforts with dates?", "Was a statement of claim filed within 60 days after last publication or perfected service?" ], "dates_note": "Unused \"for a period of twenty years\" (78.22.010). Extinguishment available after \"the later of the expiration of the twenty-year period\" or \"two years after June 7, 1984\" (78.22.050(1)). \"sixty days notice\" before the claim (78.22.050(1)); claim filed after \"a period of sixty days after the date of the last publication or the date service was perfected\" (78.22.050(2)(f)). Publication \"at least once each week for three consecutive weeks\". Copy of notice and affidavit to the auditor \"within fifteen days after the date of the last publication or the date service was perfected\" (78.22.050(3)). Nothing computed.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/washington-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "WV": { "id": "WV", "name": "West Virginia", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-west-virginia", "category": "missing_owner", "category_label": "Missing owner procedure", "label": "Court lease, then conveyance to the surface owner, of minerals held by missing, unknown or abandoning owners (7 years after the court lease)", "answer": "West Virginia has no statute that ends a mineral interest for nonuse.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": 7, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Not a use test. An owner whose identity and whereabouts are known, can be found by diligent inquiry, or are discovered in the action cannot have a special commissioner's lease imposed, unless proved to be an abandoning owner who fails to answer (55-12A-6(d))", "An owner who appears before judgment confirming the lease and establishes title has the action dismissed as to that interest (55-12A-6(e))", "Within 7 years after the special commissioner's lease, the owner may move to reopen and prove identity and title; the court then documents title, assigns future proceeds and orders the held funds paid over (55-12A-6(g))", "An abandoning owner who disavows the abandonment within the 7 years is not conveyed out (55-12A-7(a)(1))", "Under 37B-2-5(g) the Treasurer must publish notice at least 60 days before the seventh anniversary of the first report on an unknown owner's oil and gas property (the 2026 coal act has the same rule in 37B-4-5(g))" ], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-2(1)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-2/" }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-4(a)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-4/" }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-7(a)(1)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-7/" }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-7(a)(1)(i) and (ii)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-7/" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 4, "date_note": "Nothing runs from a last use date. Every route needs a court proceeding, and each clock starts at an event a calculator cannot derive from one date: the special commissioner's lease, the first report to the Treasurer, or first reported production from a horizontal unit.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Sections 55-12A-5a to 5c, cited by 55-12A-6(a), could not be retrieved, and the 2026 coal provisions were not re-read.", "summary": "West Virginia has no statute ending a mineral interest for nonuse. Under W. Va. Code 55-12A the circuit court may appoint a special commissioner to lease minerals owned by unknown or missing owners, a class that expressly includes heirs, successors and assigns not known to be alive, or by owners proved to have abandoned the interest. Notice combines personal service where possible, certified mail, a Class III legal advertisement and a guardian ad litem; if the owner stays unknown or missing for seven years from the lease, the interest is conveyed to the surface owner and accrued money goes to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund. Separate oil and gas routes exist for cotenancies (37B-1) and horizontal well units (22C-9-7a).", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Heirs, successors and assigns of an unknown or missing owner who are not known to be alive are within the definition and must be joined (55-12A-2(5), 55-12A-5(a)). The provisions read do not say how a known, findable heir is treated other than that no special commissioner lease may cover an owner whose identity and whereabouts are known or can be found by diligent inquiry (55-12A-6(d))." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Covered: an owner whose present identity cannot be determined from the four named county offices or by diligent inquiry near the last residence (55-12A-2(5))." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Covered by the same definition: an owner whose location cannot be so determined. The statute treats unknown and missing owners alike; abandoning owners are a separate class that must be proved." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "West Virginia has no statute ending a mineral interest for nonuse. The relevant mechanism is the court procedure in W. Va. Code 55-12A for minerals owned by unknown or missing owners, or by abandoning owners proved to have relinquished the interest with an expressed intention to end ownership.", "cites": [ { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-2(5)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-2/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-2(1)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-2/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Unknown or missing owners include heirs, successors and assigns not known to be alive, who must be joined as defendants.", "cites": [ { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-2(5)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-2/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(a)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Under 55-12A the search runs to the records of the county clerk, sheriff, assessor and circuit clerk plus diligent inquiry near the last residence, and the court must find a diligent effort. The cotenancy and horizontal unit statutes add internet review and, for units, a mailing to the last known address.", "cites": [ { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-2(5)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-2/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-6(a)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-6/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 37B-1-3, \"Unknown or unlocatable interest owner\"", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37B-1-3/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 22C-9-7a(b)(10)(D) and (E)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22C-9-7A/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Personal service where possible, certified mail to the last known address of named defendants, and a guardian ad litem for unknown and missing owners and their unknown heirs.", "cites": [ { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(c)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(d)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "A Class III legal advertisement and a lis pendens are required immediately on filing in every case, with further advertisement if the court orders it.", "cites": [ { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(c)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "An owner or heir may appear as of right before the lease is confirmed, or move to reopen within seven years after the lease date.", "cites": [ { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-6(e)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-6/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-6(g)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-6/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Special commissioner lease and conveyance to the surface owner after seven years (55-12A); reservation and remittance to the State Treasurer for unknown cotenants with a surface owner quiet title route after seven years (37B-1-4); escrow and a surface owner acquisition route in horizontal well units (22C-9-7a). A 2026 coal cotenancy route (37B-3-4) was reported in the October review but not re-read.", "cites": [ { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-4(a)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-4/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-7(a)(1)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-7/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 37B-1-4(d)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37B-1-4/", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W. Va. Code 37B-1-4(g)", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37B-1-4/", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is there a recorded 55-12A special commissioner's lease or deed, or a pending lis pendens, covering the interest?", "What county records and inquiries supported the diligent effort finding, and were the unknown heirs joined and a guardian ad litem appointed?", "Was the Class III advertisement published and the lis pendens recorded no later than the first day of publication?", "Has seven years run from the special commissioner's lease, and has any claimed heir moved to reopen?", "Is the interest in a 37B-1 cotenancy or a 22C-9-7a horizontal well unit, so that money for unknown owners sits with the Treasurer or in a commission escrow?" ], "dates_note": "55-12A-6(a): no lease order sooner than six months following filing of the petition. 55-12A-6(g): motion to reopen within seven years after the date of the special commissioner's lease. 55-12A-7(a)(1): conveyance after the owner remains unknown or missing, or does not disavow the abandonment, for seven years from the date of the special commissioner's lease; 55-12A-7(e): fund transfer rule effective July 1, 2020. 37B-1-4(d): report within 120 days of reservation, then quarterly; 37B-1-4(g): after seven years from the first report to the treasurer. 22C-9-7a(o)(13): six years from notice to the surface owner. None of these provisions mentions death of the owner as changing a period.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-west-virginia#owners" } }, "WI": { "id": "WI", "name": "Wisconsin", "url": "/research/states/wisconsin-dormant-mineral-act", "category": "lapse_statute", "category_label": "Dormant mineral statute", "label": "Dormant mineral interest statute, 20 years, curable until the surface owner records a claim", "answer": "Wisconsin has a dormant mineral statute. A severed mineral interest lapses after 20 years without a use the statute counts, but nothing moves by itself: the mineral owner can cure by recording a statement of claim until the surface owner records a claim, and title passes only by court judgment or 3 years after the surface owner's claim if nobody sues.", "evidence": "primary", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "period_years": 20, "self_executing": "no", "uses": [ "Any minerals are mined in exploitation of the interest (sub. (2)(a))", "A conveyance of mineral interests is recorded under ch. 706 (sub. (2)(b)); s. 706.01(5) defines that term as a transaction to explore for, mine, develop or extract metalliferous minerals", "Any other conveyance evidencing a transaction by which the interest is created, aliened, reserved, mortgaged or assigned is recorded under ch. 706 (sub. (2)(c))", "Property taxes are paid on the interest in minerals by the owner of the interest (sub. (2)(d))", "The owner of the interest records a statement of claim under sub. (4) or (5) (sub. (2)(e))", "After lapse, a statement of claim meeting sub. (4) recorded before the surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect, whichever is later, cures the lapse (sub. (5))", "Transition only: use within 3 years after July 1, 1984 prevented lapse of an interest not used during the 20 years before that date, or used during the period from 17 to 20 years before it (sub. (3)(b) and (c))" ], "preservation": "Statement of claim under s. 706.057(4): the name and address of the owner of the interest in minerals, a description of the location and boundary of the interest, and a reference to the recorded instrument that created it, recorded with the register of deeds of the county where the interest is located. The register of deeds supplies a uniform form and indexes the claim against the parcels above the interest; the claimant pays the s. 59.43(2) recording fee (sub. (7)). Recording it counts as a use and starts a new 20 years; recorded after lapse it cures the lapse if it comes before the surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect (sub. (5)).", "sources": [ { "label": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(3)(a)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057" }, { "label": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(2)(a) to (c)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057" }, { "label": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(2)(d) and (e)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057" }, { "label": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(4)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 7, "date_note": "Last use plus 20 years gives only the first day the interest can be in lapse, not a loss date. After that day the owner can still cure by recording a statement of claim until a surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect, and title moves only on a judgment or 3 years after that claim, so the transfer date depends on a surface owner filing that a calculator cannot know. Uses are broad and some leave no trace in the land records (the mineral owner paying property tax), so a single last use date is easily wrong. For an interest last used before July 1, 1967 a calculator must not show a lapse date earlier than July 1, 1987.", "lapse_day_offset": 1, "offset_note": "Wisconsin's Court of Appeals counted lapse from the day after the 20th anniversary of the last use (Lakeland, 2021 WI App 19, paragraph 43), so the date shown is that day.", "floor": { "date": "1987-07-01", "when_last_use_before": "1967-07-01", "note": "For an interest last used before 1 July 1967, the 1984 transition rule means no lapse before 1 July 1987 (Wis. Stat. 706.057(3)(b) and (c))." }, "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "summary": "Wisconsin's lapse statute (Wis. Stat. 706.057) ends a severed mineral interest not used for 20 years, but the lapse can be cured by the mineral owner's recorded claim until the surface owner records its own claim, and title reverts only on a court judgment or 3 years after the surface claim if the mineral owner does not sue. The section requires no search and no notice to the mineral owner at any stage, and does not mention death, heirs, or unknown or unlocated owners; the Court of Appeals held in Lakeland (2021) that the lapse does not violate due process for lack of notice. No Wisconsin procedure specific to unknown or unlocated mineral owners was identified, but the code could not be searched from this network.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. Use requires acts \"by the owner\" (taxes, statement of claim) or a recorded conveyance (P2, P3); whether heirs or a personal representative count as \"the owner\", and whether a recorded probate document is a qualifying conveyance, is not stated." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read; the section applies to every severed owner alike." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read. The surface owner's claim is recorded, not served (P5), and reversion follows 3 years later if no action is brought (P7)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute_and_case_law", "status_label": "Statute and court decisions", "statement": "Lapse after 20 years of nonuse; the surface owner records a claim; title reverts on judgment or 3 years after the claim if the mineral owner does not sue. The court of appeals reads this as not an automatic reversion.", "cites": [ { "label": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(3)(a)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(6)(a)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(9)(c)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "2021 WI App 19, ¶52", "url": "https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=338851", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "706.057 does not mention heirs, devisees, estates or death. A recorded conveyance creating, aliening, reserving, mortgaging or assigning the interest is a use (P2), but whether probate or heirship records qualify is not stated.", "cites": [ { "label": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(2)(c)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No search for the mineral owner is required before lapse, before the surface claim, or before reversion.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "case_law", "status_label": "Court decision", "statement": "The section provides no notice to the mineral owner. Lakeland held the lapse does not violate due process for lack of notice.", "cites": [ { "label": "2021 WI App 19, ¶59", "url": "https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=338851", "kind": "case_law", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No publication provision appears in 706.057.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "The owner preserves by use, including paying taxes or recording a statement of claim; cures a lapse by recording a claim before the surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect; and may sue within 3 years after the surface claim for a declaration of ownership.", "cites": [ { "label": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(2)(d), (e)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(5)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(9)(a)", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "not_yet_verified", "status_label": "Not yet verified", "statement": "", "cites": [] } ], "facts": [ "In each 20 year window, was minerals mined, a conveyance of the interest recorded, tax paid by the owner, or a statement of claim recorded?", "Did the mineral owner, or anyone claiming through a deceased owner, record a statement of claim before the surface owner's claim was recorded or took effect?", "When was the surface owner's claim recorded, and was an action brought within 3 years?", "If the record owner died, who now holds the interest and is any probate or heirship record on file?" ], "dates_note": "Lapse if \"not used during the previous 20 years\" (706.057(3)(a)); transition grace \"within 3 years after July 1, 1984\" (3)(b), (c). A surface claim recorded before lapse \"takes effect when the interest in minerals lapses\" and \"is void 6 years after the statement of claim is recorded\" if no lapse occurs in that period (6)(b). Owner action \"within 3 years after the claim is recorded\" or \"within 3 years after the claim takes effect\", \"whichever is later\" (9)(a); reversion \"at the end of the 3-year period\" if no action (9)(c). The provisions read do not say whether death affects any period.", "open_questions": 4, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/wisconsin-dormant-mineral-act#owners" } }, "WY": { "id": "WY", "name": "Wyoming", "url": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-wyoming", "category": "none_found", "category_label": "No such statute found", "label": "No dormant mineral statute identified; the marketable title act excludes minerals", "answer": "No Wyoming statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest for nonuse. The Wyoming Marketable Title Act (W.S. 34-10-101 to 34-10-109, 40 year chain of title) states that it shall not be applied to bar or extinguish any interest in minerals, including oil and gas.", "evidence": "none_found", "date_model": "not_applicable", "period_years": null, "self_executing": null, "uses": [], "preservation": "", "sources": [ { "label": "W.S. 34-10-108(a)(iv) (this act 'shall not be applied')", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title34.pdf" }, { "label": "2003 HB0176, Termination of mineral interest, journal digest (not enacted)", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/2003/Digest/HB0176.htm" }, { "label": "W.S. 34-24-117(a)", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title34.pdf" } ], "reviewed": "2026-10-01", "open_questions": 2, "date_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Wyoming.", "owners": { "coverage": "partial", "coverage_label": "Partly checked", "coverage_reason": "Titles outside 1, 30 and 34 were not searched for a court trust or receiver.", "summary": "No Wyoming statute ending a severed mineral interest for nonuse was found, and the Marketable Title Act expressly may not be applied to bar mineral interests, so a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner's mineral title is not lost through any dormancy procedure in the provisions read. What Wyoming does address is the money: production proceeds that cannot be paid for any reason go into an interest bearing escrow, become unclaimed property if undeliverable for three years, and mineral proceeds unclaimed for three years are deemed abandoned for unclaimed property custody. No court trust or receivership for missing mineral owners was found in titles 1, 30 or 34.", "kinds": [ { "key": "deceased", "label": "Owner of record has died", "text": "Not addressed in the provisions read; probate and quiet title may apply and were not reviewed." }, { "key": "unknown", "label": "Current owner unknown", "text": "Not named; production proceeds that cannot be paid for any reason are escrowed (30-5-302)." }, { "key": "unlocated", "label": "Owner known but cannot be found", "text": "Not named; proceeds escrowed (30-5-302), then unclaimed property after three years undeliverable (30-5-302, 34-24-117)." } ], "topics": [ { "key": "mechanism", "label": "How the nonuse rule treats these owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "No nonuse mechanism found; the Marketable Title Act shall not be applied to extinguish mineral interests.", "cites": [ { "label": "W.S. 34-10-108(a)(iv)", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title34.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] }, { "key": "succession", "label": "Heirs, devisees and successors", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "The provisions read do not address heirs, devisees or successors.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "search", "label": "Search required to find the owner", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No search requirement appears in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "notice", "label": "Who gets notice, and how", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No notice to mineral owners is required by the provisions read, since none ends a mineral interest.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "publication", "label": "Notice by publication", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "No publication provision in the provisions read.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "response", "label": "How the owner responds or preserves", "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "status_label": "Not addressed in the provisions read", "statement": "Not applicable to any title ending mechanism in the provisions read; claims to escrowed or unclaimed funds follow the escrow and unclaimed property statutes, not reviewed in detail.", "cites": [] }, { "key": "special_mechanism", "label": "Court, receivership or trust for missing owners", "status": "statute", "status_label": "Statute", "statement": "Escrow of unpayable production proceeds (30-5-302) and unclaimed property treatment of mineral proceeds (30-5-302, 34-24-117). No court trust, receivership or leasing mechanism for missing mineral owners found.", "cites": [ { "label": "W.S. 30-5-302", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W.S. 30-5-302", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W.S. 30-5-302", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true }, { "label": "W.S. 34-24-117(a)", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title34.pdf", "kind": "statute", "official": true } ] } ], "facts": [ "Is any owner's share in a 30-5-302 escrow or reported as unclaimed property (special_mechanism)?", "If the record owner is deceased, how was title passed, since no Wyoming dormancy procedure was found to shift it (succession, mechanism)?" ], "dates_note": "Escrowed proceeds become unclaimed if not delivered 'within three (3) years from the end of the month in which the escrow agent first received notice of the person legally entitled to the payment' (30-5-302). Mineral proceeds unclaimed 'for more than three (3) years after it became payable or distributable' are deemed abandoned (34-24-117(a)). These periods concern money, not mineral title.", "open_questions": 2, "reviewed": "2026-10-06", "record": "/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-wyoming#owners" } } } }