{ "meta": { "title": "U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas", "release": "2026.10.1", "release_date": "2026-10-06", "publisher": "American Mineral Registry", "url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/mineral-rights-by-state", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "citation": "American Mineral Registry. U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas. Release 2026.10.1, October 6, 2026. https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/mineral-rights-by-state", "review_statement": "Researched and checked by American Mineral Registry against the official text wherever it could be read; review completed October 1, 2026. Reference research, not legal advice.", "coverage": { "jurisdictions": 51, "reviewed": 51, "fields_checked": 152, "fields_total": 153, "rule_types": { "lapse_statute": 18, "prescription": 1, "forfeiture_petition": 3, "marketable_title": 2, "registration_history": 3, "missing_owner": 6, "none_found": 18, "unresolved": 0 }, "pooling": { "statute_found": 39, "none_identified": 12, "unresolved": 0 }, "surface_damages": { "statute_found": 18, "none_identified": 33, "unresolved": 0 }, "owner_status": { "verified": 2, "partial": 49, "not_yet_verified": 0 } }, "supersedes": { "edition": "June 2026 edition (Zenodo version 2026)", "doi": "10.5281/zenodo.20935348", "concept_doi": "10.5281/zenodo.20935347", "note": "The DOI identifies the June 2026 edition only. This release corrects it and is not part of that deposit." }, "third_party": "Statute text and government data quoted here keep their own terms; the CC BY 4.0 license covers AMR text and compilation." }, "categories": [ { "code": "lapse_statute", "label": "Dormant mineral statute", "description": "A statute under which an unused severed interest can lapse or be declared abandoned, subject to its conditions", "map_letter": "D" }, { "code": "prescription", "label": "Prescription of nonuse", "description": "Civil law prescription: certain mineral rights end after a period of nonuse unless interrupted", "map_letter": "P" }, { "code": "forfeiture_petition", "label": "Tax or work forfeiture", "description": "An interest can be lost through unpaid taxes or a failure to work it, under a procedure the statute sets, such as a court petition or a tax sale", "map_letter": "F" }, { "code": "marketable_title", "label": "Marketable title act", "description": "A title act can cut off older recorded interests unless preserved; treatment of minerals varies", "map_letter": "M" }, { "code": "registration_history", "label": "Registration or claim rules", "description": "Interests had to be, or must be, registered or claimed by deadlines the statute sets; loss follows only through the statute's own procedure, not a rolling nonuse clock", "map_letter": "R" }, { "code": "missing_owner", "label": "Missing owner procedure", "description": "A procedure for unknown or unlocatable owners, such as a trust or receivership, rather than lapse", "map_letter": "O" }, { "code": "none_found", "label": "No such statute found", "description": "A search of the official code found no statute of these kinds; the scope of the search is stated on the state page", "map_letter": "N" }, { "code": "unresolved", "label": "Under review", "description": "Classification withheld until the current rule is confirmed in an official source", "map_letter": "?" } ], "jurisdictions": [ { "id": "AL", "name": "Alabama", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-alabama", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "summary": "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.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified. Tax exemption in 40-20-35 from Acts 1957, No. 261, amended Acts 1961, No. 864.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Alabama.", "survey_scope": "Quoted phrase full text searches of the entire Code of Alabama 1975 on the Legislature's ALISON site (alison.legislature.state.al.us, via its public GraphQL endpoint): 'dormant mineral' (1 hit, 35-19-9(d), an environmental covenant clause), 'severed mineral' (0), 'abandoned mineral' (0), 'marketable record title' (0), 'rule of repose' (0), 'statement of claim' and 'nonuse' (no mineral hits), 'mineral interest', 'mineral estate', 'mineral rights', 'mineral owner', 'severed from the surface', 'separately and apart from the surface' (no lapse, abandonment or unknown owner provision among the hits). Read in full: 40-20-35 and 40-20-12 (ad valorem exemptions for nonproducing severed and producing interests), 6-5-200 (adverse possession requires 10 years of recorded color of title, tax listing, or descent), 35-4-69 (recorded affidavits about possession of surface or mineral rights are notice). Title 9, chapter 17 (Oil and Gas) article list checked.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Alabama case law on old or unused severed mineral interests (including any judicial presumption or repose doctrine) was not reviewed; the Code does not contain the phrase 'rule of repose'.", "Whether pre-1957 severed interests never exempted under 40-20-35 can still be assessed and sold for taxes was not researched." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-AL-001", "SRC-AL-002", "SRC-AL-002" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. Under Ala. Code 9-17-13(a) and (c), where owners in a drilling or production unit have not agreed to pool, the State Oil and Gas Board shall require integration after notice and hearing. Each integrated tract keeps a 3/16 royalty share (or the actual royalty if less) free of costs, and a 150 percent risk compensation fee may be charged to nonconsenting owners who received actual notice, but not to owners the operator could not locate after diligent search.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-AL-003" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Alabama statute was found that requires oil and gas operators to notify or compensate surface owners. The Code's surface owner provisions found concern coal surface mining (9-16-84, 9-16-85, 9-16-91). Drilling notice under 9-17-24 runs to the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, not the surface owner.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": "Quoted phrase full text searches of the entire Code of Alabama 1975 on ALISON: 'surface owner' (3 hits: 9-16-84, 9-16-85, 9-16-91, all coal surface mining), 'owner of the surface' (4 hits: coal reclamation, tax enumeration 40-11-1, gas storage 9-17-153), 'surface damage' (0), 'surface damages' (0), 'surface use' (0), 'surface estate' (2 hits, coal mining and carbon dioxide storage). Title 9, chapter 17 (Oil and Gas) article list has no surface damage article. Read 9-17-24 (drilling notice to the State Oil and Gas Supervisor). Board rules and common law were not reviewed.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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)).", "unknown": "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)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Only the monthly payment option notice in 9-17-33(c) mentions heirs, successors, representatives and assigns.", "propositions": [ "P2" ] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No provision read requires a search for unknown or unlocated mineral owners.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Proceeds are tendered to the owner's designated agent or last known address.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication provision was found.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No preservation or response procedure applies, because there is no nonuse mechanism.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4", "P5" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Proceeds from oil or gas production are paid by tender to the persons entitled, through their designated agents or at their last known address.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=9-17-33", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 9-17-33(c)", "passage": "The payment shall be made to persons legally entitled thereto by the first purchasers of the production by tender to the person’s designated agents or at their last known address.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Payment of oil and gas proceeds by first purchasers, or operators substituted for them. Not a title or nonuse provision.", "saved_as": "sources/AL-code-survey-and-sections.md", "source_id": "SRC-AL-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The purchaser's notice of the option to be paid monthly constitutes notice to all heirs, successors, representatives and assigns of the person entitled to the proceeds.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=9-17-33", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 9-17-33(c)", "passage": "The notice to the person entitled to the proceeds shall also provide directions for requesting monthly payment and shall constitute notice to all heirs, successors, representatives, and assigns of the person entitled to the proceeds.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only the notice of the monthly payment option under 9-17-33(c); it does not make notice valid for any other purpose.", "saved_as": "sources/AL-code-survey-and-sections.md", "source_id": "SRC-AL-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Where proceeds cannot be paid on time because title is not marketable, the purchaser later pays the parties finally determined to be the legal owners the full amount plus interest.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=9-17-33", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 9-17-33(c)", "passage": "In those instances where the proceeds derived from oil or gas produced and sold after May 4, 1982, cannot be paid within the time allowed by this section because the title thereto is not marketable, the purchasers of the production shall remit to the parties ultimately determined to be the legal owners of the production,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Proceeds held for unmarketable title; the statute does not say who determines ownership or that funds go to a court or agency.", "saved_as": "sources/AL-code-survey-and-sections.md", "source_id": "SRC-AL-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Mineral proceeds, including bonuses, royalties and shut in royalties, are a defined category of property under Alabama's unclaimed property law.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-12-71", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 35-12-71(12)", "passage": "MINERAL PROCEEDS. Amounts payable for the extraction, production, or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable thereafter.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unclaimed property article as amended by Act 2026-285. Covers payments, not title to the mineral interest.", "saved_as": "sources/AL-code-survey-and-sections.md", "source_id": "SRC-AL-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "When an interest is presumed abandoned, any other property right accrued or accruing to the owner from it is also presumed abandoned.", "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-12-72", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 35-12-72(b)", "passage": "At the time that an interest is presumed abandoned under subsection (a), any other property right accrued or accruing to the owner as a result of the interest, and not previously presumed abandoned, is also presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unclaimed property. Subsection (a) has no item naming mineral proceeds; its catch all item (19) uses three years. Which item governs mineral proceeds was not confirmed.", "saved_as": "sources/AL-code-survey-and-sections.md", "source_id": "SRC-AL-006", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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." ], "survey_scope": "Official Code of Alabama on ALISON, read through its public GraphQL endpoint on October 6, 2026. Full text searches: \"cannot be located\" (14 hits), \"whereabouts\" (28), \"unknown owner\" (2), \"unknown owners\" (2), \"unknown heirs\" (1, a probate section), \"dormant mineral\" (1), \"mineral proceeds\" (3), \"oil and gas lease\" (2), and paired terms minerals and unknown, royalties and unknown, mineral and receiver, oil and absent; no hit set out a mineral specific unknown owner procedure. Sections read in full: 9-17-13, 9-17-33, 35-12-71, 35-12-72. Not reviewed: 35-6-44 (proceedings against unknown persons in quiet title), Oil and Gas Board rules on integration escrow, probate, and all case law (case search quota exhausted).", "open_questions": [ "Whether Alabama Oil and Gas Board rules or integration orders require escrow of proceeds for unlocated owners.", "Which item of 35-12-72(a) sets the abandonment period for mineral proceeds after Act 2026-285.", "Whether Ala. Code 35-6-44 or other general quiet title provisions are used against unknown mineral owners in practice; not reviewed." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Quiet title against unknown owners (Ala. Code 35-6-44) and Oil and Gas Board escrow rules were not reviewed.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Quiet title against unknown owners (Ala. Code 35-6-44) and Oil and Gas Board escrow rules were not reviewed.", "Plain wording: \"ultimately determined\" in two paraphrases changed to \"finally determined\"; the quoted passage is unchanged." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Alabama", "abbr": "AL", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 21, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Alabama. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "AK", "name": "Alaska", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-alaska", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "summary": "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.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the Alaska Statutes database as shown on akleg.gov on 1 Oct 2026 (labeled Alaska Statutes 2025).", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Alaska.", "survey_scope": "Official Alaska Statutes at akleg.gov (database labeled Alaska Statutes 2025). Full text of Titles 09 (Code of Civil Procedure, 634 sections), 27 (Mining, 135), 31 (Oil and Gas, 70), 34 (Property, 554) and 38 (Public Land, 334) downloaded through the official print view and searched for mineral, severed, dormant, marketable, subsurface, oil and gas, abandon, unknown owner, surface owner, statement of claim and lapse. No dormant mineral, statement of claim, marketable title or missing mineral owner statute found. Related: AS 34.45.760 treats unpaid mineral proceeds as unclaimed property (the payments, not the interest); AS 38.05.125 reserves minerals to the state in state land conveyances; AS 34.35.125 to 34.35.170 are mining liens; AS 09.45 partition sections protect proceeds of unknown owners generally; Title 27 governs state mining claims.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "Titles other than 09, 27, 31, 34 and 38 were not searched in full text.", "The database is labeled Alaska Statutes 2025; changes from the 2026 session were not checked.", "Alaska case law on abandonment of severed mineral interests was not reviewed." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-AK-001" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "If persons owning drilling rights in separately owned tracts within an established drilling unit do not agree to pool, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission may order their interests pooled and integrated, after notice and hearing, to prevent waste, protect correlative rights or avoid unnecessary wells (AS 31.05.100(c)). AS 31.05.110 also gives the commission authority to order unitized operation of a pool.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-AK-002", "SRC-AK-003" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Limited to minerals the state reserved when it conveyed state land (AS 38.05.125): the state and its lessees, including oil and gas lessees, may not exercise the reserved rights until they provide full payment to the owner of the land for all damages from entry; if the owner refuses or neglects to settle, they may enter after posting a bond set by the director and a court determines damages (AS 38.05.130). No statute was found for privately severed or federally reserved minerals.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Full text of AS Titles 31 (oil and gas), 38 (public land), 27 (mining), 34 and 09 searched for surface owner, owner of the surface and surface estate; AS 38.05.130 is the only oil and gas surface damages provision found, and it applies only to state reserved minerals.", "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-AK-004" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "verified", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unlocated": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific search or diligence requirement was found.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice requirement to owners was found.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No preservation or response procedure for mineral owners was found, because no lapse mechanism exists in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Alaska's unclaimed property law counts amounts due and payable as mineral proceeds as intangible property.", "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.01.005&secEnd=34.99.999", "publisher": "Alaska State Legislature, Alaska Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "AS 34.45.760(11)(A)(vii)", "passage": "(vii) amounts due and payable as mineral proceeds;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unclaimed property; reaches payments owed to an owner, not ownership of the mineral interest.", "saved_as": "sources/AK-owner-status-survey.md", "source_id": "SRC-AK-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Intangible property unclaimed for more than three years after becoming payable is presumed abandoned, subject to exceptions in other sections of the act.", "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.01.005&secEnd=34.99.999", "publisher": "Alaska State Legislature, Alaska Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "AS 34.45.110(a)", "passage": "all intangible property, including income or increment derived from the property, less lawful charges, that is held, issued, or owing in the ordinary course of a holder's business and has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after becoming payable or distributable is presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General rule; the section opens with an exception for other provisions of AS 34.45.120 to 34.45.780, and whether a different period applies to mineral proceeds was not checked.", "saved_as": "sources/AK-owner-status-survey.md", "source_id": "SRC-AK-006", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_facts": [ "Are mineral proceeds for the owner held as unclaimed property by the state (special_mechanism)?" ], "survey_scope": "Official Alaska Statutes at akleg.gov print view, full text of Titles 09 (634 sections), 13 (844), 27 (135), 31 (70), 34 (554), 38 (335), 40 (80) and 43 (646) searched section by section on October 6, 2026 for unknown, unlocated, cannot be found or located, whereabouts, missing, absent, nonresident, heirs and unidentified within 220 characters of mineral, oil, gas, royalty or lease. Only unrelated hits (38.05.105, 38.09.100, 43.19.010). AS 31.05.100 pooling has no unknown owner provision in that search. AS 09.45 partition sections refer to unknown owners generally (09.45.550) and were not reviewed. No case law search, since there is no mineral owner statute to interpret.", "open_questions": [ "Whether AOGCC pooling orders under AS 31.05.100 address unlocated owners in practice; no orders read." ], "confidence": "medium", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Alaska", "abbr": "AK", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 22, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Alaska. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "AZ", "name": "Arizona", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-arizona", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "summary": "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.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the Arizona Revised Statutes as shown on azleg.gov on 1 Oct 2026.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Official Arizona Revised Statutes at azleg.gov, read 1 Oct 2026. All section headings of Titles 12 (Courts and Civil Proceedings, 904 headings), 27 (Minerals, Oil and Gas, 311), 33 (Property, 545), 37 (Public Lands, 263), 42 (Taxation, 841) and 44 (Trade and Commerce, including unclaimed property, 813) read and searched for dormant, abandon, lapse, sever, unknown, missing, marketable, mineral, oil, gas, royalty, surface, forfeit, reservation, ancient, quiet and adverse. No dormant mineral, statement of claim, marketable title or missing mineral owner statute found. Related: Title 27 chapter 2 governs location and abandonment of mining claims (27-203), a mining claim topic, not severed private mineral interests; 37-710 reserves minerals in state school lands sold; 42-17154 attaches property tax liens to severed mineral rights; 44-302 sets general unclaimed property presumptions; 12-523 to 12-526 are general adverse possession periods. The azleg.gov search was not run for this release; full text outside the cited sections was not searched.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "The survey read section headings, not full text, across Titles 12, 27, 33, 37, 42 and 44; a full text search of the Arizona Revised Statutes was not run.", "Arizona case law on abandonment or adverse possession of severed mineral interests was not reviewed." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-AZ-001" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "If owners in an established drilling unit do not agree to pool, the Arizona Oil and Gas Conservation Commission may, to prevent waste, protect correlative rights or avoid unnecessary wells, order their interests pooled after notice and hearing, with costs of nonconsenting owners recovered only out of their share of production (ARS 27-505; 27-501(3) defines commissioner as the commission). ARS 27-531 to 27-535 also provide for compulsory fieldwide unitization of a pool on findings of increased recovery.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-AZ-002", "SRC-AZ-003" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Arizona statute was found requiring oil and gas operators to notify or compensate private surface owners. ARS 27-560 makes a lessee of state oil and gas lands liable for damage to the state's surface interest or to the state's surface lessee, with damages appraised by 'the department' if the parties cannot agree; it does not reach privately owned surface.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Section headings of ARS Titles 27 (including chapter 4, oil and gas, 27-501 to 27-677), 33 and 37 read for surface use, surface owner and damages; only state land lease provisions found (27-560 for oil and gas leases, 27-673 for geothermal leases).", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-AZ-004" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "Not addressed in the provisions read; mineral proceeds fall within the general unclaimed property definitions (44-301(13))." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy mechanism found in the titles surveyed.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in mineral specific provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "statute", "statement": "No receivership, trust, escrow or leasing mechanism for missing mineral owners found. Mineral proceeds are within the general unclaimed property act.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Arizona's unclaimed property act includes mineral proceeds, such as royalties, in the property it covers.", "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/44/00301.htm", "publisher": "Arizona State Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "A.R.S. 44-301(13)", "passage": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means the amounts payable for the extraction, production or sale of minerals or, if those amounts are abandoned, all payments that become payable after the abandonment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General unclaimed property law, not mineral specific in its procedure. Abandonment periods, reporting and claims were not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/AZ-27-221-222-12-1212-44-301.md", "source_id": "SRC-AZ-005", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "none", "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." }, "title_review_facts": [ "Are any proceeds attributable to the owner reported as unclaimed property under Title 44, chapter 3?" ], "survey_scope": "azleg.gov: section headings of A.R.S. Titles 12, 27, 33, 37, 42 and 44 searched for: mineral, oil and gas, royalt, unknown, missing, absent, unlocat, co-owner, proceeds, escrow, heir, forfeit, delinquent. Sections then read in full: 27-221 and 27-222 (notice to delinquent co-owner of a mining claim, tied to federal law), 12-1212 (unknown owners in partition, general law), 44-301 (unclaimed property definitions). This is a heading level survey, not a full text search of every section, so a provision without a telling heading could be missed. Not reviewed: probate, general quiet title, unclaimed property procedure, Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rules. No case law search was run because no mineral specific statute was found.", "open_questions": [ "Run a full text search of Title 27 chapter 4 and the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rules for unlocated owner or suspense provisions.", "Review the unclaimed property abandonment period that applies to mineral proceeds." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "The survey searched section headings, not the full text of Title 27, and Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rules were not read.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Arizona", "abbr": "AZ", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 23, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Arizona. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "AR", "name": "Arkansas", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-arkansas", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "work_or_tax_forfeiture", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified; severed mineral rights are taxed and can go tax delinquent to the state", "summary": "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). Unpaid taxes send the interest to the Commissioner of State Lands, who states that tax delinquent mineral interests may be redeemed at any time and may be purchased only in limited situations.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": "unclear", "procedure": "Statute text not read. Per the Commissioner of State Lands, tax delinquent mineral interests are certified to the Commissioner, may be redeemed at any time, and may be purchased from the Commissioner only in limited situations; redemption deeds issue under Ark. Code Ann. 26-37-310 (Commissioner's 2023 rules). The Court of Appeals has described Ark. Code Ann. 18-61-106(a) as letting a holder under a tax deed, even an invalid one, gain title to land or a mineral estate by two years of adverse possession (2015 Ark. App. 555).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Mineral rights assessed for property tax, including nonproducing mineral rights (26-26-1110 as quoted by the Court of Appeals). Exact scope not read in statute.", "mineral_scope": null, "exceptions": [], "effective": null, "date_model": "explain_only", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "The official Arkansas Code is hosted by LexisNexis behind a terms of use gate and was not used; law.justia.com, codes.findlaw.com and the Oil and Gas Commission site was not available, and web search capacity was exhausted. Searched the official appellate opinions database (opinions.arcourts.gov) for: 'dormant mineral' (0 opinions), 'dormant minerals' (0), 'abandoned mineral' (0), 'mineral lapse' (0), 'marketable title act' (0), 'marketable record title' (0), 'mineral' with 'statement of claim' (0), '26-37-314' (0), 'severed mineral' with 'assessed' (23). Read: Commissioner of State Lands FAQ and Rules 2023 Edition; 2021 Ark. App. 324 (assessment of mineral rights); 2015 Ark. App. 555 (tax sale title and two year limitation). No Arkansas statute text was read directly.", "confidence": "low", "open_questions": [ "Read the official Arkansas Code (Title 26, chapters 26 and 37, including 26-26-1110 and 26-37-310) to model how and when tax delinquent severed mineral interests are sold, redeemed or lost.", "Confirm in the official code that no dormant mineral, abandoned mineral or marketable title statute exists; only the opinion database was searched.", "Acts of 2025 and 2026 were not checked." ], "category": "forfeiture_petition", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-AR-001", "SRC-AR-002", "SRC-AR-003", "SRC-AR-004" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. The Oil and Gas Commission may integrate (force pool) unleased or uncommitted interests in a drilling unit by an order integrating all tracts and interests (Ark. Code Ann. 15-72-303), on just and reasonable terms (15-72-304(a)); an unleased owner is regarded as owning a one eighth royalty (15-72-304(d)). Statute text taken from the Court of Appeals' quotations in 2023 Ark. App. 483.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-AR-005", "SRC-AR-006" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Arkansas statute requiring oil and gas operators to compensate surface owners was identified, but the code could not be searched. In a 2022 surface restoration case the Court of Appeals looked to implied lease duties, Commission Rule B-9(e) and the prudent operator standard in Ark. Code Ann. 15-73-207(b), not to a surface damage statute. A Commission rule quoted in a 2007 Supreme Court opinion requires notice to the surface owner before seismic operations, as provided in Ark. Code Ann. 15-72-203.", "confidence": "low", "survey_scope": "Official code not searchable (LexisNexis terms gate; mirrors was not available). Searched the official appellate opinions database for 'surface damage act' (0 opinions), 'split estate' (0), 'surface owner' with '15-72' (1) and 'surface damages' with oil, gas and statute (4); read 2022 Ark. App. 521 and the 2007 El Paso v. Blanchard opinion. Ark. Code Ann. 15-72-203 (seismic notice) was not read.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-AR-007", "SRC-AR-008" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No Arkansas nonuse or dormancy mechanism was identified in the October review.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No source read states how heirs or devisees of a deceased owner are treated in the receivership or escrow provisions.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "case_law", "statement": "The warning order affidavit must show the plaintiff's own diligent inquiry and strictly comply with the statute.", "propositions": [ "P6" ] }, "notice": { "status": "case_law", "statement": "Defendants are summoned as in chancery; those whose whereabouts are stated to be unknown are constructively summoned by warning order.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "publication": { "status": "case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P7" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P8", "P2" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P1", "P3" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The Auditor of State describes A.C.A. 18-28-403 as requiring holders to escrow mineral proceeds when the person entitled is unknown or has not been located within one year after the funds became payable.", "url": "https://auditor.ar.gov/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Holder-Seminar-2026-Session-5-UPDATED_3.pdf", "publisher": "Arkansas Auditor of State, Unclaimed Property Division", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Ark. Code Ann. 18-28-403, as summarized by the Auditor of State", "passage": "A.C.A. §18-28-403 provides that companies must establish an escrow account for mineral proceeds if the entitled person is unknown or has not been located within one (1) year after the funds became payable or distributable.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Agency training slides summarizing the statute; the official Arkansas Code text of 18-28-403 was not read. Treats unknown and unlocated persons alike, per the summary.", "saved_as": "sources/AR-auditor-mineral-proceeds-2026.md", "source_id": "SRC-AR-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Per the Auditor, the escrow account is for the rightful recipient, who is to be paid promptly on sufficient proof of identity and ownership or title.", "url": "https://auditor.ar.gov/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Holder-Seminar-2026-Session-5-UPDATED_3.pdf", "publisher": "Arkansas Auditor of State, Unclaimed Property Division", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Ark. Code Ann. 18-28-403, as summarized by the Auditor of State", "passage": "Account is for the benefit of the rightful recipient • Promptly pay the recipient upon sufficient proof of identity and ownership / title", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Agency training slides summarizing the statute; the official Arkansas Code text of 18-28-403 was not read.", "saved_as": "sources/AR-auditor-mineral-proceeds-2026.md", "source_id": "SRC-AR-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Per the Auditor, mineral proceeds held or owing and unclaimed longer than three years after becoming payable are presumed abandoned.", "url": "https://auditor.ar.gov/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Holder-Seminar-2026-Session-5-UPDATED_3.pdf", "publisher": "Arkansas Auditor of State, Unclaimed Property Division", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Arkansas mineral proceeds provisions (Ark. Code Ann. 18-28-401 et seq.), as summarized by the Auditor of State", "passage": "Mineral proceeds held or owing and unclaimed longer than three years after", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Agency summary of the three year presumption; the slide does not give the section number for it. Covers proceeds, not title to the mineral interest.", "saved_as": "sources/AR-auditor-mineral-proceeds-2026.md", "source_id": "SRC-AR-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The Arkansas Supreme Court reviewed a statutory chancery proceeding in which a receiver was appointed to lease the unleased mineral interests of nonresident defendants, with the rental paid into the court registry.", "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Arkansas Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201, 482 S.W.2d 785 (1972)", "passage": "On the 22nd day of July, 1969, the chancery court appointed William McGill receiver to lease the entire unleased mineral interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Arkansas Supreme Court, controlling statewide as to the statute then codified at Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-201 et seq.; the current Arkansas Code citation and any later amendments were not verified.", "saved_as": "sources/AR-davis-v-schimmel-1972.md", "source_id": "SRC-AR-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Under that statute, defendants are summoned as in other chancery cases, and those whose whereabouts the petition states to be unknown are constructively summoned under the warning order statutes.", "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Arkansas Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972), discussing Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-203", "passage": "persons whose whereabouts are stated in the petition to be unknown to the plaintiff are to be constructively summoned as provided in Ark. Stat. Ann §§ 27-354, 27-357 and 27-359 (Repl. 1962).", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Arkansas Supreme Court, controlling statewide as to the statute then codified at Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-201 et seq.; the current Arkansas Code citation and any later amendments were not verified.", "saved_as": "sources/AR-davis-v-schimmel-1972.md", "source_id": "SRC-AR-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "search", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The affidavit for a warning order must show the plaintiff's own diligent inquiry and must strictly comply with the statute; an affidavit signed only by the attorney was void.", "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Arkansas Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972)", "passage": "The affidavit for warning order must show that the plaintiff has made diligent inquiry and that it is his information and belief that the defendant is a nonresident. It must strictly comply with the statute.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Arkansas Supreme Court, controlling statewide as to the statute then codified at Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-201 et seq.; the current Arkansas Code citation and any later amendments were not verified. Applies the general warning order statutes of that time.", "saved_as": "sources/AR-davis-v-schimmel-1972.md", "source_id": "SRC-AR-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "publication", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The court has no jurisdiction to make a final order affecting defendants until a proper warning order has been published for four weeks and thirty days have passed after an attorney ad litem is appointed.", "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Arkansas Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972)", "passage": "without jurisdiction to make any final order affecting the rights of the defendants until a proper warning order has been published for four weeks and 30 days has elapsed after the appointment of the attorney ad litem.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Arkansas Supreme Court, controlling statewide as to the statute then codified at Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-201 et seq.; the current Arkansas Code citation and any later amendments were not verified.", "saved_as": "sources/AR-davis-v-schimmel-1972.md", "source_id": "SRC-AR-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The statute's bar on attacking the receiver's lease except by direct appeal was read to allow a direct attack, so owners served without valid notice could move to vacate the orders and lease.", "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Arkansas Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972), discussing Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-205", "passage": "If we construe the words “direct appeal,” however, to mean “direct attack” in the manner provided by law, then the statute would not violate constitutional due process.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Arkansas Supreme Court, controlling statewide as to the statute then codified at Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-201 et seq.; the current Arkansas Code citation and any later amendments were not verified. The receiver's lease was held void for defective constructive service.", "saved_as": "sources/AR-davis-v-schimmel-1972.md", "source_id": "SRC-AR-014", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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." ], "survey_scope": "The official Arkansas Code (LexisNexis) could not be read, so no statute text was read directly. Read: Arkansas Auditor of State holder seminar slides (September 2026) on mineral proceeds; Davis v. Schimmel (Ark. 1972) and Davis v. Johnston (Ark. 1972, a receivership pendente lite case, not relied on) in full through the Caselaw Access Project. Two web searches located 18-28-403 and the former receivership statute (Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-201 et seq.). A secondary summary of Attorney General Opinion 2016-063 indicates 18-28-403(a)(2)(A) refers to leases executed by court appointed receivers; the official opinion was not read. Not reviewed: current codification of the receivership statute, Oil and Gas Commission integration rules for unlocated owners, probate and quiet title, and later case law (case search quota exhausted).", "open_questions": [ "The current Arkansas Code citation and text of the receivership statute formerly at Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-201 et seq., including its conditions, the court's minimum lease terms and how proceeds are held.", "The official text of Ark. Code Ann. 18-28-403, including (a)(2)(A) on proceeds from receiver leases and the county attorney petition, and Attorney General Opinion 2016-063.", "Whether Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission integration orders require escrow for unlocated owners, and how heirs claim escrowed funds." ], "confidence": "low", "coverage_reason": "Still open: heirs, devisees and successors.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Arkansas", "abbr": "AR", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 24, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "Arkansas has no dormant mineral statute. Severed mineral owners can still face loss through tax sales or quiet title actions, so records still matter." } }, { "id": "CA", "name": "California", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/california-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Dormant mineral right statute, 20 years, court action by the surface owner required", "summary": "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. The right never lapses by itself: it ends only by court order, and the mineral owner can still defeat the suit by recording a late notice and paying the surface owner's litigation expenses.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "The 20 years immediately preceding commencement of the action to terminate (Civ. Code 883.220). Production, exploration, drilling, mining, development or other operations affecting the minerals (on the land or on other land, pooled or not), payment of tax on a separate assessment of the right, a recorded instrument creating, transferring or evidencing the right, or a recorded notice of intent to preserve anywhere inside that window defeats dormancy.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Action to terminate brought by the owner of the real property in the superior court of the county where the land lies, in the same manner and under the same procedure as a quiet title action (883.240). In the action the court must let the mineral owner record a late notice of intent to preserve as a condition of dismissal, on payment into court of the surface owner's litigation expenses including a reasonable attorney's fee (883.250). A terminating order is equivalent to a conveyance of the right to the owner of the real property (883.260).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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.", "interest_scope": "Any mineral right created by grant or reservation, whether a fee or lesser interest, mineral, royalty or leasehold, absolute or fractional, including appurtenant surface rights (883.110), other than the interests excluded through 883.120 and 880.240.", "mineral_scope": "All minerals, regardless of character, fugacious or nonfugacious, organic or inorganic (883.110).", "exceptions": [ "Mineral rights reserved to the United States, and an oil or gas lease, mining claim or other mineral right of a person entitled under federal law, to the extent provided in 880.240 (883.120(a))", "Mineral rights of the state or a local public entity (883.120(b), 880.240(c))", "Interests of a person in possession, to the extent possession would be revealed by reasonable inspection or inquiry (880.240(a), applied through 883.120(b))", "The chapter does not limit common law abandonment or any other statutory procedure for clearing an abandoned mineral right (883.130)" ], "effective": "Chapter 3 (883.110 to 883.270) added by Stats. 1984, ch. 240, sec. 2. It applies to all mineral rights whether executed or recorded before, on or after January 1, 1985, subject to the grace period in 880.370, which extends any recording period that would expire before, on or within five years after the statute's operative date until five years after that date. The notice of intent to preserve provisions date from Stats. 1982, ch. 1268; the notice form (880.340) was amended by Stats. 2012, ch. 94, effective January 1, 2013.", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": null, "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "No California appellate decisions construing 883.210 to 883.270 were researched, for example on what counts as operations that affect the minerals on other property.", "The operative date that 880.370 measures from for this chapter (most likely January 1, 1985, which would put the grace deadline at January 1, 1990) should be confirmed.", "Whether 880.240(b) leaves federally patented split estates outside the statute in particular counties should be checked by a specialist." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-CA-001", "SRC-CA-002", "SRC-CA-003", "SRC-CA-004", "SRC-CA-005", "SRC-CA-006", "SRC-CA-007", "SRC-CA-008", "SRC-CA-009", "SRC-CA-010", "SRC-CA-011" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "No general forced pooling procedure for drilling units was found, but three narrower compulsory tools exist in the Public Resources Code. Section 3608 deems a surrounded tract of less than one acre included in the adjoining oil and gas lease once the supervisor records a declaration, with at least a one eighth royalty share; section 3609 lets the supervisor require pooling or unit agreements, including mandatory pooling by regulation, under a spacing plan for pools discovered after it took effect (Stats. 1973, ch. 864); and sections 3640 to 3659 let the supervisor order secondary recovery unit operations binding every owner once three fourths of working and royalty interests consent, with a right for nonconsenting owners to sell. Subsiding areas have a separate compulsory unit procedure (3315 to 3347).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": "For the negative part (no general drilling unit forced pooling): leginfo Public Resources Code Division 3 table of contents, all chapters and articles, plus full text of Chapter 3 (3600 to 3609), Chapter 3.5 Article 3 (3640 to 3659) and sections 3322 and 3322.1 of Article 5.5. Regulations adopted under 3609 were not checked.", "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-CA-012", "SRC-CA-013", "SRC-CA-014", "SRC-CA-015", "SRC-CA-016" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute was found that requires oil and gas operators to compensate surface owners for surface damage. Civil Code 848 is notice only: before first entry a mineral rights owner must give the surface owner written notice, at least 5 days ahead for work that does not disturb the surface and 30 days ahead for drilling or other surface disturbing work, unless a surface use agreement exists, and the surface owner may ask a court to enjoin operations until notice is given.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "leginfo Civil Code section 848 (full text) and the Public Resources Code Division 3 table of contents; one web search for a California surface damages compensation statute returned none. A full text search across all California codes was not run.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-CA-017" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P3" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P5", "P6" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P8", "P10" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Summons is served as in civil actions generally; unknown claimants are named as all persons unknown.", "propositions": [ "P7", "P9" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P10", "P11" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P12", "P13", "P14", "P15" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No California mineral specific receivership, trust, escrow or leasing procedure for unknown or unlocated owners was identified, but a full text search of the California codes was not possible, so absence is not established.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The owner of the land may sue to terminate a mineral right that is dormant.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.210", "passage": "The owner of real property subject to a mineral right may bring an action to terminate the mineral right pursuant to this article if the mineral right is dormant.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All mineral rights as defined in 883.110, except those excluded by 883.120. The right ends only by court order (883.260); there is no self executing lapse.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Dormancy is measured over the 20 years immediately before the action is filed, and the listed conditions do not refer to the owner being deceased, unknown or unlocated.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.220", "passage": "a mineral right is dormant if all of the following conditions are satisfied for a period of 20 years immediately preceding commencement of the action to terminate the mineral right:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "The conditions are no production or operations, no separately assessed tax paid, and no recorded instrument. The section says nothing about death of the owner or an unknown or missing owner.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The action follows quiet title procedure to the extent applicable.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.240(b)", "passage": "The action shall be brought in the same manner and shall be subject to the same procedure as an action to quiet title pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 760.010) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to the extent applicable.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Imports the quiet title rules on parties, deceased and unknown defendants, service and judgment. Which quiet title rules are \"applicable\" is not further defined.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-020", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A notice of intent to preserve may be recorded on behalf of a claimant who belongs to a class whose identity cannot be established.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=1.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 880.320(b)", "passage": "Another person acting on behalf of a claimant if the person is authorized to act on behalf of the claimant or if the claimant is one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain at the time of recording the notice of intent to preserve the interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to notices of intent to preserve under the Marketable Record Title title, including mineral rights through 883.230. It does not say who qualifies as a person acting on behalf of unidentified heirs.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-880-310-370.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-021", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If a person who must be named is dead and a personal representative is known, the representative is joined.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.030(a)", "passage": "If a person required to be named as a defendant is dead and the plaintiff knows of a personal representative, the plaintiff shall join the personal representative as a defendant.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Code of Civil Procedure quiet title procedure, which Civ. Code 883.240(b) applies to dormant mineral actions only \"to the extent applicable\". No decision was found deciding how far it applies.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-022", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If no personal representative is known, the plaintiff files an affidavit and may join the decedent's testate and intestate successors by description.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.030(b)(2)", "passage": "Where it is stated in the affidvit that such person is dead, the plaintiff may join as defendants \"the testate and intestate successors of ____ (naming the deceased person), deceased, and all persons claiming by, through, or under such decedent,\" naming them in that manner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Code of Civil Procedure quiet title procedure, which Civ. Code 883.240(b) applies to dormant mineral actions only \"to the extent applicable\". No decision was found deciding how far it applies. 762.030(b)(3) gives a parallel form for a person believed to be dead.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-023", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "When a defendant's name is unknown, the complaint must say so and name all persons unknown.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.020(a)", "passage": "If the name of a person required to be named as a defendant is not known to the plaintiff, the plaintiff shall so state in the complaint and shall name as parties all persons unknown in the manner provided in Section 762.060.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Code of Civil Procedure quiet title procedure, which Civ. Code 883.240(b) applies to dormant mineral actions only \"to the extent applicable\". No decision was found deciding how far it applies.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-024", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Persons whose adverse claims are of record, known, or apparent from inspecting the property must be named.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.060(b)", "passage": "In an action under this section, the plaintiff shall name as defendants the persons having adverse claims that are of record or known to the plaintiff or reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Code of Civil Procedure quiet title procedure, which Civ. Code 883.240(b) applies to dormant mineral actions only \"to the extent applicable\". No decision was found deciding how far it applies.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-025", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Summons is served as in civil actions generally.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=4.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 763.010(a)", "passage": "The form, content, and manner of the service of summons shall be the same as in civil actions generally.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Code of Civil Procedure quiet title procedure, which Civ. Code 883.240(b) applies to dormant mineral actions only \"to the extent applicable\". No decision was found deciding how far it applies. The general service statutes were not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-026", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Publication is ordered for unknown defendants and successors of a dead or presumed dead person only on an affidavit of reasonable diligence, and the court may appoint a referee to check that diligence.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=4.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 763.010(b)", "passage": "If upon affidavit it appears to the satisfaction of the court that the plaintiff has used reasonable diligence to ascertain the identity and residence of and to serve summons on the persons named as unknown defendants and persons joined as testate or intestate successors of a person known or believed to be dead, the court shall order service by publication", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Code of Civil Procedure quiet title procedure, which Civ. Code 883.240(b) applies to dormant mineral actions only \"to the extent applicable\". No decision was found deciding how far it applies. Section 415.50, which this subsection cites, was not reviewed. 763.010(c) bars publication on an unknown defendant in open and actual possession.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-027", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A publication order also requires posting on the property and recording a notice of pendency.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=4.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 763.020(a), (b)", "passage": "The plaintiff shall post, not later than 10 days after the date the order is made, a copy of the summons and complaint in a conspicuous place on the real property that is the subject of the action. (b) The plaintiff shall record, if not already recorded, a notice of the pendency of the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Code of Civil Procedure quiet title procedure, which Civ. Code 883.240(b) applies to dormant mineral actions only \"to the extent applicable\". No decision was found deciding how far it applies.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-028", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The mineral owner may defeat the action by recording a late notice of intent to preserve and paying the surface owner's litigation expenses.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.250", "passage": "the court shall permit the owner of the mineral right to record a late notice of intent to preserve the mineral right as a condition of dismissal of the action, upon payment into court for the benefit of the owner of the real property the litigation expenses attributable to the mineral right", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Any owner of the mineral right in a pending action. It does not say how an heir who has not been identified would learn of the action.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-029", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A notice of intent to preserve may be recorded at any time, and one recorded within the 20 year window prevents dormancy.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.230(a), (c)(1)", "passage": "(a) An owner of a mineral right may at any time record a notice of intent to preserve the mineral right.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Owners of mineral rights. 883.230(c)(1) adds that a notice recorded within 20 years immediately preceding commencement of the action means the right is not dormant.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-030", "official": true }, { "id": "P14", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The court may not enter a default judgment; it must hear evidence of the plaintiff's title.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=5.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 764.010", "passage": "The court shall not enter judgment by default but shall in all cases require evidence of plaintiff's title and hear such evidence as may be offered respecting the claims of any of the defendants, other than claims the validity of which is admitted by the plaintiff in the complaint.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Code of Civil Procedure quiet title procedure, which Civ. Code 883.240(b) applies to dormant mineral actions only \"to the extent applicable\". No decision was found deciding how far it applies.", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-031", "official": true }, { "id": "P15", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The judgment binds known and unknown parties regardless of legal disability.", "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=5.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 764.030(a)", "passage": "All persons known and unknown who were parties to the action and who have any claim to the property, whether present or future, vested or contingent, legal or equitable, several or undivided.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Code of Civil Procedure quiet title procedure, which Civ. Code 883.240(b) applies to dormant mineral actions only \"to the extent applicable\". No decision was found deciding how far it applies. The lead in words of 764.030 say the judgment is binding \"regardless of any legal disability\".", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "source_id": "SRC-CA-032", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "California Legislative Information, read with a headless browser because plain requests met a Cloudflare challenge: Civil Code 883.110 to 883.270 (Articles 1 and 2), 880.310 to 880.370, Code of Civil Procedure 762.010 to 762.090, 763.010 to 763.040, 764.010 to 764.030. Case law: CourtListener search of the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal for \"dormant mineral\" returned five opinions; Worthington v. Alcala (1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 1404 and Severns v. Union Pacific (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 1209 were read from Caselaw Access Project files and neither applies 883.210 to 883.270 to deceased, unknown or unlocated owners. Not reviewed: CCP 415.50 (publication generally), probate, general quiet title beyond the sections listed, the unclaimed property law, and the Public Resources Code. One web search for a California unknown mineral owner statute found none.", "open_questions": [ "Does the California unclaimed property law, or any Public Resources Code provision, hold oil and gas proceeds of unlocated owners? Not reviewed.", "How far does 883.240(b) \"to the extent applicable\" import CCP 762.030 and 763.010 into dormant mineral actions? No decision found.", "A citator check of 883.210 to 883.270 for unpublished or recent appellate decisions is still needed." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "California", "abbr": "CA", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "20 years", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 84, "rank": 2, "statute": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.210 to 883.270", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-civ/division-2/part-2/title-5/chapter-3/article-2/", "preservation": "Record a notice of intent to preserve, or use the interest within 20 years (Cal. Civ. Code 883.220 and 883.230).", "note": "California lets a surface owner terminate a dormant mineral right after 20 years with no production, no taxes paid on it, and no recording, unless the owner records a notice of intent to preserve." } }, { "id": "CO", "name": "Colorado", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-colorado", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "work_or_tax_forfeiture", "mechanism_label": "No nonuse lapse found; severed mineral interests can be lost through a property tax lien sale", "summary": "No Colorado statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse, and no marketable record title act was found. The mineral specific route is tax based: a surface owner may require the county assessor to put a severed mineral interest on the tax roll (C.R.S. 39-1-104.5), and if the taxes go delinquent the tax lien is sold, with a right of first refusal for the surface owner whose surface is coterminous with the mineral interest (C.R.S. 39-11-150). An unredeemed lien can lead to a treasurer's deed. Paying the taxes avoids this route; nonuse alone does nothing.", "period_years": null, "period_description": "No nonuse period. The route starts with delinquent property taxes on the severed interest. Under C.R.S. 39-11-120(1) as it applies to sales before July 1, 2024, a deed could issue any time after three years from the tax lien sale if the lien was not redeemed. HB 24-1056 amended 39-11-120 effective July 1, 2024; the replacement procedure was not read.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Assessment of the severed interest (a surface owner can force placement on the roll with a title certificate under 39-1-104.5), tax delinquency, treasurer's tax lien sale with at least ten days mailed notice to a coterminous surface owner who may buy the lien or pay the delinquent taxes (39-11-150), then a treasurer's deed if the lien is not redeemed. An action to recover a severed mineral interest after a tax deed is limited to the period in 39-12-101 (five years after the deed).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Severed mineral interests carried on the county tax roll. The right of first refusal applies only where the surface estate ownership is coterminous with the severed mineral interest.", "mineral_scope": "Any severed mineral interest. Valuation of severed nonproducing oil and gas interests is set by C.R.S. 39-7-109 (income approach using lease rentals, or average area rentals if unleased).", "exceptions": [ "Surface owner first refusal only where surface ownership is coterminous with the severed mineral interest (39-11-150)" ], "effective": "39-1-104.5 added L. 79, effective July 1 (1979), amended L. 83, effective May 16. 39-11-150 from L. 73, amended L. 85, effective July 1. 39-11-120 amended by HB 24-1056, effective July 1, 2024. SB 26-044 (2026), which would have let counties cancel taxes on severed mineral accounts after 5 years and convey the liens, was postponed indefinitely on 03/24/2026 and is Lost.", "date_model": "explain_only", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Read the official Colorado Revised Statutes 2024 PDFs (Office of Legislative Legal Services) for titles 24, 34, 38 and 39 via Internet Archive snapshots of content.leg.colorado.gov, because the official host was not available. Searched: mineral, severed, dormant, abandoned, unknown owner, missing, whereabouts, cannot be located, marketable. Title 38 article list read in full: no dormant mineral or unknown mineral owner statute; no marketable record title act (38-30-157 to 38-30-164 only clears old reverter and entry rights; 38-34-101 is a policy statement); article 42 covers leases only (38-42-104 to 38-42-106 lease release and extension affidavit); article 13 (unclaimed property) reaches mineral proceeds, not title. Related: 24-65.5 lets mineral owners record a request for notification of surface development (no loss of title); 34-60-116(6)(b)(I.7) excludes owners who cannot be located from the pooling consent percentage; 38-35.7-108 severed mineral disclosure in residential sales. 2026 bill SB 26-044 checked on leg.colorado.gov (Lost).", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "Amendments after the 2024 edition of the C.R.S. (2025 and 2026 sessions) were not checked, except SB 26-044, which was lost.", "HB 24-1056 changed the treasurer's deed procedure from July 1, 2024; what now follows an unredeemed lien on a severed mineral interest under the current 39-11-120 was not checked.", "Redemption rules (article 12 of title 39) were not read.", "How often county assessors carry unleased severed mineral interests on the roll, and at what value under 39-7-109, is not known.", "Case law on adverse possession (38-41-101, eighteen years) against severed mineral estates was not reviewed." ], "category": "forfeiture_petition", "answer": "No Colorado statute was found that ends a severed mineral interest for nonuse, and no marketable record title act was found.", "evidence": "partial" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-CO-001", "SRC-CO-002", "SRC-CO-003", "SRC-CO-004", "SRC-CO-005", "SRC-CO-006" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. Under C.R.S. 34-60-116(6)(b) the commission (now the Energy and Carbon Management Commission) may, after notice and hearing, pool all interests in a drilling unit on application of a person that owns or has the consent of owners of more than 45 percent of the mineral interests to be pooled. An unleased owner cannot be pooled over protest without a reasonable good faith lease offer made at least 60 days before the hearing, and an unleased nonconsenting owner is deemed to hold a 13 percent (gas) or 16 percent (oil) royalty until costs are recovered.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-CO-007" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Colorado has surface owner protections in the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, though not a stand alone surface damage act: operators must give the surface owner written notice of drilling at least 30 days ahead (34-60-106(14)), the commission must require security to protect a surface owner who was not a party to the lease from unreasonable crop losses or land damage (34-60-106(3.5)), and an operator who fails to accommodate the surface owner faces a cause of action for compensatory damages (34-60-127).", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-CO-008", "SRC-CO-009", "SRC-CO-010" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "Payment deadlines suspended for reasonable doubt as to the payee's identity (34-60-118.5(3)(a)(II)); otherwise not addressed.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P3" ] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "The provisions read do not address heirs, devisees or successors of a mineral owner.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Reasonable search for the owner of record when a tax deed notice is returned undeliverable.", "propositions": [ "P6" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Known interested party notice mailed to the treasurer's mailing list after a title search or record review.", "propositions": [ "P4" ] }, "publication": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Three week publication where assessed valuation is five hundred dollars or more, regardless of whether the owner is located.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Redemption before the public auction cancels it; redemption terms not reviewed.", "propositions": [ "P7" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P8", "P9" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A surface owner may require the assessor to put a severed mineral interest on the county tax roll.", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-1-104.5", "passage": "Any owner of the surface estate from which a mineral interest has been severed, on behalf of himself and any other owners of such interest in the surface, may require the assessor of the county wherein such real estate is situate to place such severed mineral interest, without regard to value, on the tax roll of the county", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Severed mineral interests. Nonuse alone ends nothing; this is a tax route, not a dormancy statute.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-CO-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Tax liens on severed mineral interests are sold like other tax liens, with a right of first refusal for the coterminous surface owner.", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11-150", "passage": "where the surface estate ownership is coterminous with the severed mineral interest, the owner of the surface estate shall have the right of first refusal to purchase the tax lien on the severed mineral interest", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Delinquent taxes on severed mineral interests. The treasurer notifies the surface owner by mail of the right of first refusal; the section says nothing about notice to the mineral owner.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-CO-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Since July 1, 2024, tax deed issuance follows article 11.5 rather than article 11.", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11-153", "passage": "on or after July 1, 2024, a purchaser, lawful holder, or treasurer shall follow the procedures established in article 11.5 of this title 39 and shall not follow the procedures established in this article 11 concerning the issuance of a deed.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All tax lien deeds, including on severed mineral interests as the text reads. The earlier notice rule in 39-11-128 is limited to \"Before July 1, 2024\".", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-CO-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "After a title search or record review, the treasurer mails a known interested party notice to everyone on the mailing list.", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-104(2)", "passage": "the treasurer shall create a mailing list, mail a known interested party notice to the persons on the mailing list, and add the first and last publication dates, if not already specified in the known interested party notice, on the treasurer's office website.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General property tax procedure, not mineral specific; reached for severed minerals through 39-11-150 and 39-11-153. The mailing list (39-11.5-102(9)) includes lienors, the occupant and, if different, the property owner; heirs are not mentioned.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-CO-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The known interested party notice is published for three weeks where the assessed valuation is five hundred dollars or more.", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-104(6)", "passage": "if the valuation for assessment of the property that is the subject of the public auction is five hundred dollars or more, the treasurer shall commence publication of the known interested party notice for three weeks", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General property tax procedure, not mineral specific; reached for severed minerals through 39-11-150 and 39-11-153. Publication is in addition to mailing and posting; it is not conditioned on the owner being unlocated.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-CO-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If a notice is returned undeliverable, the treasurer must conduct a reasonable search to locate and notify the owner of record.", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-104(7)", "passage": "If any notice sent pursuant to this section is returned as undeliverable, the county treasurer shall conduct a reasonable search to locate and notify the property owner of record.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General property tax procedure, not mineral specific; reached for severed minerals through 39-11-150 and 39-11-153. Owner of record only; reasonable search is not defined and heirs are not mentioned.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-CO-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the tax lien is redeemed before the public auction, the auction is cancelled.", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-106(4)", "passage": "If the tax lien is redeemed prior to the public auction, the treasurer shall: (a) Cancel the public auction;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General property tax procedure, not mineral specific; reached for severed minerals through 39-11-150 and 39-11-153. Who may redeem and on what terms is governed by redemption provisions not read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-CO-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In statutory pooling, interests of owners who cannot be located through reasonable diligence are left out of the forty five percent consent calculation.", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-34.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 34-60-116(6)(b)(I.7)", "passage": "Mineral interests that are owned by a person that cannot be located through reasonable diligence are excluded from the calculation described in subsection (6)(b)(I) of this section.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Pooling applications before the Energy and Carbon Management Commission. Not a title ending mechanism.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-34-60-116-118-5.md", "source_id": "SRC-CO-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Payment deadlines for production proceeds are suspended while the payer has reasonable doubt about the payee's identity or whereabouts.", "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-34.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 34-60-118.5(3)(a)(II)", "passage": "(II) A reasonable doubt by the payer as to the payee's identity, whereabouts, or clear title to an interest in proceeds; or", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Introduced by 34-60-118.5(3)(a): compliance with payment deadlines is suspended when payments are withheld for these reasons. No escrow or trust is required by the text read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-34-60-116-118-5.md", "source_id": "SRC-CO-017", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)." ], "survey_scope": "Read: C.R.S. 39-1-104.5, 39-11-128, 39-11-150, 39-11-153, 39-11.5-102 (definitions of known interested party notice and mailing list), 39-11.5-103, 39-11.5-104, 39-11.5-106(4), 34-60-116(6), 34-60-118.5(1) to (5) (CRS 2024 title PDFs via Internet Archive; official host was not available). Titles 34 and 38 full text searched for unknown, unlocat, whereabouts, cannot be located, missing owner, absent; title 38 matches were general quiet title and unknown defendant provisions, not mineral specific and not reviewed. The October 2026 review's findings that no dormancy or marketable record title act exists and that SB26-044 failed were not re-read. Not reviewed: redemption provisions in article 12 of title 39, probate, quiet title, unclaimed property. No Colorado case law searched for, since no owner status mechanism specific to minerals was found.", "open_questions": [ "Whether the article 11.5 procedure (2024) applies in full to tax liens on severed mineral interests sold under 39-11-150, and how a reasonable search under 39-11.5-104(7) applies to a deceased owner of record.", "Whether any Colorado statute outside titles 34, 38 and 39 provides a trust or receiver for missing mineral owners." ], "confidence": "medium", "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.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: 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." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Colorado", "abbr": "CO", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 25, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "Colorado has no dormant minerals act, so severed minerals do not lapse through nonuse. It added a surface owner protection law in 2007." } }, { "id": "CT", "name": "Connecticut", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/connecticut-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Dormant Mineral Interests Act, 20 years, court action by the fee owner required", "summary": "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. The interest never ends by itself, and the mineral owner can stop the suit by recording a late notice and paying the plaintiff's litigation expenses.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Twenty years immediately preceding commencement of the action (Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33q(a)). A qualifying use by or under authority of the mineral owner, or a notice of intent to preserve recorded, within that window defeats dormancy. No disability or lack of knowledge suspends the running of the period.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Action brought in the manner of, and with the same notice as, a quiet title action under 47-31 to 47-33, maintainable whether or not the mineral owner or the owner's whereabouts is known (47-33q(a)). If the court finds 20 or more years of nonuse it shall decree the interest extinguished and terminated. On application of a person claiming to own the interest, the court shall permit a late notice of intent to preserve upon payment of the litigation expenses it awards, and then dismisses unless the plaintiff moves within fifteen days to continue the case as an ordinary quiet title action (47-33q(b)). The recorded decree merges the interest, with its surface rights and obligations, into the surface estate in proportion to surface ownership, subject to existing tax liens (47-33s).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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)).", "interest_scope": "Any interest in a mineral estate however created: fee simple or any lesser interest, any kind of royalty, production payment, executive or nonexecutive right, leasehold or security interest in minerals (47-33o(1)), where the fee estate of the land is owned by someone else (47-33o(3)).", "mineral_scope": "All minerals: oil, gas, coal, other hydrocarbons, oil shale, cement material, sand and gravel, road material, building stone, chemical substances, gemstones, metallic, fissionable and nonfissionable ores, clays, steam and geothermal resources, and any other substance defined as a mineral by state law (47-33o(2)).", "exceptions": [ "Mineral interests of the United States or an Indian tribe, except as federal law permits (47-33p(a)(1))", "Mineral interests of the state or a state agency or political subdivision, except as other state law permits (47-33p(a)(2))", "Injection of substances for disposal or storage is not an active mineral operation (47-33q(c)(1))", "Water rights are not affected (47-33p(b)), and other procedures for extinguishing abandoned or dormant mineral interests are not limited (47-33t(c))" ], "effective": "P.A. 87-283, sections 1 to 8. The act applies from October 1, 1987 to all mineral interests whether created before, on or after that date (47-33t(a)), but no termination action could be maintained until two years after October 1, 1987, that is October 1, 1989 (47-33t(b)). The history notes in the text read show no later amendment.", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": null, "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "The official site was not available when AMR checked; the text was read from an Internet Archive copy dated August 20, 2026. The page banner refers readers to the 2026 Supplement for 2025 session changes, and no archived Supplement page for chapter 821 was found, so amendments after the 2025 revision were not checked (the history notes show only P.A. 87-283).", "Connecticut's Marketable Record Title Act (47-33b to 47-33l, 40 year chain of title) lists no mineral exception in 47-33h; whether it can independently extinguish old severed mineral interests was not analyzed.", "No Connecticut case law under 47-33m to 47-33t was researched." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-CT-001", "SRC-CT-001", "SRC-CT-002", "SRC-CT-003", "SRC-CT-004", "SRC-CT-005", "SRC-CT-006", "SRC-CT-007" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Connecticut statute providing for compulsory pooling or unitization of oil and gas interests was found, and no oil and gas conservation chapter appears in the titles surveyed.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Connecticut General Statutes chapter lists for titles 16 (Public Service Companies), 16a, 22a (Environmental Protection), 25 (Water Resources) and 47 (Land and Land Titles), read from Internet Archive copies dated July to September 2026 and searched for oil, gas, mineral, mining, petroleum, drill, quarry, geology and pipeline; the only matches were public utility gas, natural gas pipelines, oil spill containment and water well drilling chapters. Title 23 could not be retrieved, and a full text search of the statutes was not possible because the official site did not respond. A web search found no Connecticut oil and gas conservation or pooling statute.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Connecticut statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify and compensate surface owners for damage was found.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Same chapter list survey as for pooling (titles 16, 16a, 22a, 25 and 47; title 23 not retrieved; no full text search possible), plus the full text of chapter 821, sections 47-33m to 47-33t.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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).", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P17" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P5", "P11", "P12", "P13" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P8", "P9" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P9", "P10", "P14", "P16" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P15" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P6", "P7" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No receivership, trust, escrow or leasing mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners appears in the provisions read. A full text search of the General Statutes for such terms could not be run because cga.ct.gov was not available when AMR checked.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The surface owner's action to terminate a dormant mineral interest may be maintained whether the mineral owner or the owner's whereabouts is known or unknown, with the notice used in quiet title actions.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)", "passage": "The action shall be brought in the manner of and requires the same notice as an action to quiet title to real property under sections 47-31 to 47-33, inclusive, and may be maintained whether the owner of the mineral interest or the whereabouts of the owner is known or unknown.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every mineral interest under the Dormant Mineral Interests Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t, except interests of the United States, an Indian tribe or the State. Statutory text only; no Connecticut decision construing it was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "No disability or lack of knowledge of any person suspends the twenty year period.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)", "passage": "No disability or lack of knowledge of any kind on the part of any person suspends the running of the twenty-year period.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every mineral interest under the Dormant Mineral Interests Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t, except interests of the United States, an Indian tribe or the State. Statutory text only; no Connecticut decision construing it was located. The sentence does not mention death in terms.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Recording an instrument that evidences a transfer of title to the mineral interest, such as a probate certificate of distribution or devise, is a use of the interest when done by or under authority of the owner.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(c)(3)", "passage": "including an instrument that evidences a transfer of the title to such mineral interest, such as a probate certificate of distribution or devise.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every mineral interest under the Dormant Mineral Interests Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t, except interests of the United States, an Indian tribe or the State. Statutory text only; no Connecticut decision construing it was located. Subsection (c) counts an action as use only if taken by or under authority of the owner of the mineral interest.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A notice of intent to preserve may be recorded by the owner or by another person acting for an owner who is under a disability, unable to assert the claim, or one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(a)", "passage": "any other person acting on behalf of any owner of such interest who is: (1) Under a disability, (2) unable to assert a claim with respect to the mineral interest on his own behalf or (3) one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain at the time of recording such notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every mineral interest under the Dormant Mineral Interests Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t, except interests of the United States, an Indian tribe or the State. Statutory text only; no Connecticut decision construing it was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A co-owner may execute the preservation notice for any or all co-owners, and an owner may execute it for persons claiming under the owner.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(b)", "passage": "The notice may be executed by or on behalf of a co-owner for the benefit of any or all co-owners or on behalf of the owner for the benefit of any or all persons claiming under the owner or persons under whom the owner claims.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every mineral interest under the Dormant Mineral Interests Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t, except interests of the United States, an Indian tribe or the State. Statutory text only; no Connecticut decision construing it was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A recorded preservation notice within the twenty years before the action is commenced, or a late notice permitted in the action, keeps the interest from being dormant.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(a)", "passage": "A mineral interest is not dormant for the purposes of sections 47-33m to 47-33t, inclusive, if a notice in accordance with this section is recorded within twenty years immediately preceding commencement of an action to terminate the mineral interest, or pursuant to subsection (b) of section 47-33q after commencement of the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every mineral interest under the Dormant Mineral Interests Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t, except interests of the United States, an Indian tribe or the State. Statutory text only; no Connecticut decision construing it was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "During the action, a person alleging ownership of the mineral interest may apply to record a late preservation notice on paying the plaintiff the litigation expenses the court awards.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(b)", "passage": "the court, upon application of any person alleging to be an owner of a mineral interest in the land described in the complaint shall permit such person to record a late notice of intent to preserve such mineral interest in accordance with section 47-33r upon payment to the plaintiff of such litigation expenses as the court may award.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every mineral interest under the Dormant Mineral Interests Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t, except interests of the United States, an Indian tribe or the State. Statutory text only; no Connecticut decision construing it was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "To join unknown or unlocatable persons, the complaint describes their possible interest so far as known from a reasonable search of the available land records or otherwise.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(b)", "passage": "but the persons cannot be located or are unknown to the plaintiff, or both, and describes the actual or possible estate or interest of such person or persons, and how derived, so far as may be known to him from a reasonable search of the available land records or otherwise", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to the dormant mineral action because 47-33q(a) requires the same notice as a quiet title action under 47-31 to 47-33. General quiet title text, not mineral specific. No decision construing it for a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-31-and-47-33.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "On an affidavit setting out the efforts made to ascertain the names, addresses and interests of unknown persons, the court orders whatever notice it deems reasonable.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(c)", "passage": "sets forth the efforts which were made to ascertain the names and addresses as well as the interest or estates of the unknown persons, the court to which the action is brought or a judge thereof may make such order relative to the notice which shall be given in such cause as the court or judge deems reasonable.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to the dormant mineral action because 47-33q(a) requires the same notice as a quiet title action under 47-31 to 47-33. General quiet title text, not mineral specific. No decision construing it for a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-31-and-47-33.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The court need not appoint a guardian or other representative for unknown persons, and they are concluded by the judgment.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(c)", "passage": "The court shall not be required to appoint any guardian or other person to represent such unknown persons under any legal disabilities and all such persons shall be concluded by any decree or judgment in respect to the real or personal property involved in the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to the dormant mineral action because 47-33q(a) requires the same notice as a quiet title action under 47-31 to 47-33. General quiet title text, not mineral specific. No decision construing it for a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-31-and-47-33.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For a dead record owner, where the land records show no notice of death or of an executor or administrator, an action brought under section 52-69 presumes there is no executor or administrator unless the affidavit shows otherwise.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33(a)", "passage": "can be found in the land records of the town in which the real estate is situated, it shall be presumed for the purpose of the action, if brought pursuant to the provisions of section 52-69, that there is no such executor or administrator unless it appears in the affidavit", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to the dormant mineral action because 47-33q(a) requires the same notice as a quiet title action under 47-31 to 47-33. General quiet title text, not mineral specific. No decision construing it for a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-31-and-47-33.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A plaintiff who does not know whether the record owner is living may name in the alternative the record owner if living and, if not, the parties designated in section 52-69.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33(a)", "passage": "If the plaintiff does not know whether the record owner is then living, he may make defendants in the alternative the record owner if living and, if the record owner is not living, the parties designated in said section.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to the dormant mineral action because 47-33q(a) requires the same notice as a quiet title action under 47-31 to 47-33. General quiet title text, not mineral specific. No decision construing it for a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-31-and-47-33.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "\"Heirs\" named as defendants under section 52-69 include heirs at law, legatees, devisees and all persons who might claim under them.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33(b)", "passage": "The term “heirs”, as used in designating defendants pursuant to section 52-69, includes the heirs at law, legatees and devisees of the deceased, and all persons who might claim under them", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to the dormant mineral action because 47-33q(a) requires the same notice as a quiet title action under 47-31 to 47-33. General quiet title text, not mineral specific. No decision construing it for a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-31-and-47-33.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P14", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Where the plaintiff swears it does not know who or where the heirs of a deceased person are, it may name \"the heirs\" of that person as defendants without names or residences.", "url": "https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_896.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-69", "passage": "an affidavit stating that the plaintiff does not know who the widow, widower or heirs, or some of them, are, or where they or any of them reside, and, in the process to the action, describes as parties defendant “the widow and heirs”, “the widower and heirs” or “the heirs”, as the case may be, of the deceased person", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to the dormant mineral action because 47-33q(a) requires the same notice as a quiet title action under 47-31 to 47-33. General quiet title text, not mineral specific. No decision construing it for a mineral interest was located. Section 52-69 is the notice procedure that 47-33 incorporates.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-52-68-and-52-69.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P15", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Notice to unnamed heirs is whatever the court, clerk or judge orders as reasonable; once given and proved the court may proceed.", "url": "https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_896.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-69", "passage": "may make such order relative to the notice to be given as the court, clerk, assistant clerk or judge deems reasonable. Notice having been given according to the order and duly proved, the court may proceed to a hearing of the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to the dormant mineral action because 47-33q(a) requires the same notice as a quiet title action under 47-31 to 47-33. General quiet title text, not mineral specific. No decision construing it for a mineral interest was located. The section does not itself prescribe publication or any other method.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-52-68-and-52-69.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P16", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The Superior Court may order reasonable notice when interested persons live out of state or their names or residences are unknown to the plaintiff.", "url": "https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_896.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-68(a)", "passage": "when the adverse party, or any persons so interested therein that they ought to be made parties thereto, reside out of the state, or when the names or residences of any such persons in interest are unknown to the party instituting the proceeding.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General order of notice statute for Superior Court actions; not mineral specific. Read because it governs notice to persons whose residences are unknown.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-52-68-and-52-69.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P17", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The Act does not limit or affect any other procedure provided by law for extinguishing an abandoned or dormant mineral interest.", "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33t(c)", "passage": "Sections 47-33m to 47-33t, inclusive, do not limit or affect any other procedure provided by law for extinguishing an abandoned or dormant mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every mineral interest under the Dormant Mineral Interests Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t, except interests of the United States, an Indian tribe or the State. Statutory text only; no Connecticut decision construing it was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "source_id": "SRC-CT-016", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read: Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t in full; 47-31 and 47-33 (incorporated by 47-33q(a)); 52-68 and 52-69 (notice provisions 47-33 refers to). Source: cga.ct.gov chapter pages 821 and 896 through Internet Archive copies, because the official host was not available when AMR checked. The chapter 821 page carries official case annotations for many sections but none under 47-33m to 47-33t. CourtListener search, court filter for the Connecticut Supreme, Appellate and Superior Courts, for \"Dormant Mineral Interests Act\" or 47-33q or 47-33m returned no decision; a web search also found none. Not reviewed: probate law, partition, and a whole code search for unknown owner, missing owner, receiver or escrow terms near mineral, oil or gas.", "open_questions": [ "Whether death of the owner, as distinct from disability or lack of knowledge, has any effect on the twenty year period; no source read addresses it.", "Whether any Connecticut trial court decision applies 47-33q; none was located on CourtListener, and unreported Superior Court decisions were not searched.", "Run a full text search of the General Statutes for unknown or missing mineral owner, receiver and escrow provisions once cga.ct.gov is reachable.", "Whether a late preservation notice may be recorded on behalf of unknown heirs by a person acting for a class of uncertain identity, and how the court treats such an application." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Connecticut", "abbr": "CT", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "20 years", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 84, "rank": 3, "statute": "Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t (Dormant Mineral Interests Act)", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "preservation": "Record a notice of intent to preserve, or use the interest within 20 years (Conn. Gen. Stat. 47-33m to 47-33t).", "note": "Connecticut is the only state that adopted the 1986 Uniform Dormant Mineral Interests Act, with a 20 year dormancy period." } }, { "id": "DE", "name": "Delaware", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-delaware", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified", "summary": "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.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in Titles 7 and 25 as published on delcode.delaware.gov on 1 Oct 2026.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "survey_scope": "Downloaded and searched the full text of every chapter of Title 25 (Property) and Title 7 (Conservation) on delcode.delaware.gov (114 chapter pages) for mineral, marketable, abandon, oil and gas, gas well, oil well, spacing unit, drilling unit, pooling and surface owner. Mineral matches only in 7 Del. C. ch. 40 (erosion definition), § 4511 (lease of mineral rights in public lands), § 5505 (State Geologist review of oil, gas and geothermal activity) and ch. 61 (Minerals in Submerged Lands). Title 25 has no marketable record title act; its abandonment provisions concern personal property and landlord and tenant matters. Other titles, including tax sale and limitations law, were not searched.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "Titles other than 7 and 25 (for example tax sale provisions in Title 9 and limitations in Title 10) were not searched for mineral specific rules." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-DE-001", "SRC-DE-002" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No compulsory pooling statute was found. 7 Del. C. § 6134 lets lessees of state submerged lands join voluntary cooperative or unit plans for a pool or field when the Secretary finds it advisable, and lease drilling and production terms change only with the lessees' consent; that is voluntary unitization of state leases, not forced pooling.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Full text of Titles 7 and 25 searched as for dormancy.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-DE-003" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No surface damages statute was found. For state submerged lands leases, 7 Del. C. § 6115 requires bonding or insurance that also secures adjacent landowners and the public for damage claims, and § 6118 requires restoration of visible lands; neither is a split estate compensation act.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Full text of Titles 7 and 25 searched for surface owner, landowner and damages.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-DE-004" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unlocated": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [ "P2" ] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees or successors was found. General probate law was not reviewed.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific search requirement was found.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice requirement was found.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No preservation or response procedure for mineral owners was found.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In a general partition case, unknown heirs of a deceased person may be described as that person's heirs and notified by publication.", "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/Title25.pdf", "publisher": "Delaware Legislative Council, Delaware Code Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "25 Del. C. 723", "passage": "then the petition may describe such unknown heirs as the heirs of the person who, if living, would be a proper party, and the petition, in cases under this section, shall pray that notice of the substance and object thereof may be given by publication", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General partition law for any land in the Court of Chancery; not specific to minerals. Recorded only to show that general procedures exist; it was not reviewed further and is not a mineral owner mechanism.", "saved_as": "sources/DE-code-survey-t25-t7-t10.md", "source_id": "SRC-DE-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Delaware's mineral leasing chapter concerns ungranted submerged lands owned by the State.", "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title7/Title7.pdf", "publisher": "Delaware Legislative Council, Delaware Code Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "7 Del. C. 6102(a)", "passage": "The Secretary and the Governor have exclusive jurisdiction to lease for mineral exploration and exploitation all ungranted submerged", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "State submerged lands only; does not govern privately owned severed mineral interests.", "saved_as": "sources/DE-code-survey-t25-t7-t10.md", "source_id": "SRC-DE-006", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "none", "note": "No period or deadline concerning mineral owner status was found in the provisions read." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Downloaded the official full text PDFs of Del. Code Titles 25, 7 and 10 from delcode.delaware.gov and searched for mineral, oil and gas, unknown owner, owner is unknown, owners are unknown and unknown heirs. Title 25: no hit for mineral; one unknown heirs hit (section 723, partition). Title 7: 25 mineral hits, all in state land, submerged land, geology and erosion provisions (chapter 61, Minerals in Submerged Lands, read in part). Title 10: no mineral hit; unknown owners appear in chapter 61 (eminent domain). Not searched: Titles 12 (decedents' estates), 9 and the unclaimed property law; Delaware case law.", "open_questions": [ "Whether Delaware decisions apply general partition, quiet title or escheat law to severed mineral interests; not reviewed.", "Whether Title 12 (decedents' estates) or Delaware unclaimed property law contains any mineral specific rule; not searched." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Title 12 (decedents’ estates) and the unclaimed property law were not searched for a mineral rule.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Title 12 (decedents’ estates) and the unclaimed property law were not searched for a mineral rule." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Delaware", "abbr": "DE", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 27, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Delaware. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "DC", "name": "District of Columbia", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-washington-dc", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified", "summary": "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.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the D.C. Code as codified through the September 30, 2026 publication.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "survey_scope": "Full text search of every section of the codified D.C. Code in the Council's own XML (github.com/DCCouncil/law-xml-codified, branch publication/May 23, 2026.September 30, 2026, the data behind code.dccouncil.gov) for mineral interest, mineral right, mineral estate, severed mineral, oil and gas interest, lease or right, dormant mineral, marketable title, marketable record title, forced or compulsory pooling, spacing unit and surface owner. The only hit was § 47-1384, in the real property tax sale chapter. The word mineral appears in 31 sections, all UCC, trust principal and income, conservatorship, health or environmental definitions.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-DC-001" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "The D.C. Code has no oil and gas conservation, spacing or pooling provision.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": "Full text search of every section of the codified D.C. Code in the Council's own XML (github.com/DCCouncil/law-xml-codified, branch publication/May 23, 2026.September 30, 2026, the data behind code.dccouncil.gov) for mineral interest, mineral right, mineral estate, severed mineral, oil and gas interest, lease or right, dormant mineral, marketable title, marketable record title, forced or compulsory pooling, spacing unit and surface owner. The only hit was § 47-1384, in the real property tax sale chapter. The word mineral appears in 31 sections, all UCC, trust principal and income, conservatorship, health or environmental definitions.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "The D.C. Code has no surface damages or split estate provision.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": "Full text search of every section of the codified D.C. Code in the Council's own XML (github.com/DCCouncil/law-xml-codified, branch publication/May 23, 2026.September 30, 2026, the data behind code.dccouncil.gov) for mineral interest, mineral right, mineral estate, severed mineral, oil and gas interest, lease or right, dormant mineral, marketable title, marketable record title, forced or compulsory pooling, spacing unit and surface owner. The only hit was § 47-1384, in the real property tax sale chapter. The word mineral appears in 31 sections, all UCC, trust principal and income, conservatorship, health or environmental definitions.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "verified", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unlocated": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific search or diligence requirement was found.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice requirement to owners was found.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No preservation or response procedure for mineral owners was found, because no lapse mechanism exists in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The District's unclaimed property act defines mineral proceeds as amounts payable for extraction, production or sale of minerals.", "url": "https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/41-151.02", "publisher": "Council of the District of Columbia, D.C. Law Library", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "D.C. Code 41-151.02(18)", "passage": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means an amount payable for extraction, production, or sale of minerals, or, on the abandonment of the amount, an amount that becomes payable after abandonment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. Reaches payments owed to an apparent owner, not ownership of any mineral interest; presumption periods and claim procedures were not read. Read from the Council's codified XML, branch publication/May 23, 2026.October 2, 2026.", "saved_as": "sources/DC-owner-status-survey.md", "source_id": "SRC-DC-002", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "none", "note": "No owner status period for mineral interests was found. Unclaimed property presumption periods were not read." }, "title_review_facts": [ "Are any mineral proceeds attributable to the owner held by the unclaimed property administrator (special_mechanism)?" ], "survey_scope": "All 24,188 section files of the codified D.C. Code in the Council's own XML (github.com/DCCouncil/law-xml-codified, branch publication/May 23, 2026.October 2, 2026, the data behind code.dccouncil.gov) searched for mineral interest, right, estate or lease, oil and gas lease, interest or right, severed mineral, mineral proceeds, royalty owner or interest, unlocated and cannot be located. Hits: 21-2011, 28:9-320 comment, 31-5601.01, 41-151.02 and 41-163.02. No case law search, since there is no mineral statute to interpret.", "open_questions": [], "confidence": "high", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "D.C.", "abbr": "DC", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 26, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in D.C.. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "FL", "name": "Florida", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-florida", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "marketable_title_act", "mechanism_label": "Marketable Record Title Act, 30 year root of title; no dormant mineral statute", "summary": "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. A severed mineral reservation created before the surface owner's root of title can therefore be cut off unless it is specifically identified in the muniments of title from the root forward, preserved by a recorded notice within each 30 years, rests on a title transaction recorded after the root, or fits another exception; section 704.05 adds that rights of entry and easements reserved for mining or drilling are extinguished the same way. Use or nonuse of the minerals is irrelevant, and interests of the United States, Florida and its agencies are protected.", "period_years": 30, "period_description": "Measured from the effective date (recording date) of the root of title, which is the last title transaction purporting to create or transfer the estate claimed that was recorded at least 30 years before the time when marketability is determined (712.01(6), 712.02). A claimant preserves an interest by recording a notice 'at any time during the 30-year period immediately following the effective date of the root of title' (712.05(1)); a notice preserves the interest for not less than 30 years after filing unless filed again (712.05(3)). Disability or lack of knowledge does not suspend the period (712.05(3)).", "self_executing": "yes", "procedure": "Nothing is required of the surface owner: when a 30 year root of title exists and no exception applies, the earlier interest is extinguished by operation of 712.02 and 712.04. The act requires no notice to the mineral owner and no court order, though a quiet title or declaratory action is the usual way to confirm the result against a particular claimant.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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)).", "interest_scope": "Any estate, interest, claim or charge whose existence depends on an act, title transaction, event or omission before the effective date of the root of title (712.04). That reaches severed mineral reservations in pre root deeds and, under 704.05(1), rights of entry or easements given or reserved for mining, drilling, exploring or developing oil, gas, minerals or fissionable materials. A person with a separate 30 year chain to the mineral estate may itself hold a marketable record title to that estate (712.02 applies to 'any estate in land'); how competing chains are resolved was not confirmed.", "mineral_scope": "Not mineral specific; the act applies to all interests in land. 704.05 names oil, gas, minerals and fissionable materials for rights of entry and easements.", "exceptions": [ "712.03(1) to (9) exceptions to marketability (muniments with specific reference, recorded notice, possession, post root title transactions, used easements and rights of way, tax roll assessment for 3 years, sovereignty submerged lands, chapter 376 and 403 covenants, Board of Trustees, water management district and United States interests)", "712.04: does not affect any right, title or interest of the United States, Florida or its agencies reserved in the patent or deed by which they parted with title", "704.05(1): the right of entry provision does not apply to interests reserved or held by the state or its agencies; 704.05(4) does not revive rights extinguished before June 6, 1975", "Outside MRTA: 270.11(3) separately releases the right of entry for state and local government mineral reservations on tracts that are or ever were under 20 contiguous acres in common ownership; the reserved minerals themselves remain" ], "effective": "Enacted by ch. 63-133 (1963). 712.09 extended any 30 year notice period that had expired before July 1, 1965 to July 1, 1965. 704.05 was enacted by ch. 70-100, amended by ch. 73-140 and ch. 75-94, applies prospectively and retrospectively, and does not revive interests extinguished by chapter 712 before June 6, 1975. 712.03(1) was amended by ch. 2022-171 (specific identification by book and page, instrument number or plat name). Read in the 2025 Florida Statutes.", "date_model": "explain_only", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Read Florida Statutes 2025 chapter 712 in full and sections 704.05, 193.481 and 270.11 on flsenate.gov, plus the 2010 text of 712.03. Searched chapter 377 part I (oil and gas regulation) for any abandonment or dormancy rule for mineral interests: none, though 377.247 lets the department lease an unknown or unlocated minority owner's interest to the operator for the life of a well without transferring title. No Florida statute extinguishing severed minerals for nonuse was found.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "No Florida appellate decision applying chapter 712 to a severed oil, gas or mineral reservation was read. A web search pointed to a Fourth District case on a 1947 South Florida Water Management District oil, gas and mineral reservation (reported as 508 So. 2d 510, 1987) but the opinion was not located or read. How courts treat mineral reservations under MRTA is not settled in this review.", "Whether a mineral owner with a separate 30 year record chain to the mineral estate holds a competing marketable record title that defeats the surface owner's root, and how Florida resolves two marketable record titles.", "Practitioner commentary says MRTA may cut off a right of entry under 704.05 while the mineral reservation itself remains; the circumstances in which the reservation survives but entry does not were not established from primary sources.", "Whether separate assessment of subsurface rights under 193.481 brings the mineral owner within the 712.03(6) tax roll exception.", "Whether mineral production or operations amount to 'possession of the lands' under 712.03(3).", "The effective date of ch. 2022-171 and whether its stricter identification rule in 712.03(1) applies to roots of title recorded before the amendment was not checked." ], "category": "marketable_title", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-FL-001", "SRC-FL-002", "SRC-FL-003", "SRC-FL-004", "SRC-FL-005", "SRC-FL-006", "SRC-FL-007" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. Where owners of separately owned tracts in an established drilling unit have not agreed to integrate, the division shall require them to integrate and develop their lands as a drilling unit (Fla. Stat. 377.27(1)). An applicant must hold drilling rights from a majority of the mineral interests in the unit; minority owners who do not respond to a written offer within 30 days become carried owners who receive nothing until 300 percent of well costs are recovered (377.2411). The department must also order unit operation of a field or pool when the 377.28 findings are made.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-FL-008", "SRC-FL-009" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute was found requiring oil and gas well operators to notify and compensate surface owners. The closest provisions are a surety bond protecting the owner of surface rights, conditioned on restoration, for surface exploratory and extraction operations such as open pit or dragline mining under a mineral grant (377.244), and compensation for use of or damage to the surface by natural gas storage 'as provided by law' (377.2434(3)(b)). Neither covers ordinary oil and gas well drilling.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Searched the full text of Florida Statutes 2025 chapter 377 part I (ss. 377.01 to 377.42) on flsenate.gov for surface owner, owner of the surface, surface rights and damage. Chapter 704 and chapter 712 were read for related rights of entry. A full text search of all Florida Statutes was not run.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-FL-010" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P3", "P4" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P11" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P7", "P9", "P15" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P8", "P12" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6", "P13" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P10", "P14" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A person vested of record with an estate for 30 years or more, alone or with predecessors, has marketable record title free of all claims except the 712.03 exceptions.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.02", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.02", "passage": "Any person having the legal capacity to own land in this state, who, alone or together with her or his predecessors in title, has been vested with any estate in land of record for 30 years or more, shall have a marketable record title to such estate in said land, which shall be free and clear of all claims", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 712, Marketable Record Title Act, as it applies to any interest, including a severed mineral interest, that depends on a transaction before the surface owner's 30 year root of title and fits no 712.03 exception. No decision applying it to a mineral reservation was read.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Interests extinguished by marketable record title are void whether held by a person sui juris or under a disability, and whether the holder is within or without the state.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.04", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.04", "passage": "all such estates, interests, claims, covenants, restrictions, or charges, however denominated, whether they are or appear to be held or asserted by a person sui juris or under a disability, whether such person is within or without the state, natural or corporate, or private or governmental, are declared to be null and void.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 712, Marketable Record Title Act, as it applies to any interest, including a severed mineral interest, that depends on a transaction before the surface owner's 30 year root of title and fits no 712.03 exception. No decision applying it to a mineral reservation was read. Interests of the United States, Florida and its agencies reserved in the patent or deed are excepted in the same section.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Rights of entry or easements reserved for mining or drilling for oil, gas or minerals are among the interests extinguished under 712.04 unless excepted.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/704.05", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 704.05(1)", "passage": "The rights and interests in land which are subject to being extinguished by marketable record title pursuant to the provisions of s. 712.04 shall include rights of entry or of an easement, given or reserved in any conveyance or devise of realty, when given or reserved for the purpose of mining, drilling, exploring, or developing for oil, gas, minerals", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Rights of entry and easements for mineral development; does not apply to interests reserved or held by the state or its agencies.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Disability or lack of knowledge of any kind does not delay the start of or suspend the 30 year period.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.05", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.05(3)", "passage": "A person’s disability or lack of knowledge of any kind may not delay the commencement of or suspend the running of the 30-year period.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 712, Marketable Record Title Act, as it applies to any interest, including a severed mineral interest, that depends on a transaction before the surface owner's 30 year root of title and fits no 712.03 exception. No decision applying it to a mineral reservation was read. The text does not mention death; it does not say whether death of the owner is a 'disability'.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A notice may be filed by the claimant or by anyone acting for a claimant who is under a disability, unable to assert a claim, or one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.05", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.05(3)", "passage": "Such notice may be filed for record by the claimant or by any other person acting on behalf of a claimant who is ... Under a disability; ... Unable to assert a claim on his or her behalf; or ... One of a class, but whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 712, Marketable Record Title Act, as it applies to any interest, including a severed mineral interest, that depends on a transaction before the surface owner's 30 year root of title and fits no 712.03 exception. No decision applying it to a mineral reservation was read. The text does not say whether unidentified heirs of a deceased mineral owner are such a class.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A claimant preserves an interest by filing a notice under 712.06 at any time during the 30 years after the root of title's effective date.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.05", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.05(1)", "passage": "may preserve and protect such interest or right from extinguishment by the operation of this chapter by filing for record, at any time during the 30-year period immediately following the effective date of the root of title, a written notice in accordance with s. 712.06.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 712, Marketable Record Title Act, as it applies to any interest, including a severed mineral interest, that depends on a transaction before the surface owner's 30 year root of title and fits no 712.03 exception. No decision applying it to a mineral reservation was read. 712.05(3) says a notice preserves for not less than 30 years after filing unless filed again.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The person filing a preservation notice has the clerk mail a copy by registered or certified mail to the purported owner of the property named in the notice.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.06", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.06(3)(a)", "passage": "Cause the clerk of the circuit court to mail by registered or certified mail to the purported owner of said property, as stated in such notice, a copy thereof and shall enter on the original, before recording the same, a certificate showing such mailing.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 712, Marketable Record Title Act, as it applies to any interest, including a severed mineral interest, that depends on a transaction before the surface owner's 30 year root of title and fits no 712.03 exception. No decision applying it to a mineral reservation was read. This notice runs from the mineral claimant to the surface (purported) owner. Chapter 712 requires no notice to the mineral owner before extinguishment.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The preservation notice is also published once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a county newspaper.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.06", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.06(3)(b)", "passage": "Publish once a week, for 2 consecutive weeks, the notice referred to in s. 712.05, with the official record book and page number in which such notice was recorded, in a newspaper as defined in chapter 50 in the county in which the property is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 712, Marketable Record Title Act, as it applies to any interest, including a severed mineral interest, that depends on a transaction before the surface owner's 30 year root of title and fits no 712.03 exception. No decision applying it to a mineral reservation was read. Publication of the claimant's preservation notice, not notice to an absent mineral owner.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A purported owner's failure to receive the mailed notice does not affect the notice's validity.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.06", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.06(4)", "passage": "Failure of any purported owner to receive the mailed notice shall not affect the validity of the notice or vitiate the effect of the filing of such notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 712, Marketable Record Title Act, as it applies to any interest, including a severed mineral interest, that depends on a transaction before the surface owner's 30 year root of title and fits no 712.03 exception. No decision applying it to a mineral reservation was read.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "When an operator cannot locate a minority mineral owner in a drilling unit, or the owner's identity remains unknown after reasonable and diligent attempts, the operator may ask the department to act in a receivership capacity for those rights.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(1)", "passage": "In the event that the operator of a well cannot locate the owner of a minority mineral interest within a drilling unit or the identity of the minority mineral interest owner remains unknown to the operator after reasonable and diligent attempts to locate said owner, the operator may request that the department act in a receivership capacity for these rights.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Fla. Stat. 377.247, minority mineral interests within a drilling unit or unit operation where the operator cannot locate or identify the owner; reaches royalty and bonus, not title to the interest.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The administrator must have a legal description and current title opinion, and a diligent attempt to notify means an attempt to contact the owner by registered mail at the last known address.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(1)(a), (b)", "passage": "The oil and gas administrator has been provided a legal description and a current title opinion for the mineral rights or interests at issue. ... For purposes of this subsection, a diligent attempt to notify shall be an attempt to contact the owner by registered mail at the owner’s last known address.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Fla. Stat. 377.247, minority mineral interests within a drilling unit or unit operation where the operator cannot locate or identify the owner; reaches royalty and bonus, not title to the interest.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-020", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Each year the administrator publishes, at the operator's expense, the value of shares held for unknown or unlocated owners, with information that would help identify or locate them.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(3)", "passage": "Annually, the oil and gas administrator shall cause to have published at the expense of the operator a notice of the value of pro rata shares on deposit in the Minerals Trust Fund for all unknown or unlocated mineral owners in a newspaper of record for the county in which the producing unit is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Fla. Stat. 377.247, minority mineral interests within a drilling unit or unit operation where the operator cannot locate or identify the owner; reaches royalty and bonus, not title to the interest.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-021", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A previously unknown person who comes forward is paid the principal and interest on account after the claim is verified.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(4)", "passage": "Should a previously unidentified or unknown person come forward to claim a pro rata share, the department shall disburse the amount of principal and interest on account after verification of the authenticity of the claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Fla. Stat. 377.247, minority mineral interests within a drilling unit or unit operation where the operator cannot locate or identify the owner; reaches royalty and bonus, not title to the interest.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-022", "official": true }, { "id": "P14", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Funds unclaimed 5 years after first production are presumed abandoned and handled under the unclaimed property chapter.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(6); see 717.113", "passage": "If the funds on deposit remain unclaimed, after a period of 5 years from the date of first production from the well, the funds are presumed abandoned and shall be disposed of pursuant to chapter 717.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Fla. Stat. 377.247, minority mineral interests within a drilling unit or unit operation where the operator cannot locate or identify the owner; reaches royalty and bonus, not title to the interest. 717.113 repeats the 5 year rule for Minerals Trust Fund deposits.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-023", "official": true }, { "id": "P15", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Owners deemed notified owners in a drilling unit get written notice by certified mail, and those who do not respond in writing within 30 days after receipt become carried owners.", "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.2411", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.2411(1)(a), (2)(a)", "passage": "give written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, of a proposal to drill a well to those mineral owners who would be deemed “notified owners” ... All notified owners who fail to respond in writing to the applicant’s notice within 30 days after receipt of said notice shall be deemed to be a carried leasehold working interest owner", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Drilling unit participation rule; not specific to unknown or unlocated owners, and the text does not say what happens when the mailing is not received. Does not apply to state owned minerals.", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "source_id": "SRC-FL-024", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "Florida Statutes 2025 on flsenate.gov, read directly: 712.01 to 712.07, 704.05, 377.2411, 377.247, 377.27, 377.28 and 717.113. Full chapter text of chapters 193, 270, 377, 704, 712 and 717 searched for unknown owner, unknown heirs, cannot be located, unlocat, whereabouts, missing owner, owner is unknown and absent. Case law: CourtListener searches for Marketable Record Title Act mineral decisions and 377.247 in Florida courts were attempted but rate limited and returned nothing usable; no Florida decision was read. Probate, quiet title and partition were not reviewed.", "open_questions": [ "How Florida courts apply chapter 712 to severed mineral reservations, and whether a mineral owner's own 30 year record chain competes with the surface root of title; no decision was read.", "Whether death of a mineral owner is a 'disability' for 712.04 and 712.05(3), and whether unidentified heirs are 'one of a class' for 712.05(3).", "Whether a 377.2411 offer that is never received starts the 30 day response period, and how it interacts with 377.247 for an unlocated owner.", "Whether the department has issued any 377.247 orders and what the Minerals Trust Fund holds; not checked." ], "confidence": "medium", "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.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: 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." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Florida", "abbr": "FL", "category": "special", "unused_minerals": "Special mechanism", "lapse_period": "see note", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 45, "rank": 15, "statute": "Fla. Stat. ch. 712 (Marketable Record Title Act)", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/Chapter712", "preservation": "File a notice to preserve under chapter 712 to avoid the Marketable Record Title Act 30 year cutoff (Fla. Stat. ch. 712).", "note": "Florida has no dormant minerals act, but its Marketable Record Title Act can extinguish old mineral interests that are not preserved in the record." } }, { "id": "GA", "name": "Georgia", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-georgia", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "work_or_tax_forfeiture", "mechanism_label": "Seven years of no work and no taxes paid, then a surface owner petition for title (O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168)", "summary": "Where mineral rights have been conveyed, or reserved by the grantor in a fee simple conveyance of the land, the fee simple owner of the land may gain title to them by adverse possession if the mineral owner has neither worked nor attempted to work them nor paid any taxes due on them for seven years since the conveyance and for the seven years immediately before the petition. Title passes only through a superior court judgment and decree on the surface owner's petition; the mineral interest does not lapse on its own and there is no statement of claim to file. The section does not apply to a lease for a specific number of years or to a mineral owner who has leased the rights in writing to a mining operator. The 2026 amendment (HB 1268) is an editorial change to that lessee exception only.", "period_years": 7, "period_description": "Seven years in which the owner of the mineral rights, or heirs or assigns, have neither worked nor attempted to work the mineral rights nor paid any taxes due on them, counted since the date of the conveyance and as the seven years immediately preceding the filing of the petition. Any work, attempt to work, or payment of taxes due inside that lookback defeats the petition. Per the official annotations, back taxes paid after the petition is filed have no effect (Larkin v. Laster, 254 Ga. 716 (1985)) and 'since' in subsection (a) does not necessarily mean 'immediately following' the conveyance.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "The fee simple owner of the land, or heirs or assigns, files in the superior court of the county where the land lies a petition for relief in the nature of declaratory judgment. The petition names the grantor who reserved the mineral rights and known heirs, assigns and other interested persons with last known addresses, and shows the deed, the reservation or conveyance, and seven years before filing without work, attempted work or tax payment. Service is made as on defendants in an in rem proceeding, including by publication; anyone named or holding an interest may intervene. On a finding for the plaintiff the court issues a judgment and decree that the mineral rights have been lost and that the plaintiff has absolute title.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Mineral rights that have been conveyed, or that were reserved by the grantor in a fee simple conveyance of the real property. Only the fee simple owner of the real property, or heirs or assigns, may petition. Excluded by subsection (f): a lease for a specific number of years, and an owner of mineral rights who has leased them in writing to a mining operator. The section does not say whether it reaches royalty, term or other nonparticipating interests.", "mineral_scope": "'Mineral rights', not defined in the section and not limited to oil and gas or any listed mineral; treated as all minerals.", "exceptions": [ "A lease for a specific number of years (subsection (f))", "An owner of mineral rights who has leased the mineral rights in writing to a mining operator as defined in Code Section 12-4-72 (subsection (f) from July 1, 2026; until then 'a licensed mining operator as defined in Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 12'). O.C.G.A. § 12-4-72(7) defines 'mining operator' as a person or entity 'engaged in or controlling' surface mining", "Per the official annotation of Mixon v. One Newco, Inc., 863 F.2d 846 (11th Cir. 1989), the exception for licensed mining operators does not violate equal protection", "The section is in derogation of the common law and is strictly construed (Larkin v. Laster, 254 Ga. 716 (1985), official annotation)" ], "effective": "Enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 725, § 1 as Code 1933, § 85-407.1, effective 1975. Per the official annotation of Milner v. Bivens, 255 Ga. 49 (1985), it applies to mineral rights created before 1975, but suit could not be brought until 1982, seven years after the effective date. Amended by Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 44. Amended by HB 1268 (Act 723, Ga. L. 2026, p. 1069, § 44(16)), passed House March 3, 2026 and Senate March 20, 2026, signed May 12, 2026, effective July 1, 2026. HB 1268 is the annual Code Revision Commission bill; its only change to this section substitutes 'mining operator as defined in Code Section 12-4-72.' for 'licensed mining operator as defined in Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 12.' in subsection (f). Subsections (a) to (e), the seven year period, the petition procedure and the effect did not change. The official code shows a version 'Effective until July 1, 2026' and a version 'Effective July 1, 2026'.", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Not a none_identified record. The official O.C.G.A. public access site was searched for § 44-5-168, its history line, annotations and the 2026 amendment; HB 1268 versions and the 2026 legislative counsel summary were read on legis.ga.gov. Georgia tax sale and other title statutes affecting severed minerals were not surveyed.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Whether taxes can be 'due' on mineral rights the county never separately assessed, and how proof works when county mineral parcel numbers are wrong (the dispute in P.D. Miller Farms); the practice is not settled in this review", "Whether dropping 'licensed' from subsection (f) on July 1, 2026 widens the lessee exception, given that the Code Revision Commission treated it as editorial", "Whether the section reaches royalty interests, term mineral interests and fractional nonparticipating interests, and how it applies to oil and gas rights as opposed to hard minerals", "The full document view of the official code is behind a CAPTCHA and was not opened; the end of (b)(1)(B), part of (b)(1)(D) and most of (e) were not displayed by the official site and come from an unofficial 2016 mirror that matches every displayed passage", "Annotated decisions (Hinson v. Loper, Parker v. Reynolds, Cartersville Ranch, LLC v. Dellinger, 295 Ga. 195 (2014), Mixon v. One Newco) were read only as official annotation snippets, not in full", "The Justia mirror was not available and was not read; nothing in this record relies on it" ], "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.", "category": "forfeiture_petition", "evidence": "partial" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-GA-001", "SRC-GA-002", "SRC-GA-003", "SRC-GA-004", "SRC-GA-005", "SRC-GA-006", "SRC-GA-007", "SRC-GA-008", "SRC-GA-009" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "O.C.G.A. § 12-4-45(a)(1), in the Part on deep drilling for oil, gas and other minerals, lets the board establish drilling units and, where owners of separately owned tracts in an established drilling unit have not agreed to integrate their interests, require them to integrate and develop their lands as a drilling unit.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-GA-010" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Georgia statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify or compensate surface owners for damage was found in the official code searches below.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Official O.C.G.A. public access site, whole code, searched October 1, 2026: \"surface owner\" AND (oil OR gas OR well) AND (damage OR damages OR compensate OR compensation) returned only the research references annotation to Title 12, Chapter 4, Article 2, Part 2; (\"surface damage\" OR \"surface damages\" OR \"surface estate\" OR \"surface landowner\") AND (drilling OR well) AND operator returned no documents; (\"owner of the surface\" OR \"surface rights\") AND \"oil or gas\" AND (damages OR compensation) returned no documents. Sections 12-4-40 to 12-4-54 were not read one by one.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P4", "P8", "P9" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Service is perfected as on defendants in an in rem proceeding, including service by publication.", "propositions": [ "P3" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6", "P7" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "The official Georgia code could not be searched for other unknown or unlocated mineral owner procedures (receivers, escrow, unclaimed proceeds); none was identified.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The fee simple owner of the land or his heirs or assigns may gain title to severed mineral rights by adverse possession if the mineral owner or his heirs or assigns neither worked nor attempted to work them nor paid taxes due on them for seven years.", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "Onecle (unofficial mirror of O.C.G.A.)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(a)", "passage": "the owner of the real property in fee simple or his heirs or assigns may gain title to such mineral rights by adverse possession if the owner of the mineral rights or his heirs or assigns have neither worked nor attempted to work the mineral rights nor paid any taxes due on them for a period of seven years", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral rights conveyed, or reserved by the grantor in a fee simple conveyance. The inaction of the owner's heirs or assigns counts the same as the owner's. Unofficial mirror text dated 2016; wording must be confirmed on the official O.C.G.A. site, which could not be read on October 6, 2026.", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "source_id": "SRC-GA-011", "official": false }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The surface owner's petition must give the name and last known address of the grantor who reserved the minerals and the names and last known addresses of his heirs or assigns or any other person known to have an interest.", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "Onecle (unofficial mirror of O.C.G.A.)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(1)(B)", "passage": "Shall contain the name and last known address of the grantor of the property reserving the mineral rights and the names and last known addresses of his heirs or assigns or any other person known by the plaintiff to have an interest in the mineral rights;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Petitions under 44-5-168(b). The text requires last known addresses of persons known to the plaintiff; it does not state a duty to search or a diligence standard. Unofficial mirror text dated 2016; wording must be confirmed on the official O.C.G.A. site, which could not be read on October 6, 2026.", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "source_id": "SRC-GA-012", "official": false }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Service is perfected as on defendants in an in rem proceeding, including service by publication.", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "Onecle (unofficial mirror of O.C.G.A.)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(3)", "passage": "Service shall be perfected in the same manner as service on defendants in an in rem proceeding, including service by publication.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Petitions under 44-5-168(b). The general in rem service statutes that this refers to were not read, so the conditions for publication are not stated here. Unofficial mirror text dated 2016; wording must be confirmed on the official O.C.G.A. site, which could not be read on October 6, 2026.", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "source_id": "SRC-GA-013", "official": false }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Title passes only on a superior court judgment and decree declaring the mineral rights lost and the plaintiff's title absolute.", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "Onecle (unofficial mirror of O.C.G.A.)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(2)", "passage": "Upon a finding in the plaintiff's favor, the court shall issue a judgment and decree declaring that the mineral rights involved have been lost and that the plaintiff has gained absolute title to such mineral rights;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unofficial mirror text dated 2016; wording must be confirmed on the official O.C.G.A. site, which could not be read on October 6, 2026.", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "source_id": "SRC-GA-014", "official": false }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Any person named in the petition or having an interest in the mineral rights may intervene in the case.", "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "Onecle (unofficial mirror of O.C.G.A.)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(d)", "passage": "Any person named in the petition or any person having an interest in the mineral rights shall have the right to intervene in a case brought under this Code section.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Heirs and others with an interest may intervene; the section sets no deadline for doing so. Unofficial mirror text dated 2016; wording must be confirmed on the official O.C.G.A. site, which could not be read on October 6, 2026.", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "source_id": "SRC-GA-015", "official": false }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The Supreme Court of Georgia held that the mineral owner's claim was preserved only by using the minerals or returning them for taxes.", "url": "https://static.case.law/ga/251/cases/0580-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Supreme Court of Georgia opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Hayes v. Howell, 251 Ga. 580 (1983), Division 2(a)", "passage": "The preservation of the mineral owner’s claim under OCGA § 44-5-168 (Code Ann. § 85-407.1) depended only upon his use of the minerals or upon returning them for taxes.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Georgia, controlling statewide. Upheld the statute against contract clause and retroactivity challenges for a 1957 reservation.", "saved_as": "sources/GA-hayes-v-howell-1983.md", "source_id": "SRC-GA-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Taxes paid by the landowners in their capacity as landowners did not count as payment of taxes on the mineral rights by the mineral owner.", "url": "https://static.case.law/ga/251/cases/0580-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Supreme Court of Georgia opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Hayes v. Howell, 251 Ga. 580 (1983), Division 3", "passage": "As we read OCGA § 44-5-168 (Code Ann. § 85-407.1), it contemplates payment of taxes upon the mineral rights, as such, by the holder of the mineral rights who is not the owner of real property in fee simple.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Georgia, controlling statewide.", "saved_as": "sources/GA-hayes-v-howell-1983.md", "source_id": "SRC-GA-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The court described the statute as conditioning retention of mineral rights on use or tax payment rather than itself divesting them.", "url": "https://static.case.law/ga/251/cases/0580-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Supreme Court of Georgia opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Hayes v. Howell, 251 Ga. 580 (1983), Division 2(b)", "passage": "By the same token, the statute itself does not divest the mineral owner of his rights; it conditions the retention of those rights upon the requirements of either using them or paying taxes upon them for the public benefit.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Georgia, controlling statewide. Says nothing about deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "saved_as": "sources/GA-hayes-v-howell-1983.md", "source_id": "SRC-GA-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A federal appeals court, applying Georgia law in an unpublished opinion, restated the rule that a mineral owner loses rights by nonuse plus nonpayment of taxes.", "url": "https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/202211375.pdf", "publisher": "United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "P.D. Miller Farms, LLC v. BASF Catalysts, LLC, No. 22-11375 (11th Cir. Jan. 5, 2023) (unpublished), slip op. at 7", "passage": "Put another way, when the mineral rights are separately held from the surface rights, “the owner of the mineral rights loses them by nonuse plus nonpayment of taxes.”", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Federal court applying Georgia law; persuasive only, unpublished. Quotes Fisch v. Randall Mill Corp., 262 Ga. 861 (1993), which was not read.", "saved_as": "sources/GA-ca11-pd-miller-farms-2023.md", "source_id": "SRC-GA-019", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168 read in full from an unofficial mirror (onecle, dated 2016) because the official public access site at advance.lexis.com is a script application that could not be read with curl; the October review captured the official site's search displays, which match this wording for (a) and (b). Hayes v. Howell (Ga. 1983) read in full via the Caselaw Access Project; P.D. Miller Farms v. BASF (11th Cir. 2023) read in full from the court's site. Not read: Fisch v. Randall Mill Corp. (Ga. 1993), Nelson v. Bloodworth (Ga. 1977), Georgia in rem service statutes, Georgia unclaimed property law, any Georgia Oil and Gas Act escrow provision. The Georgia code was not searched for unknown, unlocated or missing owner terms.", "open_questions": [ "Confirm the current official text, including the 2026 editorial amendment to subsection (f) (HB 1268) reported in the October review.", "What Georgia's in rem service law requires (diligent search, affidavit, publication period) before publication against heirs whose addresses are unknown.", "Whether any Georgia appellate decision addresses death of the mineral owner or unknown heirs under 44-5-168, or whether taxes due exist when minerals were never separately assessed.", "Whether Georgia has any receiver, escrow or unclaimed proceeds procedure specific to unknown mineral owners." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Georgia", "abbr": "GA", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 28, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Georgia. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "HI", "name": "Hawaii", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-hawaii", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified; minerals in state and reserved lands are reserved to the State", "summary": "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. The only way a reservation ends is a discretionary release, cancellation or waiver by the Board of Land and Natural Resources when a non mining use is of greater benefit to the State, which is not a lapse.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable; no lapse statute found. Chapter 182 governs state owned and state reserved minerals.", "mineral_scope": "Chapter 182 defines minerals to include oil, gas, coal, metals and all geothermal resources, excluding sand, rock, gravel and construction materials.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the HRS chapter index (archived February 5, 2024) or in chapter 182 as read. Chapter 182 dates from L 1963, c 11, last amended in the sections read by L 2016, c 220.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "survey_scope": "HRS chapter index (archived February 5, 2024) searched for mineral, mining, oil, gas, geothermal, marketable, land court, quiet, adverse and limitation: mining chapters are 181 (Strip Mining) and 182 (Reservation and Disposition of Government Mineral Rights); Title 28 (Property, chapters 501 to 527) has no marketable title or mineral lapse chapter; chapters 657 (Limitation of Actions) and 669 (Quieting Title) are general. HRS §§ 182-1 to 182-5 and 182-9.5 read. Full text search of the HRS was not possible because capitol.hawaii.gov was not available.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "How much privately owned severed mineral estate exists in Hawaii outside state reservations is unknown, and whether any non statutory doctrine affects it was not researched.", "Sections 182-1 and 182-3 were read from 2023 snapshots; 2024 to 2026 amendments were not checked." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-HI-001", "SRC-HI-002" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Narrow. HRS § 182-9.5 lets the Board of Land and Natural Resources, on its own motion or a mining lessee's petition, order lessees or owners of mineral rights on adjoining properties to operate under a cooperative or unit plan to prevent waste or increase recovery. It sits in the state mineral leasing chapter, which in practice governs state reserved minerals and geothermal resources; no oil and gas conservation act, spacing statute or spacing unit pooling procedure was found.", "confidence": "medium", "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-HI-003" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Narrow. HRS § 182-3 requires every holder of a state mining lease, where minerals by definition include oil, gas and geothermal resources, to post a bond conditioned on full payment of damages to occupiers, meaning surface fee owners and certain state lessees and assignees. Occupiers are reimbursed the full extent of damage from mining operations, including exploratory work and failure to restore, and may elect arbitration of damages and surface rental. It applies only to leases of minerals owned or reserved by the State, not to private mineral development.", "confidence": "medium", "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-HI-004" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read. For state and reserved lands the minerals belong to the State (P1, P2).", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unlocated": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No search requirement in chapter 182 as read.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Chapter 182 notices (182-4) concern mining lease applications on state lands, not owner status.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No owner status publication rule in chapter 182 as read.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No preservation procedure, because there is no lapse.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "All minerals in state lands or reserved lands are reserved to the State, subject to discretionary board release, cancellation or waiver.", "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0002.htm", "publisher": "Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "HRS 182-2(a)", "passage": "All minerals in, on, or under state lands or reserved lands are reserved to the State; provided that the board may release, cancel, or waive the reservation whenever it deems the land use, other than mining, is of greater benefit to the State as provided for in section 182-4.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "State owned and state reserved minerals only. Says nothing about privately held severed minerals.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/HI-hrs-182-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-HI-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Reserved lands are lands owned or leased by any person where the State or its predecessors reserved the minerals.", "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0001.htm", "publisher": "Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "HRS 182-1, definition of reserved lands", "passage": "\"Reserved lands\" means those lands owned or leased by any person in which the State or its predecessors in interest has reserved to itself expressly or by implication the minerals or right to mine minerals, or both.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Definition for chapter 182; the mineral owner of reserved lands is the State.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 30, 2023", "saved_as": "sources/HI-hrs-182-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-HI-006", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Hawaii's unclaimed property part defines mineral proceeds as amounts payable for extraction, production or sale of minerals.", "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0523A/HRS_0523A-0002.htm", "publisher": "Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "HRS 523A-2, definition of mineral proceeds", "passage": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means amounts payable for the extraction, production, or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable thereafter.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unclaimed property; reaches payments, not ownership of an interest. Presumption periods and claim procedures were not read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 15, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/HI-hrs-182-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-HI-007", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "none", "note": "No owner status period was found in the provisions read." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "capitol.hawaii.gov was not available; HRS 182-1, 182-2, 182-4 and 182-5 and 523A-2 were read from Internet Archive snapshots of the official pages (September 30, 2023 to July 3, 2026). The October review's chapter index search (mineral, mining, oil, gas, geothermal, marketable, land court, quiet, adverse, limitation) was relied on only to choose chapters; no full text search of the HRS was possible.", "open_questions": [ "Whether any HRS provision outside chapters 182 and 523A addresses privately held severed minerals or their unknown owners.", "Presumption periods for mineral proceeds under HRS 523A." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "The official code could not be searched in full; the survey outside chapters 182 and 523A is limited.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: The official code could not be searched in full; the survey outside chapters 182 and 523A is limited." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Hawaii", "abbr": "HI", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 29, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Hawaii. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "ID", "name": "Idaho", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-idaho", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "summary": "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. Mining claim location and relocation rules in Title 47 chapter 6 are a separate topic.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the archived official chapter texts (snapshots 2025-03 to 2026-03).", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Idaho.", "survey_scope": "Official Idaho Statutes at legislature.idaho.gov (host was not available when AMR checked; read from Internet Archive snapshots of the official pages). Full text of official chapter PDFs searched for mineral, severed, dormant, marketable, abandon, unknown owner, surface owner, statement of claim, lapse and oil and gas: Title 55 (Property in General) chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8; Title 47 (Mines and Mining) chapters 3, 6, 7 and 8; Title 6 chapter 4 (quiet title); Title 5 chapter 2 (limitations); Title 14 chapter 5 (Revised Unclaimed Property Act). Snapshots dated March 12, 2025 to March 9, 2026. Chapter lists of Titles 55 and 47 read (snapshots May 10, 2026 and June 12, 2026). No dormant mineral, statement of claim, marketable title or missing mineral owner statute found. Related: Title 14 chapter 5 treats unpaid mineral proceeds as unclaimed property; Title 47 chapter 6 governs location of mining claims (including relocation of abandoned claims, 47-607); 55-101 and the foreign ownership provisions in chapter 1 mention mineral rights only in other contexts.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "The official host could not be reached; all text came from archive snapshots dated up to March 2026 for the chapter texts, so 2026 session amendments were not checked.", "Title 55 chapters other than 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8, and other titles, were not searched in full text.", "Idaho case law on abandonment or adverse possession of severed mineral interests was not reviewed." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-ID-001" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "In the absence of voluntary integration, the Idaho Department of Lands, on application of any owner in the proposed spacing unit, shall order integration of all tracts or interests in the unit (Idaho Code 47-320, numbered 47-322 before 2017). The application must include an affidavit that at least 67 percent of the mineral interest acres in the unit support it; nonconsenting working interest owners face a risk penalty of up to 300 percent, and owners who make no election receive at least a one eighth royalty and the highest bonus paid in the unit.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-ID-002", "SRC-ID-003" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Idaho Code 47-334 (added 2017, amended 2023) lets an oil and gas owner or operator use the surface as reasonably necessary but requires it to mitigate effects, minimize interference, and compensate the surface landowner for unreasonable crop loss, loss of value to existing improvements and permanent damage to the surface. Either side may request nonbinding mediation, and unless the surface owner is party to a lease, surface use agreement or waiver, the operator must post a surface use bond of at least 6,000 dollars per well site before the drilling permit is approved. Separately, 47-708 makes lessees of state mineral leases compensate surface owners.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-ID-004", "SRC-ID-005" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No dormancy or nonuse mechanism exists in the provisions read, so none treats deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P5" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P3", "P4", "P5" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Uncommitted owners may object at least 14 days before the hearing; an owner who makes no election receives the statutory base entitlement.", "propositions": [ "P6", "P7" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P8" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An integration applicant must document good faith efforts on at least two occasions over at least 60 days to reach uncommitted owners, with at least one contact by certified mail to the owner's last known address.", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-320(4)(j)", "passage": "A resume of efforts documenting the applicant’s good faith efforts on at least two (2) separate occasions within a period of time no less than sixty (60) days to inform uncommitted owners ... At least one (1) contact must be by certified U.S. mail sent to an owner’s last known address.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Integration (forced pooling) applications to the Idaho Department of Lands under Idaho Code 47-320 and 47-328; applies to uncommitted owners in a proposed spacing unit, not to a lapse of ownership.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "source_id": "SRC-ID-006", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If an owner is unknown or cannot be found, the applicant must publish a legal notice in a county newspaper asking the owner to make contact.", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-320(4)(j)", "passage": "If an owner is unknown or cannot be found, the applicant must publish a legal notice of its intention to develop and request that the owner contact the applicant in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the proposed spacing unit is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Integration (forced pooling) applications to the Idaho Department of Lands under Idaho Code 47-320 and 47-328; applies to uncommitted owners in a proposed spacing unit, not to a lapse of ownership. Treats unknown and cannot be found owners the same.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "source_id": "SRC-ID-006", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "On filing, the applicant certifies that notice of the application was published for uncommitted owners who are unknown or cannot be found, including the response opportunity and deadline.", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-320(5)", "passage": "At the time the integration application is filed with the department, the applicant shall certify that, for uncommitted owners who are unknown or cannot be found, a notice of the application was published in a newspaper in the county where the proposed spacing unit is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Integration (forced pooling) applications to the Idaho Department of Lands under Idaho Code 47-320 and 47-328; applies to uncommitted owners in a proposed spacing unit, not to a lapse of ownership.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "source_id": "SRC-ID-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The applicant sends the application to all known and located uncommitted owners and must publish notice of the application, hearing and response deadline for owners who cannot be located.", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-328/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-328(3)(b)", "passage": "the applicant shall send a copy of the application and supporting documents to all known and located uncommitted mineral interest owners ... For any uncommitted owners and working interest owners who cannot be located, an applicant shall publish notice of any application for an order, notice of hearing and response deadline once in a newspaper of general circulation", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Integration (forced pooling) applications to the Idaho Department of Lands under Idaho Code 47-320 and 47-328; applies to uncommitted owners in a proposed spacing unit, not to a lapse of ownership.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 18, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "source_id": "SRC-ID-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For hearings on complaints, notice to an interested person who is unknown or cannot be located is served by at least one county newspaper publication.", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-328/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-328(2)", "passage": "Where the interested person is unknown or cannot be located, the commission shall serve notice by publishing at least one (1) notice of the hearing to such person in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the affected tract is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Complaint proceedings before the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission under 47-328(2).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 18, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "source_id": "SRC-ID-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Only an uncommitted owner in the unit may object, and must file at least 14 days before the hearing date in the notice.", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-328/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-328(3)(b)", "passage": "Only an uncommitted owner in the affected unit may file an objection or other response to the application, and the uncommitted owner shall file at least fourteen (14) days before the hearing date provided in the notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Integration (forced pooling) applications to the Idaho Department of Lands under Idaho Code 47-320 and 47-328; applies to uncommitted owners in a proposed spacing unit, not to a lapse of ownership.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 18, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "source_id": "SRC-ID-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An owner who makes no election within the order's election period is compensated by the operator on the statutory terms that follow.", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-320(3)(c)", "passage": "If an owner fails to make an election within the election period set forth in the integration order, the operator shall compensate such owner for the owner’s share of production with the following just and reasonable terms", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Integration (forced pooling) applications to the Idaho Department of Lands under Idaho Code 47-320 and 47-328; applies to uncommitted owners in a proposed spacing unit, not to a lapse of ownership. Applies to any non electing owner, which would include an owner who never received notice; the text does not single out unknown owners. Terms in (c)(i) to (vi).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "source_id": "SRC-ID-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Idaho's unclaimed property act defines mineral proceeds as amounts payable for extraction, production or sale of minerals.", "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/statutesrules/idstat/Title14/T14CH5.pdf", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 14-5-102(16)", "passage": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means an amount payable for extraction, production, or sale of minerals or, on the abandonment of the amount, an amount that becomes payable after abandonment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Revised Unclaimed Property Act (added 2024). Payments only, not ownership; presumption periods were not read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "source_id": "SRC-ID-011", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "legislature.idaho.gov was not available when AMR checked; read from Internet Archive snapshots of official pages: 47-320 (March 7, 2026), 47-328 (June 18, 2026), chapter 47-3 PDF (March 12, 2025) and chapter 14-5 PDF (March 17, 2025). Chapter 47-3 searched for unknown, cannot be found, cannot be located, escrow and unclaimed; 47-331 royalty payment section read. The October review's survey of Titles 55, 47, 6, 5 and 14 found no dormant mineral or missing mineral owner statute and was not repeated in full. No case law search, since no statute was found that a decision would interpret on these points.", "open_questions": [ "Whether integration orders entered after publication bind heirs of a deceased owner of record; no order or decision read.", "Presumption period for mineral proceeds under the Revised Unclaimed Property Act.", "Amendments after the snapshot dates (2025 and 2026 sessions) not checked." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Amendments after the archived copies were not checked, and no order or decision on heirs of a deceased owner was read.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Amendments after the archived copies were not checked, and no order or decision on heirs of a deceased owner was read." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Idaho", "abbr": "ID", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 30, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Idaho. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "IL", "name": "Illinois", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-illinois", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "missing_owner_procedure", "mechanism_label": "Severed Mineral Interest Act: court trusteeship and adverse possession route for unknown or missing owners; no dormant mineral act", "summary": "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. A surface owner, a mineral co owner, an adjoining mineral owner or a lessee can ask the circuit court to declare a trust, appoint a trustee and sell a lease of the missing owner's share, with the money held for that owner; if the owners are still missing 7 years after the leasing judgment, the court orders the interest conveyed to the surface owner (Section 9). Separately, a surface owner can obtain a judgment of presumptive adverse possession and later, if the owners stay missing for 7 years (or 1 year where the severance is more than 20 years old) and the surface owner has paid all taxes assessed on the minerals, a judgment declaring the severed interest null and void and vesting fee title in the surface owner (Section 11). An owner who can be found, or who appears, keeps the interest regardless of nonuse.", "period_years": 7, "period_description": "There is no nonuse period. Section 9 runs 7 years from entry of the initial judgment authorizing a trustee's lease, with the trustee's motion due on or before the eighth anniversary of the lease, 'regardless of whether there has been production'. Section 11(g) runs 7 years from the judgment of presumptive adverse possession, or 1 year from that judgment if the severance took place more than 20 years before the original petition was filed.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "All steps are in the circuit court of the county where the minerals or most of them lie (Sec. 2). Leasing route: a qualified petitioner (Sec. 4) files a verified petition joining the unknown or missing owners and their unknown heirs, showing diligent search and a willing lessee (Sec. 5(a), (b)); the clerk publishes notice once a week for 3 successive weeks and mails it to the last known address, with no default until 30 days after first publication (Sec. 5(c)); the court appoints a trustee to sell a lease on terms consistent with similar leases in the vicinity, and from that judgment the surface owner 'shall be held to be exercising presumptive adverse possession' (Sec. 5(e)); lease money is held in an interest bearing account for the missing owner, who may claim it (Sec. 6); if the owners remain missing 7 years after the leasing judgment, the trustee moves by the eighth anniversary of the lease and the court orders the interest conveyed to the surface owners, with the remaining funds (Sec. 9). Adverse possession route: the surface owner petitions with the same notice (Sec. 11(a) to (d)); the court enters a judgment of presumptive adverse possession (Sec. 11(e)); after 7 years, or 1 year if the severance is more than 20 years old, the surface owner files a renewed motion with fresh diligent search allegations and new notice, and on proof including payment of all taxes legally assessed on the severed interests the court declares them null and void and vests fee title in the surface owner (Sec. 11(g)).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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)).", "interest_scope": "'Any whole or fractional interest in any or all minerals which have been severed from the surface estate by grant, exception, reservation or other means' (Sec. 1(a)), when vested in an unknown or missing owner, including unknown heirs, successors and assigns (Sec. 1(b)). 'Surface owner' means a fee simple or other freehold owner of the overlying surface, not a holder of a right of way, easement, leasehold or lesser estate (Sec. 1(c)).", "mineral_scope": "All minerals; the act does not limit the kind of mineral.", "exceptions": [ "Applies only where the owner is unknown or missing as defined in Sec. 1(b)", "A trustee's lease continues after the trust ends or the estates merge, unless it has expired by its terms (Sec. 3), and binds later owners who take by judgment under Section 9 or 11 (Sec. 13)", "Deposits to the owner's account and tax payments by the trustee are not personal acts of the owner under the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act (Sec. 6)" ], "effective": "P.A. 83-571 (1983), formerly Ill. Rev. Stat. ch. 96 1/2, pars. 9201 to 9217. Section 7 amended by P.A. 84-549 and Section 10 by P.A. 91-357 (eff. 7-29-99). The official section pages read (archived July 2025 to April 2026) show no later amendment. The effective date of P.A. 83-571 was not read.", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Read the official ILGA list of Chapter 765 acts (archived December 22, 2025): its Mineral Rights group is the Mining Act of 1874, Mineral Lease Release of Record Act, Severed Mineral Interest Act, Oil and Gas Rights Act, Oil and Gas Recovery Act, Drilling Operations Act, Oil and Gas Lease Release Act (repealed) and Coal Rights Act, with no dormant mineral act. The Oil and Gas Rights Act (765 ILCS 520, read in the onecle mirror) lets co owners of half or more obtain court leave to drill and sets royalty payment deadlines; the Coal Rights Act (765 ILCS 540) is a co tenant trustee leasing statute. Search results mention a 2011 Senate bill (SB 1876, 97th General Assembly) proposing a Dormant Mineral Interests Act; no such act is in the current code. Tax sale of separately assessed mineral interests was not researched.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "ilga.gov was not available when AMR checked; the act was read from Internet Archive snapshots of the official section pages dated July 2025 to April 2026 (Section 10 only from an unofficial mirror). Amendments after those dates were not checked.", "No Illinois decision applying the Severed Mineral Interest Act was read; how courts apply 'diligent inquiry' and the Section 11 tax payment condition is unverified.", "Whether Illinois common law allows a surface owner to acquire a severed mineral estate by adverse possession outside the act, and whether a severed interest can be lost through tax sale of a separately assessed mineral interest, was not researched.", "The status of SB 1876 (97th General Assembly), a proposed Dormant Mineral Interests Act, was not confirmed from the bill history; it does not appear in the current code." ], "category": "missing_owner", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-IL-001", "SRC-IL-002", "SRC-IL-003", "SRC-IL-004", "SRC-IL-005", "SRC-IL-006" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. Where owners in an established drilling unit have not agreed to integrate and at least one owner has drilled or proposed a well, the Department of Natural Resources, on an owner's application, shall require integration after notice and hearing on just and reasonable terms (225 ILCS 725/22.2(b), (c)). A nonparticipating owner either surrenders a leasehold interest on fair terms or is carried, sharing production only after the participants recover actual costs plus a penalty of 100 to 300 percent; an unleased owner is treated as a lessee of 7/8 and lessor of 1/8 (22.2(f), (g)). Integration involving Department of Natural Resources land requires an environmental review (22.2(b-5)).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-IL-007", "SRC-IL-008" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. The Drilling Operations Act (765 ILCS 530) requires the operator of a new oil or gas well to give the surface owner, identified from the assessor's certification, a copy of the act and written notice at least 15 days before drilling, with an offer to meet about roads, entry points, pits, fences, water, trees and drainage (Secs. 4, 5). The surface owner is entitled to reasonable compensation for damage to crops, trees, fences, roads, structures, improvements, personal property and livestock, for lost commercial crop value on land used for roads and equipment, and for negligent damage to soil productivity; the operator must tender payment within 90 days after completion of the well or owe attorney fees, and must restore the surface at plugging (Sec. 6). It applies to new wells where the surface owner has not consented in writing and the oil and gas are completely severed or the surface owner's interest is subject to integration (Sec. 3, read only in an unofficial mirror).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-IL-009", "SRC-IL-010" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "Covered: an owner whose present identity cannot be determined from county records and diligent local inquiry, including unknown heirs (P1).", "unlocated": "Covered on the same terms as unknown owners: an owner whose present location cannot be determined (P1)." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "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).", "propositions": [ "P10", "P11" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P8" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P4" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Clerk publishes notice and mails a copy to each last known address stated in the petition within 10 days of first publication.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P13", "P12", "P7" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P7", "P9" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An \"unknown or missing owner\" is a vested severed mineral owner whose identity or location cannot be found from county records and diligent local inquiry, including unknown heirs, successors and assigns.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/1(b)", "passage": "whose present identity or location cannot be determined from the records of the county in which the severed mineral interest is located and by diligent inquiry in the vicinity of the owner's last known place of residence, and shall include his unknown heirs and his unknown successors and assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Severed mineral interests of every kind (515/1(a)). Treats unknown and unlocated owners the same. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The circuit court may declare a trust, appoint a trustee for unknown or missing owners and authorize a court approved lease.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/3", "passage": "the circuit court of the county in which the minerals or the major portion thereof lies shall have the power to declare a trust therein, appoint a trustee for the unknown or missing owners and authorize the trustee to sell, execute and deliver a valid lease thereon", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Proceedings may be brought by the surface owner, a mineral co owner, an adjacent mineral owner or their lessee (515/4). No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The petitioner must join unknown or missing owners and the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of all of them.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/5(a)", "passage": "shall join as defendants to the action all persons having a legal interest therein who are unknown or missing and the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of all unknown or missing owners.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trustee lease proceedings; section 11(a) imposes the same joinder in adverse possession proceedings. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The verified petition must state the last known address found, the sources checked, and that after diligent inquiry the owner cannot be found.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/5(b)(4), (5)", "passage": "The last known address, residence or whereabouts which plaintiff may have been able to ascertain for each unknown or missing owner and the sources of information which plaintiff has checked in an attempt to locate the present address, residence or whereabouts of each unknown or missing owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trustee lease proceedings; section 11(b)(4) and (5) are the same for adverse possession, and 11(g) requires renewed allegations before final judgment. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Within 10 days of first publication, the clerk mails a copy of the notice to each defendant's last known address stated in the petition.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/5(c)", "passage": "The clerk shall also, within 10 days of the first publication of the notice, send a copy thereof by mail, addressed to each defendant's last known address stated in the petition.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trustee lease proceedings; 515/11(c) is the same for adverse possession. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Publication must run at least once a week for three successive weeks, and no default may be taken until 30 days after first publication.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/5(c)", "passage": "shall be published at least once in each week for 3 successive weeks. No default or proceeding shall be taken against any defendant unless the first publication is at least 30 days prior to the time when the default or other proceeding is sought to be taken.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trustee lease proceedings; 515/11(c) is the same. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Lease money is deposited in an insured account for the missing owner, and the owner or successor can petition for release on proof of ownership.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/6", "passage": "Such defendant or his successor may petition the court, and upon a finding of the court of ownership of such interest, the court shall enter an order directing the release of all funds applicable to the interest, including any accrued interest, to such owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trustee lease proceeds held in a county depository under court order. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A trustee lease binds the defendant's heirs, legatees, personal representatives, successors and assigns.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/7", "passage": "The lease shall be binding upon the defendant's heirs, legatees, personal representatives, successors or assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trustee leases under sections 3 to 8. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the owners stay unknown or missing for 7 years after the leasing judgment, the trustee moves for conveyance of their interest to the surface owners.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/9(a)", "passage": "remain unknown or missing for a period of 7 years from the date of entry of the initial judgment authorizing a lease, the trustee shall file a motion with the court on or before the eighth anniversary of the date of the lease naming the then present surface owners as additional parties defendant", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interests subject to a trustee lease; applies \"Regardless of whether there has been production\". No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "On a surface owner's petition and proof, the court enters a judgment that the surface owner is exercising presumptive adverse possession of the severed interest.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/11(e)", "passage": "the court shall enter a judgment that the owner of the surface estate and his heirs, successors and assigns, is from the date of the judgment exercising presumptive adverse possession of the severed mineral interests by reason of his ownership.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Severed interests of unknown or missing owners only; an owner who appears is dismissed with his interest determined (515/11(e)). No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "After 7 years, or 1 year if the severance is over 20 years old, with renewed diligent inquiry and all taxes paid, the court declares the interest null and void and vests fee title in the surface owner.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/11(g)", "passage": "the court shall enter a judgment declaring that the severed mineral interests are null and void due to adverse possession by the surface owner and that fee title to such severed mineral interests is vested in such surface owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Requires compliance with notice and \"payment by plaintiff of all taxes legally assessed on such severed mineral interests\" (515/11(g)). No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-020", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Before the null and void judgment, the mineral owner may intervene, prove ownership and keep the interest on repaying the surface owner's taxes and allowed fees.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/11(h)", "passage": "Upon a finding by the court that such intervenor is the owner of said severed mineral interest and upon payment to the plaintiff of all real estate taxes upon said severed mineral interest theretofore paid by the plaintiff and such reasonable attorney fees and costs as the court may allow", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Adverse possession proceedings under section 11. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-021", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A defendant who appears and is found to be the owner has the interest determined and is dismissed from a trustee lease action.", "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/5(e)", "passage": "If any defendant answers or otherwise appears personally and the court finds that he is an unknown or missing owner of a severed mineral interest, the court shall enter an order determining the interest of such defendant and he shall be dismissed from the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trustee lease proceedings; a guardian ad litem's appearance is not a personal appearance. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "source_id": "SRC-IL-022", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read 765 ILCS 515/1 to 515/14 and 515/17 from an Internet Archive snapshot (March 10, 2025) of the official full act page, cross checked against snapshots of the individual section pages (2025-07 to 2026-04); ilga.gov was not available when AMR checked, so amendments after those dates were not checked. The October review found no Illinois nonuse statute; that was not re-searched. One web search for Illinois appellate decisions under the act found none; CourtListener was rate limited and no decision was read. The Code of Civil Procedure section 2-413 (unknown parties), general quiet title, the Oil and Gas Act integration provisions (225 ILCS 725) and the unclaimed property act were not reviewed.", "open_questions": [ "Find and read any Illinois appellate decision applying 765 ILCS 515, especially on \"diligent inquiry\" and the tax payment condition in section 11(g).", "Whether Illinois oil and gas integration orders (225 ILCS 725) provide for escrow of shares of unknown or unlocated owners.", "Whether a separately assessed severed mineral interest can be lost through an ordinary tax sale, outside the act.", "Confirm no amendments to 765 ILCS 515 after the 2025 snapshots." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "No Illinois decision on the Severed Mineral Interest Act was searched or read because the case search was rate limited.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Lead review 6 Oct 2026: coverage set to partial. No Illinois decision on the Severed Mineral Interest Act was searched or read because the case search was rate limited." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Illinois", "abbr": "IL", "category": "special", "unused_minerals": "Special mechanism", "lapse_period": "see note", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 45, "rank": 16, "statute": "765 ILCS 515 (Severed Mineral Interest Act)", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2156&ChapterID=62", "preservation": "Special statutory mechanism rather than a simple nonuse lapse; see statute.", "note": "Illinois does not allow loss by nonuse. Its Severed Mineral Interest Act works through registration and identification of owners rather than reverting interests." } }, { "id": "IN", "name": "Indiana", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/indiana-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Mineral Lapse Act, 20 years, self executing", "summary": "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). A late statement of claim saves the interest only for an owner of 10 or more mineral interests in the county who meets diligence and inadvertence conditions and files within 60 days after published notice of the lapse or actual knowledge of it.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Twenty years of nonuse (IC 32-23-10-2). Any use listed in 32-23-10-3 restarts the period, and a statement of claim filed in time makes the interest in use on its filing date (32-23-10-4(c)). The Court of Appeals held in Bond v. Templeton Coal Co. (2013) that nonuse before the act's September 2, 1971 effective date counts only for the 20 years immediately preceding that date (reported by a secondary source; opinion not read).", "self_executing": "yes", "procedure": "None; the interest is extinguished by operation of law. A person who succeeds to the interest may publish notice of the lapse in a county newspaper and, if the owner's address is of record or can be found on reasonable inquiry, mail a copy within 10 days after publication; filing the notice and an affidavit of service with the recorder is prima facie evidence that notice was given (32-23-10-6). The recorder keeps a dormant mineral interest record (32-23-10-7).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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).", "interest_scope": "The interest created by an instrument that transfers, by grant, assignment, reservation or otherwise, an interest of any kind in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals (32-23-10-1). Ownership reverts to the owner of the interest out of which the mineral interest was carved.", "mineral_scope": "Coal, oil and gas, and other minerals.", "exceptions": [ "Late statement of claim allowed only for an owner who held 10 or more mineral interests in the county when the period expired, made a diligent effort to preserve all unused interests, preserved others in the county within 10 years before the period expired, failed to preserve this one through inadvertence, and files within 60 days after published notice of lapse or, if none, within 60 days after actual knowledge (32-23-10-5)", "No exclusion for government owned interests is stated in the chapter text read", "The chapter may not be waived before the 20 year period expires (32-23-10-8)" ], "effective": "Enacted in 1971 and effective September 2, 1971, with a 2 year grace period for filing statements of claim (as described in Texaco, Inc. v. Short, 454 U.S. 516 (1982)). Current text added as IC 32-23-10 by P.L.2-2002, SEC.8, with no amendment shown in the 2012 official text; the 2026 official code structure lists the same eight sections and captions.", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": null, "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "The current official text could not be read: iga.in.gov was not available when AMR checked and no archived copy of the current chapter text exists. The 2012 official text was used; it should be compared with the 2026 Indiana Code for any amendment after P.L.2-2002 (the 2026 section list and captions are unchanged).", "Bond v. Templeton Coal Co. and Westervelt v. Woodcock were known only from news reports; the opinions themselves were not read.", "Whether rentals, royalties or taxes paid by a lessee rather than the mineral owner count under 32-23-10-3(a)(3) and (6)." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-IN-001", "SRC-IN-002", "SRC-IN-003", "SRC-IN-004", "SRC-IN-005", "SRC-IN-006", "SRC-IN-007" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "If owners of separately owned tracts in an established drilling unit, or in a pool or part of a pool suitable for secondary recovery, do not agree to integrate, the commission shall require them to integrate and develop the land as a drilling unit to prevent waste or avoid unnecessary wells (IC 14-37-9-1), on reasonable terms giving each tract an equitable share (14-37-9-2). The operator recovers the other owners' share of actual reasonable costs, including supervision, from first production; the text read contains no risk penalty (14-37-9-3).", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-IN-008", "SRC-IN-009", "SRC-IN-010" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. A person who enters land to explore for or produce oil and gas is accountable to the surface owner for actual damage to the surface, improvements and growing crops, including marketable timber, drainage and erosion control systems and verified crop damage from compaction, abnormal flooding or erosion, but not for punitive damages; a well may not be located within 200 feet of an existing house, barn or other structure (except fences) without the owner's consent, and damages from installing equipment are payable (IC 32-23-7-6(3), (4)). Since 2011 an oil and gas or coal bed methane mineral owner must give the surface owner written notice at least 5 days before entering to survey a drilling location, except in an emergency or by agreement (32-23-7-6.5).", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-IN-011", "SRC-IN-012", "SRC-IN-013" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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).", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P6", "P7" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P9", "P16" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P8", "P12" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P5", "P7", "P10" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P11" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P3", "P14" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P13", "P15", "P18", "P17" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A mineral interest 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.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-2", "passage": "An interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals, if unused for a period of twenty (20) years, is extinguished and the ownership reverts to the owner of the interest out of which the interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals was carved.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed mineral interests created by instrument (IC 32-23-10-1). The chapter does not mention death, heirs, or unknown or unlocated owners. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-014", "official": false }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The statement of claim must be filed by the owner before the 20 years end and state the owner's name and address and the land.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-4(a)", "passage": "(1) be filed by the owner of the mineral interest before the end of the twenty (20) year period set forth in section 2 of this chapter; and (2) contain: (A) the name and address of the owner of the mineral interest; and (B) a description of the land", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All interests under chapter 10. \"Owner\" is not defined, so whether an heir or estate may file is not stated. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-015", "official": false }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The late claim exception is limited to an owner of ten or more mineral interests in the county when the period expired.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-5(1), (4)", "passage": "(1) was, at the time of the expiration of the period specified in section 4 of this chapter, the owner of ten (10) or more mineral interests in the county", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Narrow exception; an ordinary owner, heir or unlocated owner of fewer interests has no late filing right under this section. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-016", "official": false }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "After lapse, the successor may publish notice of the lapse and must mail a copy if the owner's address is of record or can be found by reasonable inquiry.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-6(a)", "passage": "give notice of the lapse of the mineral interest by: (1) publishing notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the mineral interest is located; and (2) if the address of the mineral interest owner is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry, by mailing, not more than ten (10) days after publication", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Optional notice (\"may\") given after lapse, not before it. Addressed to the record owner; heirs are not mentioned. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-017", "official": false }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The lapse notice names the owner of the mineral interest as shown of record.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-6(b)(1)", "passage": "the name of the owner of the mineral interest, as shown of record", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to the optional post lapse notice. Does not say what happens when the record owner has died. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-018", "official": false }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The Indiana Supreme Court held the act self executing, with notice and hearing owed only if a court is later asked to decide whether a lapse occurred.", "url": "https://static.case.law/ne2d/406/cases/0625-01.json", "publisher": "Indiana Supreme Court, Short v. Texaco, Inc., 406 N.E.2d 625 (Ind. 1980), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "406 N.E.2d 625 (Ind. 1980)", "passage": "If a court should be called upon to determine whether such conditions arose in a particular case so as to have effected the loss of an interest, the owner of such interest would be entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Indiana Supreme Court, controlling statewide; affirmed on federal grounds by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1982. Does not address heirs or unlocated owners specifically.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-short-v-texaco-ind-1980.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "No specific notice is required before a lapse, but any quiet title judgment confirming a lapse requires notice reasonably calculated to reach all interested parties.", "url": "https://static.case.law/us/454/cases/0516-01.json", "publisher": "U.S. Supreme Court, Texaco, Inc. v. Short, 454 U.S. 516 (1982), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "454 U.S. 516, 533 to 534 (1982)", "passage": "It is undisputed that, before judgment could be entered in a quiet title action that would determine conclusively that a mineral interest has reverted to the surface owner, the full procedural protections of the Due Process Clause — including notice reasonably calculated to reach all interested parties and a prior opportunity to be heard — must be provided.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "U.S. Supreme Court reviewing this Indiana statute; controlling on the federal due process questions. It does not say how a lapse adjudication must reach heirs or unknown owners in practice.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-texaco-v-short-1982.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-020", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "\"Unknown or missing owner\" covers a record owner, or one vested by operation of the lapse chapter, whose identity or location cannot be found, and includes heirs and devisees.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-3", "passage": "(2) whose identity or location cannot be determined: (A) from the records in the chain of title in the county in which the land is located; (B) by diligent inquiry in the vicinity of the record owner's last known place of residence or location; and (C) from a search of tax records", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 13 (P.L.28-2015). Treats unknown and unlocated owners together, and subsection (b) states the term includes heirs, devisees, successors and assigns. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-021", "official": false }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The unknown or missing owner definition includes heirs, devisees, successors and assigns.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-3(b)", "passage": "The term includes the person's heirs and devisees and successors and assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 13 only; chapter 10 (lapse) has no equivalent. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-022", "official": false }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The petitioner must name the last record owners and all reasonably ascertainable heirs, devisees, successors and assigns, and certified mail notice goes to the record surface owner where the minerals are severed.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-6(a)(1)(A)", "passage": "The last owners of record in the chain of title and all reasonably ascertainable heirs, devisees, successors, and assigns of the last owners of record.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 13 actions brought by an adjacent mineral producer. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-023", "official": false }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Unknown or missing respondents are joined under the Trial Rules and may be served by publication.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-6(b)", "passage": "The Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure govern an action under this chapter to make an unknown or missing person a respondent. Legal service on a respondent who is unknown or missing may be made by publication.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 13 actions. The Trial Rules' own publication conditions were not read. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-024", "official": false }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The petition must include a verified statement of the steps taken to identify and locate the owner or the owner's heirs, devisees, successors and assigns.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-6(a)(2)(F)", "passage": "A verified statement that informs the court of the actions the petitioner has taken to identify and locate the unknown or missing owner or the owner's heirs, devisees, successors, and assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 13 actions only. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-025", "official": false }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The court may declare a trust, appoint a trustee for the unknown or missing owner and authorize a lease to the adjacent producer on court approved terms.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-7(b)(2)", "passage": "(A) declare a trust in the mineral interest of the unknown or missing owner; (B) appoint, without a bond, a trustee for the unknown or missing owner; and (C) authorize the trustee to execute a valid mineral lease", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only an \"adjacent mineral producer\" (IC 32-23-13-1) may bring the action. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-026", "official": false }, { "id": "P14", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A person claiming the lease money held by the clerk files a verified claim and the court decides entitlement.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-10(b)", "passage": "A person that wishes to claim the funds described in subsection (a) must file a verified claim with the court setting out the interest of the claimant and the basis for the claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 13 lease payments paid to the clerk. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-027", "official": false }, { "id": "P15", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If no successful claim is made within seven years of the clerk's first receipt of funds, the clerk distributes the funds and future payments are redirected as the section directs.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-10(d)", "passage": "If a successful claim is not made under this section for the funds within seven (7) years from the clerk's first receipt of any funds, the clerk shall distribute all the funds received and petitioner shall make any future payments as follows:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 13 funds. The section speaks of funds and payments; it does not say title to the mineral interest itself passes. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-028", "official": false }, { "id": "P16", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A chapter 13 lease binds the respondents' heirs, legatees, personal representatives, successors and assigns.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-12(b)", "passage": "The mineral lease is binding on the heirs, legatees, personal representatives, successors, and assigns of the respondents.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 13 leases. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-029", "official": false }, { "id": "P17", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Chapter 13 is not exclusive; integration of oil and gas interests under IC 14-37-9, including interests of missing or unknown owners, remains available.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-14", "passage": "The remedies provided in this chapter are not exclusive and do not prohibit the initiation of a petition for the integration of oil and gas interest as provided in IC 14-37-9, including the integration of interests of missing or unknown owners.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "IC 14-37-9 itself was not read. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-030", "official": false }, { "id": "P18", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Where the minerals are severed and the record surface owner cannot be identified and located, unclaimed funds and future payments go to the township trustee for township purposes.", "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-10(d)(2)", "passage": "the clerk shall distribute the funds and the petitioner shall make any future payments to the township trustee of the township in which the subject land is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Chapter 13 funds; where the surface owner is identified and located, subsection (d)(1) directs them to that owner instead. Text is the Indiana Code 2017 edition; the official 2026 structure file lists the same sections and captions, but the 2026 text itself could not be read.", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "source_id": "SRC-IN-031", "official": false } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read IC 32-23-10-1 to -8 and IC 32-23-13-1 to -14 from the Indiana Code 2017 PDFs carried by Justia, because iga.in.gov returned only its application shell from this network and no archived copy of the 2026 chapter text exists; checked section numbers and captions against the official 2026 Title 32 structure file (Internet Archive snapshot June 30, 2026). Read Short v. Texaco, 406 N.E.2d 625 (Ind. 1980) and Texaco, Inc. v. Short, 454 U.S. 516 (1982) from the Caselaw Access Project. One web search located chapter 13. CourtListener was rate limited, so Indiana Court of Appeals decisions (Bond v. Templeton Coal Co., 2013; others) were not read. IC 14-37-9 (integration) and the Trial Rules on publication were not read.", "open_questions": [ "Compare the 2017 text of IC 32-23-10 and 32-23-13 with the 2026 Indiana Code once iga.in.gov is reachable.", "Read Indiana Court of Appeals decisions applying IC 32-23-10, including any on heirs, estates or the 60 day late claim, and any applying IC 32-23-13.", "Read IC 14-37-9 on integration of interests of missing or unknown owners, including how their share of proceeds is held.", "Whether a deceased owner's heirs can rely on taxes or royalties paid in the decedent's name as \"use\" under IC 32-23-10-3." ], "confidence": "medium", "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.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage reason added: statute text is the 2017 code; a currency check against the 2026 code is outstanding.", "Lead review 6 Oct 2026: coverage set to partial; statute text is the 2017 code and a currency check against the 2026 code is outstanding." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Indiana", "abbr": "IN", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "20 years", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 84, "rank": 4, "statute": "Ind. Code 32-23-10 (Mineral Lapse Act)", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://iga.in.gov/laws/2024/ic/titles/32/articles/23/chapters/10", "preservation": "File a statement of claim, or produce or pay rents, royalties, or taxes within 20 years (Ind. Code 32-23-10).", "note": "Indiana's Mineral Lapse Act lets a severed mineral interest unused for 20 years be deemed abandoned and revert to the surface owner. The US Supreme Court upheld it in Texaco v. Short (1982)." } }, { "id": "IA", "name": "Iowa", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/iowa-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_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)", "summary": "Iowa Code chapter 557C, enacted in 1991 for coal only, was rewritten by 2026 Iowa Acts chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531), effective on approval on June 2, 2026. A severed interest in coal, oil, gas, other hydrocarbons, oil shale, gemstones, metals, ore or geothermal resources is abandoned if it has not been active under new section 557C.2A for twenty years after its creation, transfer or preservation, unless a statement of claim is filed, and title vests in the surface owner on the date of abandonment. An owner whose interest was separately taxed after July 1, 1971, with the tax paid, no tax sale and no conveyance to the surface owner, need not file a claim (557C.6). Separately, since June 2, 2026 an unpaid tax on a severed mineral interest leads to its conveyance to the surface owner if not paid within ninety days of notice (458A.20).", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Twenty years after the interest's creation, transfer or preservation without the interest being active under 557C.2A. A statement of claim filed within the period preserves it for a further twenty years, or a shorter period stated in the creating instrument. Before June 2, 2026 the coal interest was extinguished twenty years after creation, transfer or preservation unless a claim was filed, and reverted to the owner of the interest it was carved from.", "self_executing": "yes", "procedure": "None stated: by the statute's words the interest is abandoned and title vests in the surface owner on the date of abandonment. Chapter 557C requires no notice to the mineral owner and no court action.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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).", "interest_scope": "A severed mineral interest: an interest of any kind, created or transferred by an instrument by grant, assignment, reservation or otherwise, in the listed minerals (557C.2(2) as amended 2026). Until June 2, 2026 the chapter reached only mineral interests in coal.", "mineral_scope": "Coal, naturally occurring gases, oil, other gaseous, liquid or solid hydrocarbons, oil shale, gemstones, metals, fissionable or nonfissionable ore, steam or other geothermal resources; excluding any resource listed in the section 208.2 definition of mineral (gypsum, clay, stone, sand, gravel, or other ores or mineral solids, except coal).", "exceptions": [ "No statement of claim is required if the severed interest was separately taxed for real estate tax purposes at any time after July 1, 1971, the tax was paid, the interest has not been subject to a tax sale and has not been conveyed to the surface owner under 331.310 or 458A.20 (557C.6 as amended 2026)", "Resources listed in the section 208.2 definition of mineral are excluded from the definition of severed mineral interest" ], "effective": "Chapter 557C enacted by 1991 Iowa Acts chapter 183 (coal only; claim due by the end of the twenty years or July 1, 1994, whichever later). Amended by 2026 Iowa Acts chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531), approved June 2, 2026 and effective on enactment: extended to the minerals listed, added the activity test (557C.2A), vested title in the surface owner, narrowed the tax exemption, and rewrote 458A.20 (tax delinquency leads to conveyance to the surface owner). The Act sets no new claim deadline or grace period for the newly covered minerals; the July 1, 1994 date is unchanged.", "date_model": "explain_only", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Official Iowa Code 2026 PDFs at legis.iowa.gov: chapter 557C read whole; chapter 614 read and searched for mineral, coal, oil and gas with no match (614.17A ten year ancient claims bar and 614.29 to 614.38 forty year Marketable Record Title Act have no mineral specific terms); chapter 458A read whole; section 208.2 read. 2026 session laws read: chapters 1176 (H.F. 2531) and 1141 (S.F. 2490), with struck and added text checked visually on the PDF pages; bill pages and governor approval letters read.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "Applying the 2026 amendment to oil, gas and other non coal interests with no new claim deadline or grace period may be challenged; compare the grace period in the Indiana act upheld in Texaco, Inc. v. Short, 454 U.S. 516 (1982). No Iowa decision on the 2026 text was found.", "Whether an interest exempt from filing under 557C.6 (taxed after July 1, 1971, tax paid, no tax sale) is preserved regardless of twenty years of inactivity.", "Whether the section 208.2 exclusion ('other ores or mineral solids, except coal') cancels the inclusion of metals and ore in 557C.2(2).", "Whether the July 1, 1994 claim date in 557C.3 was meant to govern non coal interests.", "The Iowa Code 2026 PDFs predate both 2026 Acts; the codified 2027 text and any Code editor changes were not available.", "Whether Iowa courts have applied the Marketable Record Title Act (614.29 to 614.38) or the 614.17A ten year bar to severed mineral interests was not checked." ], "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.", "category": "lapse_statute", "evidence": "partial" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-IA-001", "SRC-IA-001", "SRC-IA-002", "SRC-IA-003", "SRC-IA-004", "SRC-IA-005" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Iowa Code 458A.8 as amended by 2026 Iowa Acts chapter 1141 (S.F. 2490, approved June 1, 2026, effective July 1, 2026 under Iowa Code 3.7) struck the general rule that the department shall pool all interests in a spacing unit on any interested person's application. The section now keeps voluntary pooling and allows compulsory pooling only where the producer has identified pools of existing natural hydrogen in the spacing unit, on application of owners of at least 25 percent of the unit area, with cost recovery, risk penalties of up to 200 percent, and a 12.5 percent cost free royalty for unleased nonconsenting owners. Before July 1, 2026 the general rule applied.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-IA-006", "SRC-IA-007", "SRC-IA-008" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "New Iowa Code 458A.26 (2026 Iowa Acts chapter 1141, S.F. 2490, effective July 1, 2026) requires an operator to obtain the surface owner's written permission before entering a site subject to a 458A.8 pooling order, or within an exploratory spacing unit, for an oil and gas operation, and to negotiate and sign a written contract for payment of damages before entering with heavy equipment to drill; without agreement it may not enter to drill. A surface owner may opt out of further contact by notice to the operator and the attorney general, and contact after opt out carries a civil penalty of at least 10,000 dollars per violation. Sites outside pooling orders and exploratory spacing units are not covered.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-IA-009" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read; 557C applies to every severed owner alike.", "unlocated": "Not addressed in 557C. For tax delinquency, notice is mailed to the last known address and registered agent only (P7)." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4" ] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Neither chapter 557C as amended nor 458A.20 requires a search for the mineral owner.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P7" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No publication provision appears in chapter 557C as amended or in 458A.20.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [ "P8" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A severed mineral interest is abandoned if not active under 557C.2A for twenty years after its creation, transfer or preservation, unless a statement of claim is filed.", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 7 (Iowa Code 557C.1)", "passage": "A mineral interest is abandoned if it has not been active in accordance with section 557C.2A for a period of twenty years after its creation, transfer, or preservation, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with section 557C.3", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Severed interests in coal, oil, gas, other hydrocarbons, oil shale, gemstones, metals, ore and geothermal resources (557C.2(2) as amended). Silent on deceased, unknown or unlocated owners. Effective on approval, June 2, 2026; passage read from the amended text with struck words removed. No Iowa decision on the 2026 text was found.", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "source_id": "SRC-IA-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Title to an abandoned interest vests in the surface owner on the date of abandonment.", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 7 (Iowa Code 557C.1)", "passage": "Title to an abandoned mineral interest vests in the owner of the surface estate in the land in, or under, which the mineral interest is located on the date of abandonment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "No court action or notice step is stated. Effective on approval, June 2, 2026; passage read from the amended text with struck words removed. No Iowa decision on the 2026 text was found.", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "source_id": "SRC-IA-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A recorded private distribution, termination of joint tenancy affidavit, termination of life estate affidavit, or judgment or decree that specifically references the record owner's interest makes the interest active.", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 9 (new Iowa Code 557C.2A(4))", "passage": "Any valid conveyance, lease, mortgage, assignment, private distribution, termination of joint tenancy interest affidavit, termination of life estate affidavit, or any judgment or decree that makes specific references to the record owner’s severed mineral interest is recorded within the last twenty years in the recorder’s office", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests under chapter 557C. The list includes instruments typically recorded after a death, but the text does not mention death or heirs, and \"private distribution\" is undefined. Effective on approval, June 2, 2026; passage read from the amended text with struck words removed. No Iowa decision on the 2026 text was found.", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "source_id": "SRC-IA-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Production or exploration by the record owner or the record owner's rightful assignees or lessees, or under a pooling order, makes the interest active.", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 9 (new Iowa Code 557C.2A(1))", "passage": "Minerals are produced or explored by the record owner of the mineral interest, or the rightful assignees or lessees of the record owner of the severed mineral interest, or pursuant to a pooling order issued by the department of natural resources pursuant to chapter 458A.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests under chapter 557C. Does not say whether heirs are \"rightful assignees\". Effective on approval, June 2, 2026; passage read from the amended text with struck words removed. No Iowa decision on the 2026 text was found.", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "source_id": "SRC-IA-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The owner preserves the interest by recording a statement of claim with name, address and description before the twenty year period ends.", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 10 (Iowa Code 557C.3)", "passage": "The statement of claim provided in section 557C.1 shall be filed by the owner of the severed mineral interest prior to the end of the twenty-year period set forth in section 557C.1 or by July 1, 1994, whichever is later.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "\"Owner\" is not defined, so whether an heir or estate may file is not stated. Effective on approval, June 2, 2026; passage read from the amended text with struck words removed. No Iowa decision on the 2026 text was found.", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "source_id": "SRC-IA-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "No statement of claim is required if the interest was separately taxed after July 1, 1971, the tax was paid, there was no tax sale and no conveyance to the surface owner.", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 13 (Iowa Code 557C.6)", "passage": "shall not be required of an owner if the severed mineral interest was separately taxed for real estate tax purposes at any time after July 1, 1971", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Exemption from filing; whether it also prevents abandonment for inactivity is not stated. Effective on approval, June 2, 2026; passage read from the amended text with struck words removed. No Iowa decision on the 2026 text was found.", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "source_id": "SRC-IA-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For delinquent taxes on a severed mineral interest, the county treasurer mails notice by regular first class mail to the last known address and any registered agent.", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 6 (Iowa Code 458A.20(1))", "passage": "The county treasurer shall serve the notice by sending it by regular first class mail to the person’s last known address and to the address of the person’s registered agent listed with the secretary of state, applicable.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Tax delinquency route, separate from 557C abandonment. No search or publication is required by this text; the word \"applicable\" appears as printed. Effective on approval, June 2, 2026; passage read from the amended text with struck words removed. No Iowa decision on the 2026 text was found.", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "source_id": "SRC-IA-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the owner does not pay within ninety days after notice, the county conveys the interest to the surface owner and the owner's redemption right ends.", "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 6 (Iowa Code 458A.20(2))", "passage": "When the owner of those mineral rights or interests does not pay the total amount due by the deadline, the county shall convey the mineral rights or interests pursuant to section 331.310 to the surface owner of the land ... Such conveyance shall terminate any right of redemption", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Severed mineral rights not owned by the surface owner whose taxes are delinquent. Effective on approval, June 2, 2026; passage read from the amended text with struck words removed. No Iowa decision on the 2026 text was found.", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "source_id": "SRC-IA-016", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read 2026 Iowa Acts chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531), sections 1 to 14, from the official session law PDF (legis.iowa.gov, read directly), extracting struck and added text from the PDF markup; read Iowa Code 2026 chapter 458A (pre amendment) for \"unknown\", \"heirs\", \"escrow\", \"nonresident\" and \"notice\". Chapter 557C as printed in Code 2026 predates the amendment. CourtListener was rate limited, so no Iowa decision was searched; none on the 2026 text is expected. General quiet title (chapter 649), probate and unclaimed property were not reviewed.", "open_questions": [ "Whether \"private distribution\" in 557C.2A(4) means a probate or trust distribution, and whether heirs are \"rightful assignees\" under 557C.2A(1).", "Whether the 557C.6 tax exemption prevents abandonment or only excuses filing a claim.", "Whether applying the 2026 text to existing non coal interests without a new grace period will be challenged; compare Texaco v. Short (1982), not generalized here.", "Whether Iowa pooling orders under 458A.8 hold shares of unlocated owners in any escrow." ], "confidence": "medium", "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.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Lead review 6 Oct 2026: coverage set to partial. 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." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Iowa", "abbr": "IA", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 31, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Iowa. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "KS", "name": "Kansas", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/kansas-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Mineral interest lapse statute, 20 years, self executing with a 60 day cure", "summary": "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. The mineral owner can still undo it by filing a statement of claim within 60 days after the successor publishes notice of the lapse, or, if no notice is published, within 60 days after learning of the lapse.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Twenty years of nonuse (K.S.A. 55-1602). Any use listed in 55-1603 restarts the period, and a statement of claim filed in time counts as use on the date it is filed (55-1604(a)).", "self_executing": "yes", "procedure": "None for the lapse itself. The person who will succeed to the interest shall publish notice of the lapse in a newspaper of general circulation in the county and, if the owner's address is of record or can be found on reasonable inquiry, mail a copy by restricted mail within 10 days after publication; a copy with an affidavit of publication and service promptly filed with the register of deeds is prima facie evidence that notice was given (55-1605). The register records statements of claim and proofs of notice and notes them in the margin of the instrument that created the interest (55-1606).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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)).", "interest_scope": "An interest created by an instrument transferring, by grant, assignment, reservation or otherwise, an interest of any kind in coal, oil, gas or other minerals (55-1601). Ownership reverts to the current surface owner (55-1602).", "mineral_scope": "Coal, oil, gas and other minerals.", "exceptions": [ "No exclusion for government owned interests or any class of interest is stated in 55-1601 to 55-1607", "The act may not be waived before the 20 year period expires (55-1607)" ], "effective": "L. 1983, ch. 185, sections 1 to 7, effective July 1, 1983. For interests already unused when the act took effect, a statement of claim could be filed until three years after the effective date (55-1604(a)). The official history lines show no later amendment.", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": null, "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Kansas appellate decisions applying 55-1601 to 55-1607 were not researched, for example whether production by a lessee or on a pooled unit, or rentals paid by a lessee, satisfy uses that the text ties to the owner.", "How the 60 day cure in 55-1604(b) affects a surface owner's title before notice is published should be checked by a specialist." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-KS-001", "SRC-KS-002", "SRC-KS-003", "SRC-KS-004", "SRC-KS-005", "SRC-KS-006", "SRC-KS-007" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "The Kansas Corporation Commission can order unitization and unit operation of a pool or part of a pool (K.S.A. 55-1301 to 55-1317); the order takes effect only after written approval by owners who will pay at least 63 percent of unit costs and by royalty owners holding at least 63 percent, or 75 percent where the order rests on the waste prevention finding (55-1305). A city that allows drilling may divide itself into drilling units by ordinance, which must require owners to pool (55-1610 to 55-1613). No general commission power to force pool an ordinary drilling unit was found in the Chapter 55 caption index.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": "For the negative part (no general forced pooling of drilling units): ksrevisor.gov Chapter 55 caption index, Articles 1 to 18, and full text of 55-1301, 55-1302, 55-1304, 55-1305, 55-1610 to 55-1613 and 55-703a. Kansas Corporation Commission regulations were not checked.", "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-KS-008", "SRC-KS-009", "SRC-KS-010", "SRC-KS-011" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute requiring operators to compensate surface owners for damage was found. The Kansas surface owner notice act (K.S.A. 55-169 to 55-169b, 2009) and 55-151(a) are notice only: the intent to drill application must name the surface owner, and the commission sends the surface owner a copy unless the operator verifies it delivered the application.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "ksrevisor.gov Chapter 55 (Oil and Gas) caption index, Articles 1 to 18, searched for surface, owner and damage, plus full text of 55-151(a), 55-169, 55-169a and 55-169b. Other chapters and commission regulations were not searched.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-KS-012", "SRC-KS-013" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the lapse act; publication is always required (55-1605). The receivership statute speaks of whereabouts, not identity.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Twenty years of nonuse; lapse and reversion without a court action, subject to the post notice claim window.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "succession": { "status": "case_law", "statement": "The act says 'owner', not 'record owner', for claims; heirs who acquired by intestacy are owners entitled to file.", "propositions": [ "P7", "P8" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P10" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P4" ] }, "publication": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county is required in every case.", "propositions": [ "P3" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P9", "P11", "P12" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A mineral interest unused for twenty years lapses and reverts to the current surface owner unless a statement of claim is filed.", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0002.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1602", "passage": "An interest in coal, oil, gas or other minerals, if unused for a period of 20 years, shall lapse, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with K.S.A. 55-1604, and the ownership shall revert to the current surface owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All mineral interests created by instrument (55-1601). Silent on deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-1601-1607.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The successor must mail the notice by restricted mail if the owner's address is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry.", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0005.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1605", "passage": "if the address of the owner of the mineral interest is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry, by mailing a copy of the notice by restricted mail to the owner of the mineral interest within 10 days after publication.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "\"Reasonable inquiry\" is not defined in the act. No Kansas decision construing it, or applying it to a deceased owner, was found.", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-1601-1607.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The person who will succeed to the interest must publish notice of the lapse in a newspaper of general circulation in the county.", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0005.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1605", "passage": "any person who will succeed to the ownership of the interest shall give notice of the lapse of the mineral interest by publishing notice of the lapse in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the land subject to the mineral interest is located", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every notice of lapse; one publication is described and no precondition is stated.", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-1601-1607.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The notice names the owner of the mineral interest as shown of record.", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0005.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1605", "passage": "The notice shall state the name of the owner of the mineral interest, as shown of record; a description of the land subject to the mineral interest; and the name of the person giving the notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All notices of lapse.", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-1601-1607.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A late statement of claim still prevents extinguishment if filed within sixty days after published notice, or, if no notice is published, within sixty days after actual knowledge of the lapse.", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0004.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1604(b)", "passage": "shall not cause a mineral interest to be extinguished if the owner of the mineral interest filed the statement of claim within 60 days after (1) publication of notice as prescribed by K.S.A. 55-1605, if such notice is published or (2) within 60 days after receiving actual knowledge", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Owner of the mineral interest; the act does not say \"record owner\" here (see Nickelson v. Bell on heirs).", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-1601-1607.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-006", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A statement of claim filed within sixty days of published notice prevented extinguishment without proof of use.", "url": "https://static.case.law/kan-app-2d/17/cases/0582-01.json", "publisher": "Kansas Court of Appeals, Caselaw Access Project static copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Scully v. Overall, 17 Kan. App. 2d 582, 587 (1992)", "passage": "We hold that the mineral interest was not extinguished or vested in the surface owners after 20 years of nonuse, when the mineral interest owners filed a statement of claim within 60 days from the publication of notice under K.S.A. 55-1604(b)(l).", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Kansas Court of Appeals, published opinion. No Kansas Supreme Court decision on K.S.A. 55-1601 et seq. was found, so it has not been displaced; it does not bind the Supreme Court. Review denied, 252 Kan. 1093 (per Nickelson v. Bell). Owners there were living and received the notice.", "saved_as": "sources/KS-scully-v-overall-1992.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "An heir by intestate succession is an owner who may file a statement of claim without first obtaining a decree of descent.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2016/09/16/nickelson_v._bell.pdf", "publisher": "Kansas Court of Appeals, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Nickelson v. Bell, No. 114,507 (Kan. Ct. App. Sept. 16, 2016), syllabus 6", "passage": "A person who has acquired a mineral interest through intestate succession is not required to possess a decree of descent obtained under K.S.A. 59-2251 prior to filing a claim under the mineral lapse statute.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Kansas Court of Appeals, published opinion. No Kansas Supreme Court decision on K.S.A. 55-1601 et seq. was found, so it has not been displaced; it does not bind the Supreme Court. Syllabus by the court. The heirs filed within sixty days of published notice; the case does not address notice to heirs.", "saved_as": "sources/KS-nickelson-v-bell-2016.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "An owner under 55-1604 is anyone who has acquired the right to possess, use and control the mineral interest.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2016/09/16/nickelson_v._bell.pdf", "publisher": "Kansas Court of Appeals, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Nickelson v. Bell (Kan. Ct. App. 2016), syllabus 4", "passage": "An owner of an unused mineral interest, as the term is used in K.S.A. 55-1604, is one who has acquired the right to possess, use, and control the subject mineral interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Kansas Court of Appeals, published opinion. No Kansas Supreme Court decision on K.S.A. 55-1601 et seq. was found, so it has not been displaced; it does not bind the Supreme Court. ", "saved_as": "sources/KS-nickelson-v-bell-2016.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A mineral owner or lessee may ask the district court to appoint a receiver over a minority mineral interest whose owners' whereabouts cannot be ascertained.", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0019.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-219", "passage": "the district court of the county wherein such tract or tracts of land are situated shall have the power to appoint a receiver over the mineral interest of such defendants whose residence, business address, or whereabouts are unknown, upon compliance with the procedure set forth in K.S.A. 55-220.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only where the missing defendants own or appear to own in the aggregate a minority interest. Unlocated owners; the text does not mention heirs or unknown identity.", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-219-222.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The receivership petition must list sources checked and state that the plaintiff exercised due diligence and cannot locate the defendants.", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0020.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-220(a)(3)", "passage": "the sources of information which plaintiff has checked in an attempt to locate the present address or whereabouts of said defendant or defendants, and further stating that plaintiff has exercised due diligence and cannot by any means within plaintiff's control ascertain the present address or whereabouts", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Receivership petitions under 55-219 and 55-220 only, not the lapse act.", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-219-222.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Notice of the receivership hearing is by one publication in the county of the land and of any Kansas last known address, and by certified mail to the last known address.", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0020.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-220(b)", "passage": "Notice of the hearing, the nature of the hearing and relief requested shall be given by publication one (1) time in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the property is located and also in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of the last known address of the defendant or defendants", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Receivership hearings; the same subsection adds certified mail to the last known address and to any third party taxpayer.", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-219-222.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The receiver sells a lease of up to five years primary term; bonus and rentals are deposited with the court and later production payments are held in suspense or go to unclaimed property.", "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0021.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-221", "passage": "All bonuses, rentals or other monies paid to the receiver for the execution or extension of the oil and gas lease shall be by the receiver deposited with the court for the use and benefit of the defendants.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Receiverships under 55-219. The provisions read do not say whether a receiver's lease is a use under the lapse act.", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-219-222.md", "source_id": "SRC-KS-020", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "Read: K.S.A. 55-1601 to 55-1607, 55-1610 to 55-1613 (not relevant), 55-219 to 55-225, 55-1301 to 55-1306 (unitization, not relevant), 55-169 (ksrevisor.gov). Opinions read: Scully v. Overall, 17 Kan. App. 2d 582 (1992); Nickelson v. Bell, Kan. Ct. App. No. 114,507 (2016). Located through the Revisor's case annotations and two web searches. Not reviewed: Uniform Unclaimed Property Act K.S.A. 58-3934 et seq., probate code beyond the sections quoted in Nickelson, quiet title.", "open_questions": [ "What a 'reasonable inquiry' under 55-1605 requires, and whether mailing to a deceased owner's record address suffices; no Kansas decision found.", "Whether the 55-1604(b)(2) actual knowledge window can run against unknown or unlocated heirs when no notice is published.", "Whether a 55-219 receiver's lease counts as use under 55-1603." ], "confidence": "medium", "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.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: 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." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Kansas", "abbr": "KS", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "20 years", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 84, "rank": 5, "statute": "Kan. Stat. Ann. 55-1601 to 55-1607", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://www.ksrevisor.org/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0001.html", "preservation": "File a statement of claim, or use the interest within 20 years (Kan. Stat. Ann. 55-1603).", "note": "Kansas Mineral Lapse Act: a severed interest unused for 20 years lapses and reverts to the surface owner unless the owner files a statement of claim within 60 days of the surface owner notice of lapse." } }, { "id": "KY", "name": "Kentucky", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-kentucky", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "missing_owner_procedure", "mechanism_label": "Court trust and lease for unknown or missing severed mineral owners, title to the surface owner after 7 years of production", "summary": "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. Only if the minerals are produced commercially under that lease and the owners stay unknown or missing for 7 years after first production does the court order the interest conveyed to the surface owners. An owner who is known or can be found by diligent inquiry is outside the statute.", "period_years": 7, "period_description": "Not a nonuse period. The 7 years run from the date of first commercial production under the court approved trustee lease (KRS 353.470(1), 353.476). Within that window a missing owner may redocket the action, prove identity and title, and recover the interest and the funds (KRS 353.468(6)). If there is never commercial production, the trustee pays accrued lease proceeds to the surface owner on lease termination or 7 years after the judgment authorizing the lease, whichever last occurs (KRS 353.472), and title is not conveyed.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Verified petition in the circuit court of the county where the minerals or most of them lie, joining the unknown or missing record owners and their unknown heirs, with a certified copy of the severance instrument and the chain to the last record owner and proof of a diligent search. Lis pendens filed and advertisement under KRS Chapter 424. The court appoints an attorney as trustee ad litem, who must search independently. If development is advantageous to the missing owners, the court declares a trust, appoints a bonded trustee and approves a lease sale; the trustee holds the proceeds and may spend up to 10 percent on a search. After 7 years of commercial production with the owners still missing, the trustee moves to join the surface owners, who must prove fee simple surface title, and the court orders the trustee to convey the missing owners' interest to them by recordable instrument; the trust then ends.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Any whole or fractional interest in any or all minerals severed from the surface estate by grant, exception, reservation or other means, when vested in a person whose present identity or location cannot be determined from the county records or by diligent inquiry near the owner's last known residence, including unknown heirs, successors and assigns (KRS 353.460).", "mineral_scope": "All minerals (\"any or all minerals\"); the trustee lease is on terms customary in the area for the minerals covered.", "exceptions": [ "Interests of owners who are known or locatable by diligent inquiry are excluded (KRS 353.468(4))", "Title passes to the surface owner only after commercial production under the trustee lease plus 7 years with the owners still missing (KRS 353.470(1)); without commercial production the surface owner receives accrued proceeds only (KRS 353.472)", "The trustee lease survives termination of the trust unless it expires by its own terms (KRS 353.464(1))" ], "effective": "Created by 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 165, sections 1 to 9, effective July 15, 1982. Each section's history line shows no later amendment, and the archived official chapter 353 index of June 15, 2026 lists all nine sections under their original statute ids.", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Dormancy survey: every section caption of KRS Chapter 353 (archived official index, June 15, 2026) and the mineral related captions of KRS Chapters 349 and 381 were read; no section terminates or abandons a severed mineral interest for nonuse. A dormant mineral interests bill, 2000 RS HB 990 (surface owner action after 15 years of nonuse, notice of intent to preserve, 3 year grace period), shows only introduction, referral and posting in committee. KRS 381.430 provides that possession of the surface does not break the continuity of possession of severed minerals. Unclaimed property (KRS 393A) and property tax collection (KRS 132, 134) were not reviewed.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Official host apps.legislature.ky.gov was not available when AMR checked; text read from Internet Archive snapshots of the official URLs dated March 10 to 15, 2025. The 2025 Regular Session table of KRS sections affected (archived) lists no chapter 353 section; the 2026 Regular Session table was not archived, so 2026 amendments were not checked directly.", "No reported case law on KRS 353.460 to 353.476 was reviewed; how courts read \"diligent inquiry\" and \"advantageous to the owner\" is unchecked.", "2000 RS HB 990 bill record ends at posting in committee; later dormant mineral bills in other sessions were not searched exhaustively." ], "category": "missing_owner", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-KY-001", "SRC-KY-002", "SRC-KY-003", "SRC-KY-004", "SRC-KY-005", "SRC-KY-006", "SRC-KY-007", "SRC-KY-008" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. For shallow wells the Department for Natural Resources pools tracts that cannot meet spacing, or pools all interests where the operator holds 51 percent of the interests in each tract or controls 100 percent, with unknown or nonlocatable owners deemed to consent after publication (KRS 353.630, 353.640); nonconsenting owners surrender or are carried at 200 percent, and unlocated owners are deemed to lease, keeping one eighth. For deep wells the Kentucky Oil and Gas Conservation Commission must pool all tracts in a drilling unit on application after notice and hearing, with a carried interest recovery of three times costs (KRS 353.651).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-KY-009", "SRC-KY-010", "SRC-KY-011" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. KRS 353.595 (1990) applies to new oil or gas wells where the oil and gas are fully severed from the surface, or the surface owner owns part of the oil and gas, and the surface owner has not consented in writing. The operator must give written notice before drilling and offer to meet, and the surface owner is entitled to reasonable compensation for damage to crops, trees, fences, roads, structures, improvements and livestock, tendered within 90 days after completion, with attorney's fees if the operator fails to tender or tenders unreasonably (unless it relied on a third party appraiser).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-KY-012" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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)).", "unknown": "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)).", "unlocated": "Covered by the same definition: an owner whose location cannot be so determined. The statute treats unknown and unlocated owners the same." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute", "statement": "The definition of unknown or missing owner includes unknown heirs, successors and assigns, and they must be joined as defendants.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Service under the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure, plus a recorded lis pendens naming the parties and their last known addresses.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "publication": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Advertisement under KRS Chapter 424 immediately on filing, with court ordered additional advertisement where it might help.", "propositions": [ "P6" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P8", "P9", "P11" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P7", "P10", "P12", "P13", "P14" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An unknown or missing owner is one whose present identity or location cannot be determined from county records or by diligent inquiry near the last known residence, and includes unknown heirs, successors and assigns.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33095", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.460(2)", "passage": "An \"unknown or missing owner\" is any person vested with a severed mineral interest and whose present identity or location cannot be determined from the records of the county in which the land is located or by diligent inquiry in the vicinity of the owner's last known place of residence, and shall include his unknown heirs, successors and assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "All unknown or missing record owners and their unknown heirs, successors and assigns must be joined as defendants, and everyone with any interest is bound.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.466(1)", "passage": "shall join as defendants to the action all those persons having record title thereto who are unknown or missing and the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of all such persons.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The verified petition must set out the efforts to locate and identify the owners, and the petitioner must satisfy the court that a diligent effort was made.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.466(2)", "passage": "The petitioner shall establish to the satisfaction of the court that a diligent effort has been made to identify and locate the present owners of said interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A court appointed trustee ad litem must make an independent search for the unknown or missing owners and report to the court.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.466(4)", "passage": "It shall be the duty of the trustee ad litem to make an independent inquiry and search for the purpose of identifying and locating the unknown or missing owners and he shall report to the court the results of the investigation.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Service follows the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure and a lis pendens notice must be recorded in the county clerk's office.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.466(3)", "passage": "Service of process shall be as provided by the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure and there shall be filed a lis pendens notice in the county clerk's office of the county wherein the mineral estate or the larger portion thereof lies.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Immediately on filing, the petitioner must advertise under KRS Chapter 424, and the court may order more advertisement if it might help find the owners.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.466(3)", "passage": "Immediately upon the filing of the petition, the petitioner shall advertise as provided in KRS Chapter 424.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing. KRS Chapter 424 was not reviewed. The advertisement must give the parties' names and last known addresses.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If title is vested in an unknown or missing owner and development would benefit the owner, the circuit court may declare a trust, appoint a trustee and authorize the trustee to lease.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33097", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.464(1)", "passage": "the Circuit Court of the county in which the minerals or the major portion thereof lies shall have the power to declare a trust therein, appoint a trustee for the unknown or missing owners and authorize the trustee to sell, execute and deliver a valid lease thereon", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "No trustee lease may cover an owner who is known or can be found by diligent inquiry, and such an owner may intervene before judgment to establish title.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33099", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.468(4)", "passage": "The court shall not authorize a trustee's lease upon the severed mineral interest of any owner whose identity and whereabouts is known, or can be ascertained by diligent inquiry, or is discovered as a result of the action brought hereunder;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 15, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Within 7 years after first commercial production under the trustee's lease, an unknown or missing owner may petition to redocket the action and prove identity and title.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33099", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.468(6)", "passage": "Within seven (7) years after the date of first commercial production of the severed mineral interests under the trustee's lease, any person being an unknown or missing owner of the severed mineral interest or any undivided portion thereof, may petition the Circuit Court to redocket the action", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 15, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the minerals are produced commercially and the owners stay unknown or missing for 7 years from first production, the court orders the trustee to convey their interest to the surface owners.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33100", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.470(1)", "passage": "If the severed mineral interests which are the subject of a trustee's lease executed and delivered in accordance with KRS 353.468(3) are produced commercially, and the owners of the severed mineral interests remain unknown or missing for a period of seven (7) years from the date of first production under the lease,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "After 7 years from first commercial production, an unknown or missing owner can no longer sue to recover title to the leased interest.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33103", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.476", "passage": "After the expiration of seven (7) years from the date of first commercial production of the severed mineral pursuant to the terms of the lease authorized hereunder, no action may be instituted by any unknown or missing owner to recover any right, title or interest in and to the severed mineral interest subject to the lease.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the leased minerals are never produced commercially, the trustee pays accrued lease money to the surface owners when the lease ends or 7 years after the judgment authorizing it, whichever is later.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33101", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.472", "passage": "If the leased minerals are never produced commercially during the term of the trustee's lease, the trustee shall pay any proceeds accruing from the lease to the then surface owners upon the termination of the lease in accordance with its terms or upon the expiration of seven (7) years following the date of judgment authorizing the lease, whichever last occurs.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "KRS 353.460 to 353.476, effective July 15, 1982, apply to severed mineral interests of any kind whose owner is unknown or missing. The section speaks of paying proceeds, not of conveying title.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In oil and gas pooling, where unknown or nonlocatable owners exist, the operator must publish one notice in the newspaper of largest circulation in each county, naming the last known owner or the owner and last known address.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47763", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.640(1)", "passage": "where unknown owners or nonlocatable owners exist, the operator shall cause to be published, not more than thirty (30) days prior to the submission of an application for pooling, one (1) notice in the newspaper of the largest circulation in each county in which any tract, or portion thereof, proposed to be pooled is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to pooling applications under KRS 353.630(2) for oil and gas; section effective July 14, 2018 per the page.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-640-381-430.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P14", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An owner whose identity and location remain unknown 30 days after that publication is deemed to have leased the pooled interest to the operator, keeping one eighth of production attributable to it.", "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47763", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.640(4)", "passage": "whose identity and location remain unknown after thirty (30) days has passed from the date of publication required by subsection (1) of this section and whose interest is pooled pursuant to KRS 353.630(3) shall be deemed to have elected to lease the interest to the oil or gas operator, exclusive of one-eighth (1/8) of the production", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to oil and gas interests pooled under KRS 353.630(3). The section read does not say who holds the unknown owner's share or for how long.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-640-381-430.md", "source_id": "SRC-KY-010", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read in full from Internet Archive copies of the official LRC PDFs (direct host timed out): KRS 353.460, .462, .464, .466, .468, .470, .472, .474, .476, 353.640 and 381.430; KRS Chapter 353 section list scanned for titles containing unknown, missing, escrow, locate, heir, abandon, trust, pool and unclaimed. KRS 353.630, 353.651 (deep well pooling, contains no unknown owner text in the copy read), KRS Chapter 424, Kentucky unclaimed property law, probate and quiet title were not reviewed. KRS 381.430 concerns possession of severed minerals, not missing owners. Case law: one web search for Kentucky appellate decisions on KRS 353.464 to 353.470 returned only code pages; the CourtListener search API was blocked by a rate limit, so the case law search is not exhaustive.", "open_questions": [ "Whether any Kentucky appellate decision interprets KRS 353.460 to 353.476; one web search found none, but the search was not exhaustive.", "Who holds the share of a pooled unknown owner deemed to have leased under KRS 353.640(4), and whether it escrows or passes to unclaimed property; KRS 353.630 and regulations not read.", "What KRS Chapter 424 requires for the advertisement in a mineral trust case." ], "confidence": "high", "coverage_reason": "The case law search was not exhaustive, and the pooling escrow provisions (KRS 353.630) were not read.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: The case law search was not exhaustive, and the pooling escrow provisions (KRS 353.630) were not read." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Kentucky", "abbr": "KY", "category": "special", "unused_minerals": "Special mechanism", "lapse_period": "see note", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 45, "rank": 17, "statute": "Ky. Rev. Stat. 353.460 to 353.470", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/kentucky/chapter-353/", "preservation": "Special statutory mechanism rather than a simple nonuse lapse; see statute.", "note": "Kentucky does not lapse minerals by simple nonuse. For unknown or missing owners it uses a court supervised trust and can convey their interest to the surface owner after commercial production and seven years unlocated. It also protects surface owners." } }, { "id": "LA", "name": "Louisiana", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-louisiana", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "prescription_nonuse", "mechanism_label": "Prescription of nonuse, 10 years, for mineral servitudes and mineral royalties", "summary": "Under the Louisiana Mineral Code a mineral servitude is extinguished by prescription of nonuse for ten years, counted from its creation and starting anew after each interruption; a mineral royalty is extinguished by its own ten year prescription of nonuse (31:85, 31:86). A servitude is interrupted by good faith drilling or mining operations, actual production, qualifying unit operations or unit production, a tested shut in well, or a written acknowledgment by the owner of the burdened land; a royalty is interrupted by actual production, unit production, a tested shut in well, or an acknowledgment, and the royalty articles list no interruption by operations that do not produce. A mineral lease is not subject to prescription of nonuse: it ends at the end of its agreed term or on an express resolutory condition, and it cannot be continued more than ten years without operations or production.", "period_years": 10, "period_description": "Ten years of nonuse (31:27(1) for servitudes, 31:85(1) for royalties), commencing on the date the right is created (31:28, 31:86). After operations, prescription commences anew from the last day actual drilling or mining operations are conducted (31:30), or from the last day of good faith operations to secure or restore production in paying quantities (31:41). After production, it commences anew from the date actual production ceases (31:36, 31:87). After a tested shut in well, from the date the well is shut in after testing (31:34, 31:90). After unitization with a tested shut in well, from the effective date of the unit order or act (31:35, 31:91). An acknowledgment by the landowner interrupts (31:54, applied to royalties by 31:93); a contractual extension runs for the period it states, which must be shorter than an acknowledgment would give (31:56). Reserved rights in land acquired for a certified economic development project have a 20 year period from acquisition (31:149(I)).", "self_executing": "yes", "procedure": "Nothing is required for extinction: the servitude or royalty is extinguished when ten years of nonuse accrue (31:27(1), 31:85(1)), and no notice, filing or court action is needed. Afterwards the former owner must, within thirty days after written demand by the person in whose favor the right was extinguished, furnish a recordable act evidencing the extinction (31:206(A)). If he does not, he is liable for the resulting damages and a reasonable attorney fee (31:207), unless there is a good faith dispute whether prescription accrued (31:208). A former lessee of a lease extinguished before the end of its primary term must record an act evidencing the extinction within ninety days (31:206(B)).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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)", "Servitude: prescription does not run while an obstacle the owner can neither prevent nor remove prevents use (31:59, 31:60); a compulsory unitization order is not an obstacle, but a filed lignite or coal mining plan meeting 31:61(B) is", "Royalty: actual production of any mineral covered by the act creating the royalty, produced and saved; paying quantities are not required (31:87, 31:88)", "Royalty: production from a conventional or compulsory unit including the tract, partial if the unit well is off the tract (31:89); a tested shut in well on the tract or unit (31:90) and unitization with one (31:91)", "Royalty: acknowledgment or contractual extension under the servitude rules (31:93), including an acknowledgment by a later servitude owner, effective only for that owner's proportion, after which the royalty depends on the servitude (31:94 to 31:96)", "Royalty: an obstacle to actual production that would suspend servitude prescription suspends royalty prescription until removed (31:98)", "Land acquired by an acquiring authority with the mineral right reserved in a recorded instrument or judgment: prescription is interrupted while title stays with an acquiring authority (31:149(B))" ], "preservation_filing": "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.", "interest_scope": "Mineral servitudes (31:21) and mineral royalties (31:80), each under its own prescription articles; the Code states that mineral rights are real rights subject either to prescription of nonuse for ten years or to special rules governing their term (31:16). An executive right that accompanies a mineral right is extinguished with it (31:113). Mineral leases (31:114) are not subject to prescription of nonuse (31:115(A)); a lease terminates at the expiration of the agreed term or on an express resolutory condition (31:133) and cannot be continued more than ten years without drilling or mining operations or production, subject to the solid mineral and lignite or coal exceptions in 31:115(B) and (C).", "mineral_scope": "All minerals covered by the act creating the servitude or royalty. Production of any covered mineral interrupts (31:36, 31:87), and an interruption applies to all minerals covered by the act and, for a servitude, to all modes of use (31:40, 31:92). Special rules cover lignite and coal mining plans (31:61(B)).", "exceptions": [ "Land acquired by an acquiring authority (the United States, the state, their subdivisions and agencies, entities with expropriation power, and certified conservation nonprofits) with the mineral right reserved in a recorded instrument or judgment: prescription is interrupted while title stays with an acquiring authority (31:149(A) and (B)); it runs again as to land divested to others (31:149(C)); exclusions include tax and debt enforcement transfers and transfers without an express reservation (31:149(G))", "Atchafalaya Basin Floodway acquisitions with a reserved mineral right: prescription of nonuse does not run, even after transfer to a third person (31:149(H))", "Certified economic development acquisitions with a reserved mineral right: prescription of nonuse is 20 years from the date of acquisition (31:149(I))", "A mineral right that already burdened the land when an acquiring authority acquired it stays subject to prescription; on its extinction the transferor may vest with an identical right if the acquisition instrument reserved it and an acquiring authority still owns the land (31:149(D))", "Prescription is not suspended by minority or other legal disability of the owner (31:58 for servitudes, 31:97 for royalties)", "A royalty burdening a servitude is not extinguished when the servitude ends by inheritance or by an act of the servitude owner unless the royalty owner joins or consents expressly in writing (31:85(5))", "An act creating servitudes on noncontiguous tracts creates as many servitudes as tracts unless it provides for more, so each prescribes separately; a continuous body of land carries a single servitude (31:63, 31:64)", "Mineral leases are outside prescription of nonuse (31:115(A))" ], "effective": "Louisiana Mineral Code, Acts 1974, No. 50, effective January 1, 1975. It applies to all mineral rights, including those existing on that date, but no provision may be applied to divest already vested rights or impair the obligation of contracts (31:214). Among the servitude and royalty prescription articles read, only 31:39 (Acts 2023, No. 88), 31:61 (Acts 1982, No. 780) and 31:90 (Acts 1975, No. 589) show amendments. Related articles: 31:115 last amended by Acts 2025, No. 458, effective October 1, 2025; 31:149 last amended by Acts 2023, No. 150, effective January 10, 2024; 31:206 last amended by Acts 2023, No. 88. Text read from Internet Archive snapshots of the official pages dated July 2025 to August 2026; 31:54 was also the official page, captured October 1, 2026.", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": null, "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "When prescription restarts after an acknowledgment: Article 56 implies an acknowledgment gives a longer period than any extension, but the Code articles read do not state the restart date; the Civil Code applies where the Code is silent (31:2). This point is not yet confirmed.", "Calendar computation (day of commencement, legal holidays) is governed by Civil Code rules that were not read.", "Articles were read from Internet Archive snapshots dated July 2025 to August 2026 (31:54 also as captured from the official host on October 1, 2026). Amendments after each snapshot date were not checked against session laws.", "Search results indicate 2026 Regular Session SB 492 proposed to amend 31:149(I) (economic development acquisitions) and was returned to the Senate calendar on April 21, 2026; whether it was enacted was not confirmed on legis.la.gov.", "Leading cases on good faith operations, unit interruption and acknowledgment were not reviewed.", "Search results indicate a 2026 resolution asked the Louisiana State Law Institute to study mineral servitude issues raised by SB 492 and report by February 1, 2027; not verified on legis.la.gov." ], "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.", "category": "prescription", "evidence": "primary" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-LA-001", "SRC-LA-002", "SRC-LA-003", "SRC-LA-004", "SRC-LA-005", "SRC-LA-006", "SRC-LA-007", "SRC-LA-008", "SRC-LA-009", "SRC-LA-010", "SRC-LA-011", "SRC-LA-012", "SRC-LA-013", "SRC-LA-014", "SRC-LA-015", "SRC-LA-016", "SRC-LA-017", "SRC-LA-018", "SRC-LA-019", "SRC-LA-020", "SRC-LA-021", "SRC-LA-022", "SRC-LA-023", "SRC-LA-024", "SRC-LA-025", "SRC-LA-026" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. When separately owned tracts lie within a drilling unit established under R.S. 30:9(B) and the owners have not agreed to pool, the commissioner (the state conservation regulator, as named in the text read) shall require them to pool and develop their lands as a drilling unit if necessary to prevent waste or avoid drilling unnecessary wells, by order after notice and hearing on just and reasonable terms; production allocated to each tract is treated as produced from it (R.S. 30:10(A)(1)). The section also sets cost recovery and risk charge rules for owners who do not participate.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-LA-027" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Louisiana statute was found that requires oil and gas operators to compensate surface owners for surface damage. R.S. 30:28(I) requires the regulator to adopt rules for a single pre-entry notice to the surface owner at least thirty days before construction of a drilling location, with exceptions such as a surface owner who has a contract with the operator, but it creates no compensation duty. The Mineral Code requires reasonable regard between landowner and mineral owner (31:11) and has a servitude owner use only the land reasonably necessary and restore the surface insofar as practicable (31:22). These are notice and conduct rules, not a surface damages act.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Read R.S. 30:28 in full (drilling permits, including the Subsection I pre-entry notice and Subsection J surface owner identification), Mineral Code 31:11 and 31:22, and the Mineral Code prescription, lease and extinction articles listed in the sources. Web searches for a Louisiana surface damages or surface owner compensation statute found none. Not read: R.S. 30:29 (remediation of oilfield sites and environmental damage claims), the lessee obligations in 31:122, and Office of Conservation rules implementing the pre-entry notice. legis.la.gov full text search was unavailable because the host was not available when AMR checked.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-LA-028", "SRC-LA-029", "SRC-LA-030", "SRC-LA-031" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P3", "P4" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute", "statement": "The Mineral Code articles read do not address heirs. Succession procedure allows a court authorized mineral lease of succession property.", "propositions": [ "P10" ] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P6" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "The Mineral Code prescription and extinction articles read contain no publication provision.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P8", "P9", "P7" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A mineral servitude is extinguished by prescription resulting from nonuse for ten years.", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87935", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:27(1)", "passage": "A mineral servitude is extinguished by: (1) prescription resulting from nonuse for ten years;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral servitudes. Commencement and interruption rules are in 31:28 to 31:57 (read in the October review).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "source_id": "SRC-LA-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The prescription of nonuse is not suspended by the minority or other legal disability of the owner of a mineral servitude.", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87969", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:58", "passage": "The prescription of nonuse is not suspended by the minority or other legal disability of the owner of a mineral servitude.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral servitudes. The article speaks of minority and legal disability; it does not mention death, absence or unknown owners, and suspension by obstacle under 31:59 is a separate rule.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "source_id": "SRC-LA-032", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A mineral royalty is extinguished by prescription resulting from nonuse for ten years.", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87999", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:85(1)", "passage": "A mineral royalty is extinguished by: (1) prescription resulting from nonuse for ten years;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral royalties.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "source_id": "SRC-LA-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The prescription of nonuse is not suspended by the minority or other legal disability of the owner of a mineral royalty.", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=88012", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:97", "passage": "The prescription of nonuse is not suspended by the minority or other legal disability of the owner of a mineral royalty.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral royalties; same limits as P2.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "source_id": "SRC-LA-033", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Prescription of nonuse of a servitude may be interrupted by a written acknowledgment by the owner of the burdened land, which must be recorded to affect third parties.", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87965", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:54", "passage": "The prescription of nonuse may be interrupted by a gratuitous or onerous acknowledgment by the owner of the land burdened by a mineral servitude. An acknowledgment must be in writing, and, to affect third parties, must be filed for registry.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral servitudes. Interruption by operations or production (31:29 to 31:41) does not depend on who the servitude owner is.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "source_id": "SRC-LA-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "After a mineral right is extinguished, the former owner must furnish a recordable act evidencing extinction within thirty days after written demand by the person in whose favor it was extinguished.", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87911", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:206(A)", "passage": "when a mineral right is extinguished by the accrual of prescription of nonuse, expiration of its term, or otherwise, the former owner shall, within thirty days after written demand by the person in whose favor the right has been extinguished or terminated, furnish the person with a recordable act", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "A demand step after extinction, not a notice that conditions extinction. The article does not say how a demand is made on a deceased or unlocated former owner.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "source_id": "SRC-LA-025", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Where an acquiring authority must offer land back to an original grantor who kept reserved minerals, a grantor whose last known address cannot be determined is treated as an absentee defendant.", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87843", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:149(E)(4)", "passage": "A grantor whose last known address cannot be determined shall be treated as an absentee defendant.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Narrow: retransfer of expropriated land subject to a mineral reservation. Snapshot dated July 20, 2025; whether a 2026 amendment to 31:149 was enacted was not confirmed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 20, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "source_id": "SRC-LA-034", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An absent person has no representative in Louisiana and cannot be found by diligent effort; the court may appoint a curator to manage the absent person's Louisiana property on petition and a showing of necessity.", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110646", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. Civ. Code art. 47", "passage": "An absent person is one who has no representative in this state and whose whereabouts are not known and cannot be ascertained by diligent effort.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General Civil Code rule for all property, not mineral specific. Mineral rights are incorporeal immovables (Civ. Code art. 470), but no article read applies curatorship to minerals specifically.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 25, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "source_id": "SRC-LA-035", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The curator has power of administration and disposition over the absent person's property as provided by legislation.", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110657", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. Civ. Code art. 48", "passage": "The curator has power of administration and disposition over the property of the absent person as provided by legislation.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General; the legislation that defines the curator's powers, including any power to grant a mineral lease, was not read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 10, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "source_id": "SRC-LA-036", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The court may authorize a succession representative to grant mineral leases on succession property, with a minimum royalty set in the order.", "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111658", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3226", "passage": "The court may also authorize the granting of mineral leases on succession property after compliance with Article 3229.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Successions under administration; general succession procedure, not a rule on prescription. Article 3229 notice requirements were not read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 11, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "source_id": "SRC-LA-037", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read through Internet Archive snapshots of official legis.la.gov URLs (the host did not resolve): La. R.S. 31:27, 31:54, 31:58, 31:85, 31:97, 31:149, 31:206; Civ. Code arts. 47 and 48; Code Civ. Proc. art. 3226. The Mineral Code table of contents (Justia mirror, used only to locate articles) was scanned for prescription, suspension, minority, absence, curator, heirs and co-ownership; the October review read 31:16 to 31:98 in full. Not read: Mineral Code co-ownership articles 31:164 to 31:177, Civ. Code arts. 49 to 59 on absent persons, Code Civ. Proc. arts. 3229 and 5091 to 5098 (attorney for absentee), La. R.S. 30:10 pooling escrow details, Louisiana unclaimed property law, and all case law (the CourtListener search quota was exhausted).", "open_questions": [ "Whether Louisiana courts treat death of the servitude or royalty owner, or an unknown heir, as an obstacle that suspends prescription under 31:59 or 31:98; no case law was reviewed.", "Whether co-owner leasing articles 31:164 to 31:177 contain a rule for co-owners who cannot be located.", "Whether Louisiana's unclaimed property law or Conservation pooling rules provide an escrow for unlocated owners' proceeds.", "Whether 2026 Regular Session SB 492 amended 31:149." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Whether a death or unknown heirs suspend prescription is open; no Louisiana decision was reviewed.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Whether a death or unknown heirs suspend prescription is open; no Louisiana decision was reviewed." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Louisiana", "abbr": "LA", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "10 years", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 100, "rank": 1, "statute": "La. Mineral Code, La. Rev. Stat. 31:27", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87935", "preservation": "Drill in good faith or produce within 10 years; recording a notice does not preserve a servitude (La. Rev. Stat. 31:29).", "note": "Louisiana uses civil law prescription. A mineral servitude reverts to the landowner after 10 years without use, the shortest clock in the country." } }, { "id": "ME", "name": "Maine", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/maine-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Extinguishment by court action after 50 years of nonuse (14 M.R.S. § 6662)", "summary": "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. Use means paying rents or royalties, paying the mining excise tax, extracting more than exploratory quantities, or recording a statement of claim. Nothing happens automatically; extinguishment requires the suit and a court finding.", "period_years": 50, "period_description": "50 consecutive years without use next prior to the filing of the complaint (§ 6662(4)(A)), followed by two years after service of notice of the complaint during which no statement of claim is filed (§ 6662(4)(B)). Any use, including recording a statement of claim, starts a new 50 year period.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Quiet title action under 14 M.R.S. §§ 6651 to 6654 or 6655 to 6657, brought by the fee simple owner of the land subject to the interest, who need not show the usual 4 years of possession (§ 6662(2)). The court shall find the interest extinguished and order title in the complainant only after both conditions in § 6662(4) are met.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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)).", "interest_scope": "Any mineral interest created by an instrument transferring, by grant, assignment, lease or otherwise, any interest in any mineral, so severed mineral estates and mineral leases.", "mineral_scope": "All naturally occurring mineral deposits, including hydrocarbons and peat, excluding sand, gravel and water.", "exceptions": [ "No statutory carve outs; only the fee simple owner of the land subject to the interest may sue under § 6662(2)" ], "effective": "Enacted by PL 1983, c. 189 (An Act to Extinguish Obsolete Mineral and Mining Rights), effective September 23, 1983. Subsection 1(C)(2) amended by PL 2025, c. 469, § 5 (mining excise tax act, First Special Session; general effective date September 24, 2025), which by § 44 applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Also read 33 M.R.S. chapter list and chapter 7 subchapters (no marketable record title act) and 14 M.R.S. §§ 6651 and 6655 (quiet title procedure).", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "No Maine decision applying § 6662 was located; case law was not searched for this release.", "Whether property tax paid on a separately assessed mineral interest, or operations by a surface lessee, count as use; the statutory list does not include them.", "Whether excise tax payments made under the pre 2026 sections still count as use for periods before PL 2025, c. 469 applies.", "The official pages were extracted 10/20/2025; laws of the 2026 session were not checked." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-ME-001", "SRC-ME-002", "SRC-ME-003" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No current compulsory pooling statute was found. Maine's former oil and gas conservation law, including 10 M.R.S. § 2158 (Integration of interests in spacing units, PL 1969, c. 301), was repealed by PL 1977, c. 360, § 2. Since 2019, 38 M.R.S. § 570-BB bars oil and gas exploration, development and production in, on or under the waters of the State.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "10 M.R.S. chapter 401 (all sections shown repealed) and 38 M.R.S. § 570-BB read on the official site. No full text search of the Maine Revised Statutes was run for this release.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-ME-004", "SRC-ME-005" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify or compensate surface owners was found; Maine has no current oil and gas conservation law and bans oil and gas activity in State waters.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Same official pages as for pooling, plus 33 M.R.S. chapter list and 14 M.R.S. § 6662. Not searched in full text.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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).", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P4" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P6", "P8" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P9", "P10", "P12" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P7", "P11" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P3" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No receivership, trust, escrow or leasing mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners appears in the provisions read (Title 14, chapter 723). A whole code search of the Maine Revised Statutes for such terms was not run.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The court shall find the mineral interest extinguished and title in the complainant if the owner, assignee or lessee made no use of it for 50 consecutive years before the complaint.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)(A)", "passage": "shall find that the mineral interest is extinguished and shall order that title to the mineral interest is in the complainant if: A. The owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest has failed to make use of the mineral interest during a period of 50 consecutive years next prior to the filing of the complaint", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral interests created by instrument under 14 M.R.S. § 6662, which defines mineral to include hydrocarbons and peat but not sand, gravel and water. Statutory text only; no Maine decision construing it was located.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-006", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Extinguishment also requires that two years pass after notice of the complaint is served without the owner, assignee or lessee filing a statement of claim.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)(B)", "passage": "Two years have passed since notice of the complaint under subsection 2 was served and the owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest has not filed a statement of claim under subsection 3 during that period.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral interests created by instrument under 14 M.R.S. § 6662, which defines mineral to include hydrocarbons and peat but not sand, gravel and water. Statutory text only; no Maine decision construing it was located.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A statement of claim may be filed by an owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest and must give the claimant's name and address.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(3)", "passage": "An owner, assignee or lessee of a mineral interest may file a statement of claim with the registrar of deeds of the county in which the land subject to the mineral interest is located. The claim shall contain his name and address", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral interests created by instrument under 14 M.R.S. § 6662, which defines mineral to include hydrocarbons and peat but not sand, gravel and water. Statutory text only; no Maine decision construing it was located. The subsection does not mention heirs, devisees or filing on behalf of another person. The claim must also describe the land and the mineral interest.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The fee owner of the land may bring the action under the summary quiet title sections 6651 to 6654 or the unknown claimant sections 6655 to 6657 without showing four years of possession.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(2)", "passage": "may maintain an action, as provided in sections 6651 to 6654 or sections 6655 to 6657, without the necessity of showing 4 years of possession next prior to filing of that complaint, provided that the person is the fee simple owner of the land which is subject to that interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral interests created by instrument under 14 M.R.S. § 6662, which defines mineral to include hydrocarbons and peat but not sand, gravel and water. Statutory text only; no Maine decision construing it was located.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In the summary procedure the complaint may name persons unknown claiming as heirs, devisees or assigns of named persons, and the plaintiff must allege under oath that any such claimants are unknown.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6651.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6651", "passage": "If any such supposed claimants are unknown, the plaintiff or his attorney shall so allege under oath, but the truth of the allegation shall not after decree has been filed be denied for the purpose of defeating the title established thereby.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The summary procedure reaches persons unknown claiming as heirs, devisees or assigns, or otherwise through a person named in the complaint.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6651.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6651", "passage": "persons unknown claiming as heirs, devisees or assigns, or in any other way, by, through or under a person or persons named in the complaint, claim or may claim some right, title or interest in the premises adverse to his said estate", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Known claimants are served as in other actions, and notice to unascertained or unknown persons is by publication unless the court permits posting instead.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6653.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6653", "passage": "Service in such action shall be made as in other actions on all supposed known claimants residing either in the State or outside the State, and notice to persons who are unascertained, not in being or unknown shall be given by publication as in other actions where publication is required, unless the court on motion permits posting", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located. Section 6656 applies the same service rule to actions under sections 6655 to 6657.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The action is not abated by the death of any party.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6653.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6653", "passage": "The action shall not be abated by the death of any party thereto, nor by the conveyance of the premises by deed recorded after said certificate is recorded.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Persons who are unascertained, unknown, out of state or cannot be served may be made defendants, and unknown persons may be described generally as the heirs or legal representatives of a named person.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6655.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6655", "passage": "persons who are unascertained, not in being, unknown or out of the State, or who cannot be actually served with process and made personally amenable to the decree of the court, such persons may be made defendants and, if they are unascertained, not in being or unknown, they may be described generally as the heirs or legal representatives of A.B.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If defendants have not received actual service and have not appeared, the court may appoint an agent, guardian ad litem or next friend for them, at the plaintiff's cost.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6656.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6656", "passage": "the court finds that there are or may be defendants who have not been actually served with process and who have not appeared in the action, it may of its own motion, or on the representation of any party, appoint an agent, guardian ad litem or next friend for any such defendant", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In the summary procedure the decree issues only if the court finds the allegations true and that notice by publication was given as ordered.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6654.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6654", "passage": "If the court upon hearing finds that the allegations of the complaint are true and that notice by publication has been given as ordered, it shall make and enter a decree", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Under the unknown claimant procedure, notice under section 6656 is constructive service on all defendants and the action is in rem against the land.", "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6656.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6656", "passage": "Service in such action shall be as provided in section 6653. Notice given under this section shall be constructive service on all the defendants.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "source_id": "SRC-ME-013", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read: 14 M.R.S. § 6662 and §§ 6651 to 6657 (Title 14, chapter 723, Proceedings to Quiet Title) on legislature.maine.gov, read directly; the page states data extracted 10/20/2025 and § 6662 shows the PL 2025, c. 469 amendment. CourtListener search, Maine Supreme Judicial Court filter, for 6662 with mineral returned no decision. Not reviewed: probate law, partition, Maine Rules of Civil Procedure on service by publication referred to in § 6653, and a whole code search for unknown owner, receiver or escrow terms near mineral, oil or gas.", "open_questions": [ "Whether heirs or devisees of a deceased owner of record may file a statement of claim as \"owner\" under § 6662(3), and whether a filing by one co-owner preserves the others; the text does not say.", "Which Maine rule governs the form of publication \"as in other actions where publication is required\" under § 6653; not read.", "Whether any Maine decision applies § 6662; none was located on CourtListener.", "Whether the PL 2025, c. 469 amendment changed anything beyond the use of the interest definition in § 6662(1)(C)." ], "confidence": "medium", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Plain wording: two paraphrases of \"actually served\" now read \"actual service\"; the quoted passages are unchanged." ] }, "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Maine", "abbr": "ME", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 32, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Maine. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "MD", "name": "Maryland", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/maryland-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Maryland Dormant Mineral Interests Act, 20 years, court action by the surface owner required", "summary": "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. The mineral owner can stop the suit by recording a late notice of intent to preserve and paying the surface owner's litigation expenses, but not if the interest has been unused for 40 years or more. A separate procedure lets a court place a severed interest of an unknown or missing owner in trust and, after 5 uncontested years, convey it to the surface owners.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Unused for 20 or more years preceding commencement of the termination, and no notice of the interest recorded during that period (Env. 15-1203(a)(2)). A qualifying act by or under authority of the owner as to any mineral in the interest counts as use of the entire interest that owner holds (15-1203(c)).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Action in the nature of a quiet title action, with the notice required by Real Property 14-108, brought by the surface owner in the circuit court where the land lies, whether or not the mineral owner is unknown or missing (15-1203(b), (d)(1)). The order merges the interest, with its surface rights and obligations, into the surface estate in proportion to surface ownership, subject to tax liens; it must identify the interest, each surface estate with tax map and parcel number, each surface owner and, if known, each prior mineral owner, and the clerk records it in the land records (15-1203(d)). The court must allow a late notice of intent to preserve as a condition of dismissal if the mineral owner pays the surface owner's litigation expenses, except where the interest has been unused for 40 years or more (15-1205).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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)).", "interest_scope": "Any interest in a mineral estate however created, including a fee or lesser interest, any kind of royalty, production payment, executive or nonexecutive right, leasehold or lien in minerals (15-1201). The plaintiff must be a surface owner, meaning a holder of a fee or other freehold interest in the surface, not a right of way, easement or leasehold holder.", "mineral_scope": "All minerals listed in 15-1201(b): gas, oil and oil shale, coal, gaseous, liquid and solid hydrocarbons, cement materials, sand and gravel, road materials, building stone, chemical substances, gemstone, metallic, fissionable and nonfissionable ores, clay, steam and geothermal resources.", "exceptions": [ "Mineral interests held by the United States or a Native American tribe, except as federal law permits (15-1202(a)(2)(i))", "Mineral interests held by the State or a State agency or political subdivision, except as State law permits (15-1202(a)(2)(ii))", "Injection of substances for disposal or storage is not use (15-1203(c)(4))", "No late notice cure where the interest has been unused for 40 years or more (15-1205(c))", "Water rights are not affected, and other procedures for clearing abandoned mineral interests are not limited (15-1202(c), (d))", "The section applies notwithstanding contrary provisions in the creating instrument or another recorded document, unless that document provides an earlier termination date (15-1203(e))" ], "effective": "Enacted by 2010 Laws of Maryland ch. 269 (House Bill 320), effective October 1, 2010, with termination actions allowed on or after October 1, 2011 (15-1203(a)(1)). Amended by 2012 ch. 370 (House Bill 402, effective October 1, 2012; contents and recording of the termination order) and 2016 ch. 398 (House Bill 576, effective October 1, 2016; an act as to one mineral counts as use of the owner's entire interest, tax payments count for the taxed interest and certain untaxed interests of the same owner, and a recorded judgment counts for the interest it specifies).", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": null, "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "No Maryland appellate decisions under 15-1201 to 15-1206 were researched.", "How a 15-1206 trust for an unknown or missing owner interacts with a 15-1203 termination suit on the same interest should be checked by a specialist." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-MD-001", "SRC-MD-002", "SRC-MD-003", "SRC-MD-004", "SRC-MD-005", "SRC-MD-006", "SRC-MD-007", "SRC-MD-008", "SRC-MD-009", "SRC-MD-010" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No compulsory pooling or unitization provision was found in Maryland's oil and gas statute (Environment 14-101 to 14-125). It regulates royalties under voluntary unit operation agreements (14-113), bars a production or storage well within 1,000 feet of the property boundary (500 feet for coalbed methane) without agreement of the adjoining owners unless the Department grants an exception after hearing (14-112), and bans hydraulic fracturing (14-107.1).", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "mgaleg.maryland.gov Environment Article Title 14 Subtitle 1: every section from 14-101 to 14-125 (and 14-107.1) fetched and searched for 'pool', 'unitiz' and 'integrat'; one web search for a Maryland compulsory or forced pooling statute found none. Other articles (for example Natural Resources) and COMAR regulations were not searched.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-MD-011", "SRC-MD-012", "SRC-MD-013" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify and compensate surface owners for surface damage was found in Environment 14-101 to 14-125. Section 14-111 requires each permit holder to post financial assurance and carry liability and pollution insurance that extend to the owners of the surface and subsurface property; that is security for claims, not a compensation duty.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "mgaleg.maryland.gov Environment Article Title 14 Subtitle 1, sections 14-101 to 14-125 read in full; other articles and COMAR were not searched.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-MD-014" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "The same definition covers an owner whose location cannot be determined; the statute treats unknown and missing owners the same." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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).", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "C2" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Unknown or missing owner includes the heirs, successors or assignees of such an owner.", "propositions": [ "P4" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P12" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P13" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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).", "propositions": [ "P6", "P7", "P8", "P9", "C1" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P10", "P11" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A surface owner may sue to terminate a mineral interest unused, and with no notice recorded, for 20 or more years before the termination begins.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1203(a)(1) and (2)", "passage": "(1) On or after October 1, 2011, a surface owner of real property that is subject to a mineral interest may maintain an action to terminate a dormant mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The termination action may be brought whether or not the mineral owner is an unknown or missing owner.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1203(b)(2)", "passage": "(2) The action may be maintained, whether or not the owner of the severed mineral interest is an unknown or missing owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The termination action must be in the nature of, and requires the same notice as, a quiet title action under Real Property 14-108.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1203(b)(1)", "passage": "(1) The action must be in the nature of and require the same notice as is required in an action to quiet title as set forth in § 14-108 of the Real Property Article.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)). The notice rules of the quiet title law and the Maryland Rules were not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Unknown or missing owner is defined by the county records and diligent inquiry near the last residence, and includes the owner's heirs, successors or assignees.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1201&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1201(g)(2)", "passage": "(2) \"Unknown or missing owner\" includes the heirs, successors, or assignees of an unknown or missing owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An unknown or missing owner is one whose present identity or location cannot be determined from the county records or by diligent inquiry near the last known residence.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1201&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1201(g)(1)", "passage": "(1) \"Unknown or missing owner\" means any person vested with a severed mineral interest whose present identity or location cannot be determined: (i) From the records of the county where the severed mineral interest is located; or (ii) By diligent inquiry in the vicinity of the owner's last known place of residence.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A mineral owner may record a notice of intent to preserve at any time; it preserves the interest in the county where recorded.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1204&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1204(a)", "passage": "(1) An owner of a mineral interest may record, at any time, a notice of intent to preserve the mineral interest or a part of a mineral interest. (2) A mineral interest is preserved in the county in which the notice is recorded.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-020", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A co owner may record the preservation notice for any or all co owners, and the notice may state that the owner cannot be determined.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1204&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1204(b)", "passage": "(iii) A co–owner, for the benefit of any or all co–owners. (2) A notice recorded under subsection (a) of this section shall contain: (i) 1. The name of the owner, or co–owners, of the mineral interest; or 2. If the identity of the owner cannot be determined, information that states that the owner cannot be determined;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-021", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In a termination action, the court must let the mineral owner record a late notice of intent to preserve as a condition of dismissal if the owner pays the surface owner's litigation expenses.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1205&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1205(b)", "passage": "the court shall permit the owner of the mineral interest to record a late notice of intent to preserve the mineral interest as a condition of dismissal of the action, if the owner of the mineral interest pays the litigation expenses incurred by the surface owner", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-022", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The late preservation option is unavailable if the interest has been unused for 40 years or more before the action.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1205&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1205(c)", "passage": "(c) This section does not apply in an action in which a mineral interest has been unused in accordance with § 15-1203 of this subtitle for a period of 40 years or more preceding the commencement of the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-023", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If title to a severed mineral interest is vested in an unknown or missing owner, the circuit court may, after notice and hearing, place it in trust, appoint a trustee and authorize a lease to the surface owner.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(a)", "passage": "(a) If the title to a severed mineral interest is vested in an unknown or missing owner, the circuit court of the county where the severed mineral interest is located may on petition, and after notice and a hearing: (1) Place the severed mineral interest in trust by order;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-024", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the unknown or missing owner does not contest the trust within 5 years after the order, the trustee must petition to terminate the trust and convey the interest to the surface owners.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(c)(1)", "passage": "does not contest a trust created under subsection (a)(1) of this section on or before 5 years after the date that the court issued the order creating the trust, the trustee shall file a petition to terminate the trust and to convey title to the severed mineral interest to the surface owners.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-025", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The trustee's conveyance petition needs an affidavit of a diligent inquiry, including a county search of land records, register of wills records and circuit court records, showing the owner cannot be located.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(c)(2)(ii)5", "passage": "An affidavit signed by the trustee, affirming that after conducting a diligent inquiry, including a search in the county where the severed mineral interest is located, performed in accordance with generally accepted standards of title examination of the land records of the county, records of register of wills of the county, and records of the circuit court for the county,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)). This search standard is stated for the 15-1206 trust conveyance, not for the 15-1203 termination action.", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-026", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For the trust, notice procedures, petition forms and hearings follow the Maryland Rules.", "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(h)(2)", "passage": "(2) Under this section, procedures for notice to interested persons, the forms of petitions, and the conduct and requirements at a hearing shall be as provided by the Maryland Rules.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 (dormant mineral interests), actions on or after October 1, 2011. Does not apply to interests held by the United States, a Native American tribe, or the State or its agencies and subdivisions, except as other law permits (15-1202(a)(2)). The Maryland Rules were not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-027", "official": true }, { "id": "C1", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A notice of intent to preserve recorded after the termination petition was filed, including by personal representatives of deceased owners' estates and by an heir, was late, because the action commences when the initial petition is filed.", "url": "https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2018/16a17.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Maryland", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Ellis v. McKenzie, No. 16, September Term, 2017 (Md. filed January 26, 2018), slip op. at 21 to 22 (the court then concludes the three notices were late)", "passage": "Nothing in the Act alters the ordinary rule that the \"commencement\" of an action, here to terminate mineral rights, is the date of filing of the initial petition. Maryland Rules of Procedure, Rule 12-704, \"Termination of dormant mineral interest,\" states that, after October 1, 2011, a surface owner \"may initiate an action to terminate.\"", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Highest Maryland court; controls statewide. The interests had been unused 40 years or more, so the late preservation option of 15-1205 was unavailable. The trial court's finding of diligent inquiry for unknown heirs was not challenged, so the decision does not set a search standard.", "saved_as": "sources/MD-ellis-v-mckenzie-2018.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-028", "official": true }, { "id": "C2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The Court of Appeals upheld the Act against state constitutional challenges by owners of mineral rights severed over 100 years earlier.", "url": "https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2018/16a17.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Maryland", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Ellis v. McKenzie (Md. 2018), headnote", "passage": "HELD: Validity of DMIA sustained.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Highest Maryland court; controls statewide. Concerns validity, not notice to deceased or unknown owners. In the case, service was made in person or by publication and some owners were named as deceased with unknown heirs (slip op. at 1 to 2).", "saved_as": "sources/MD-ellis-v-mckenzie-2018.md", "source_id": "SRC-MD-029", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read in full at mgaleg.maryland.gov: Environment 15-1201 to 15-1206 and Real Property 14-108 (only because 15-1203(b)(1) incorporates it). Not read: Real Property Title 14 Subtitle 6 (quiet title procedure), the Maryland Rules on notice and publication, estates and trusts law and unclaimed property law. Case law: Ellis v. McKenzie (Court of Appeals, 2018) read; Harvey v. Sines (Court of Special Appeals, reported, 2016, constitutional challenge) located but only scanned; CourtListener searches blocked by rate limit. Maryland Rule 12-704 (termination of dormant mineral interest) is cited in Ellis but was not read.", "open_questions": [ "What notice and publication the quiet title procedure (Real Property Title 14 Subtitle 6 and the Maryland Rules) requires for unknown heirs in a 15-1203 action.", "What Maryland Rule 12-704 requires for notice to unknown or missing owners in a termination action; cited in Ellis, not read.", "Harvey v. Sines (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2016, reported) notes the Act treats known and unknown owners differently; not read in full." ], "confidence": "high", "coverage_reason": "Maryland Rule 12-704 and the quiet title notice rules that govern publication were not read.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Maryland Rule 12-704 and the quiet title notice rules that govern publication were not read." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Maryland", "abbr": "MD", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "20 years", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 84, "rank": 6, "statute": "Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 et seq.", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=en§ion=15-1201", "preservation": "Record a notice of intent to preserve, or use the interest within 20 years (Md. Code, Environment 15-1201 et seq.).", "note": "Maryland Dormant Mineral Interests Act of 2010 lets a surface owner terminate a severed interest unused for 20 years or more. Upheld as constitutional in 2016." } }, { "id": "MA", "name": "Massachusetts", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-massachusetts", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified", "summary": "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. A proposed Landowner's Title Protection Act (new chapter 183D, 50 year chain of title) was filed in several sessions but not enacted.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the General Laws provisions reviewed.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "survey_scope": "Read the G.L. c. 184 section list (archived May 10, 2026) and G.L. c. 260, § 31A (archived October 14, 2025). Bills to insert chapter 183D, the Landowner's Title Protection Act, were found for 2013 (S.700), 2017 (S.796), 2019 (S.893) and 2021 (S.979, marked dead 12/31/2022 by a bill tracker); none was enacted, and no General Laws page for chapter 183D exists in the Internet Archive while pages for chapters 183A to 183C do. A full text search of the General Laws was not possible because malegislature.gov was not available when AMR checked.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "The General Laws could not be searched in full text; a mineral specific provision outside the chapters reviewed cannot be ruled out.", "Whether any 2023 to 2026 session bill on marketable title was enacted was not checked after the 2021 bill." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-MA-001" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Massachusetts statute on oil and gas conservation, spacing or compulsory pooling was found.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Same limited review as for dormancy; no chapter on oil and gas production was located in the General Laws pages read. Not a full text search.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Massachusetts surface damages or split estate statute was found.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Same limited review as for dormancy. Not a full text search.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read. General title action procedure for unknown respondents exists in c. 240 and was not reviewed.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees or successors was found in c. 184 or c. 240.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific search requirement was found in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "There is no lapse mechanism, so no preservation filing exists in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No receivership, trust, escrow or leasing mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners appears in c. 184 or c. 240, but a whole code search could not be run, so its absence is not confirmed.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [], "dates": { "status": "none", "note": "The provisions read create no period or deadline concerning mineral owners." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read: the General Laws chapter pages for c. 184 (General Provisions Relative to Real Property) and c. 240 (Actions to Try Title, Quiet Title and Remove Clouds), through Internet Archive copies (May 10, 2026 and November 14, 2025) because malegislature.gov was not available when AMR checked, including its law search. The word mineral appears on neither page. Chapter 240 has general procedures for unknown respondents and respondents who cannot be served (sections 12 and 13), which apply to land generally and were not reviewed in substance. The October review found no Massachusetts mineral lapse or marketable record title statute (a proposed chapter 183D was not enacted) and no oil and gas conservation chapter. Not reviewed: probate, partition, unclaimed property (c. 200A), and a whole code full text search.", "open_questions": [ "Read G.L. c. 240, sections 6 to 13, for how unknown or unlocated holders of severed mineral interests are joined and noticed in title actions.", "Run a whole code search for unknown or missing owner, receiver and escrow provisions near mineral, oil or gas once malegislature.gov is reachable; check c. 200A for mineral proceeds." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Massachusetts", "abbr": "MA", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 33, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Massachusetts. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "MI", "name": "Michigan", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/michigan-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Dormant oil and gas interest statute, 20 years, self executing, oil and gas only", "summary": "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. The act covers only oil and gas; other minerals are outside it. A separate rule cuts off severed oil or gas interests in a tax foreclosure of the land unless an instrument evidencing them was recorded in the prior 20 years.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Twenty years without any listed event (MCL 554.291(1)). The claim deadline is the later of 3 years after September 6, 1963 or 20 years after the last recorded sale, lease, mortgage or transfer, drilling permit, production or withdrawal, or storage use. A recorded claim of interest preserves for 20 years after recording and can be renewed in each succeeding 20 year period (554.292(3), (4)).", "self_executing": "yes", "procedure": "None. The interest is deemed abandoned and vests in the surface owner by operation of law (554.291(1), (2)). In a tax foreclosure of the land under MCL 211.78k, a severed oil or gas interest is not preserved unless it was sold, leased, mortgaged, transferred, reserved or claimed by an instrument recorded in the 20 years before the foreclosure petition was filed (554.291(3)).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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)).", "interest_scope": "Any interest in oil or gas in land owned by a person other than the owner of the surface (554.291(1)). The text does not distinguish mineral, royalty or other interests in oil or gas.", "mineral_scope": "Oil and gas only.", "exceptions": [ "Interests in oil or gas owned by any governmental body or agency (554.292(5))" ], "effective": "1963 PA 42, effective September 6, 1963, with a 3 year window after that date for recording claims (554.291(1)). Sections 554.291, 554.292 and 554.294 were amended by 2006 PA 519, immediately effective December 29, 2006. The official history note records that the act is not unconstitutional as applied in Van Slooten v Larsen, 410 Mich 21 (1980).", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": null, "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "The official site was not available when AMR checked; amendments after the snapshot dates (June 2025 for 554.291, March 2025 for 554.292 to 554.294) were not checked, although a web search found no 2025 or 2026 bill.", "Michigan's Marketable Record Title Act (MCL 565.101, amended by 2018 PA 572 and 2024 PA 20) uses a 20 year chain of title for mineral interests of every kind and refers to interests recorded on or before September 29, 2025; its effect on old severed interests, including non oil and gas minerals, was not analyzed.", "Van Slooten v Larsen and later cases on what counts as a permit or production 'as to that interest' were not read." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-MI-001", "SRC-MI-001", "SRC-MI-002", "SRC-MI-003", "SRC-MI-004", "SRC-MI-005", "SRC-MI-006" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "The supervisor of wells may require pooling, if not agreed, wherever a tract's small size or shape would otherwise deprive its owner of a fair share under a uniform spacing plan, proration or drilling unit, on just and reasonable terms (MCL 324.61513(4)); state owned land under a state leasing program is exempt (61513a), and pooling hearings move to the county on written request of a majority of the owners to be pooled (61516(2)). Part 617 (324.61701 to 324.61738) provides compulsory unitization, effective once owners approve by one of the thresholds in 61706, for example 51 percent of costs plus 51 percent of cost free interests, or 65 percent of production.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-MI-007", "SRC-MI-008", "SRC-MI-009" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify and compensate surface owners for damage was found in Parts 615 and 617 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. Section 324.61525 only lists the surface owner among the permit application details the supervisor makes available on request.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Michigan Legislature section caption lists for NREPA Part 615 (324.61501 to 324.61527) and Part 617 (324.61701 to 324.61738), from Internet Archive snapshots of January 2026, searched for surface, owner and damage, plus full text of 324.61525. Other Michigan statutes and supervisor of wells rules were not searched.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-MI-010" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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.", "unlocated": "Not addressed in the statute text. No search or notice is required before abandonment and vesting (P2, P7)." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P5", "P6" ] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P7" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No publication provision appears in MCL 554.291 to 554.294.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4", "P8" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No Michigan court, receivership, trust or escrow procedure for unknown or unlocated mineral owners was found, but the official code could not be searched from this network (HTTP 403). Not read: Part 615 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (pooling, MCL 324.61501 et seq.), the Marketable Record Title Act (MCL 565.101 et seq.), and the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A severed oil or gas interest with no recorded sale, lease, mortgage or transfer, drilling permit, production or storage use for 20 years is deemed abandoned unless the owner records a claim of interest.", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.291(1)", "passage": "during such period of 20 years, be deemed abandoned, unless the owner thereof shall, within 3 years after September 6, 1963 or within 20 years after the last sale, lease, mortgage, or transfer of record of that interest in oil or gas", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Severed interests in oil or gas only (not other minerals); interests owned by a governmental body are excluded by 554.292(5). The text speaks only of \"the owner thereof\" and does not mention deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 21, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291-294.md", "source_id": "SRC-MI-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An abandoned interest vests in the surface owner as of the date of abandonment, with no court step stated.", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.291(2)", "passage": "Any interest in oil or gas deemed abandoned as provided in subsection (1) shall vest as of the date of such abandonment in the owner or owners of the surface in keeping with the character of the surface ownership.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed oil or gas interests within the act. Does not distinguish owners who are dead, unknown or cannot be found.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 21, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291-294.md", "source_id": "SRC-MI-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The interest is preserved by recording a verified notice that names the claimant and states the intent to preserve.", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-292", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.292(1)", "passage": "The notice shall be verified by oath and shall describe the land and the nature of the interest claimed, give the name and address of the person or persons claiming the interest, and state that the person or persons desire to preserve the interest and do not intend to abandon the interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Any person claiming the interest may record. The section does not say whether an heir, devisee or personal representative of a deceased record owner may record, or what proof of succession is needed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 5, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291-294.md", "source_id": "SRC-MI-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Preservation can be renewed indefinitely by a notice or a qualifying act within each later 20 year period.", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-292", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.292(4)", "passage": "may be preserved indefinitely from abandonment under this act by filing written notices as provided in this act or the performance of any of the acts specified in this act evidencing nondormancy of the interest in oil or gas within each succeeding 20-year period.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All interests within the act. Silent on who may file after the owner dies.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 5, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291-294.md", "source_id": "SRC-MI-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In a tax foreclosure of the land, a severed oil or gas interest is cut off unless an instrument or claim about it was recorded in the prior 20 years.", "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.291(3)", "passage": "an oil or gas interest in the property owned by a person other than the owner of the surface shall not be preserved from foreclosure under section 78k of the general property tax act, 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.78k, unless that interest is sold, leased, mortgaged, transferred, reserved, or subject to a claim of interest under section 2", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only where a tax foreclosure judgment is entered under MCL 211.78k. The foreclosure notice rules of the General Property Tax Act were not read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 21, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291-294.md", "source_id": "SRC-MI-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The Michigan Supreme Court read the act as aimed at unknown or unlocatable owners and fractionalized ownership.", "url": "https://static.case.law/mich/410/cases/0021-01.json", "publisher": "Michigan Supreme Court, Van Slooten v. Larsen, 410 Mich. 21, 299 N.W.2d 704 (1980), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "410 Mich. 21 (1980), opinion of Coleman, C.J.", "passage": "Therefore, the dormant mineral act was passed to reduce the likelihood that the presence of unknown or unlocatable owners or fractionalized ownership of severed interests would unnecessarily hinder or prevent the development of these resources by requiring an owner to do certain specified acts indicating ownership or record a claim of interest every 20 years.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Michigan Supreme Court, majority opinion of Coleman, C.J., joined by three justices (4 to 3), so it controls statewide on the federal and state due process questions decided. It addressed heirs of a record owner as defendants but did not decide how death affects the 20 year period or whether heirs must be located.", "saved_as": "sources/MI-van-slooten-1980.md", "source_id": "SRC-MI-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The absence of any notice provision in the act does not make it unconstitutional, because the act provides for no hearing before vesting.", "url": "https://static.case.law/mich/410/cases/0021-01.json", "publisher": "Michigan Supreme Court, Van Slooten v. Larsen, 410 Mich. 21, 299 N.W.2d 704 (1980), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "410 Mich. 21 (1980), opinion of Coleman, C.J.", "passage": "The constitutional right to notice of a hearing is implicit in and dependent upon a right to an opportunity for a hearing. No such hearing is provided for or required by the statute; therefore it is not unconstitutional on the basis that it does not have adequate provisions for notice of such a hearing.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Michigan Supreme Court, majority opinion of Coleman, C.J., joined by three justices (4 to 3), so it controls statewide on the federal and state due process questions decided. It addressed heirs of a record owner as defendants but did not decide how death affects the 20 year period or whether heirs must be located.", "saved_as": "sources/MI-van-slooten-1980.md", "source_id": "SRC-MI-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The owner can still obtain a later hearing on whether the statutory conditions were met and who owns the interest.", "url": "https://static.case.law/mich/410/cases/0021-01.json", "publisher": "Michigan Supreme Court, Van Slooten v. Larsen, 410 Mich. 21, 299 N.W.2d 704 (1980), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "410 Mich. 21 (1980), opinion of Coleman, C.J.", "passage": "Furthermore, the act does not limit the owner’s opportunity for a hearing to determine whether the statutory requirements have been met and to ascertain the ownership of the property. Although a pre-deprivation hearing is not required, there exists an opportunity for a hearing to be held at a meaningful time.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Michigan Supreme Court, majority opinion of Coleman, C.J., joined by three justices (4 to 3), so it controls statewide on the federal and state due process questions decided. It addressed heirs of a record owner as defendants but did not decide how death affects the 20 year period or whether heirs must be located. The opinion does not say which proceeding provides that hearing.", "saved_as": "sources/MI-van-slooten-1980.md", "source_id": "SRC-MI-012", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read MCL 554.291 to 554.294 (Act 42 of 1963) from Internet Archive snapshots of legislature.mi.gov dated March and June 2025, because the official host was not available. Read Van Slooten v. Larsen, 410 Mich. 21 (1980) from the Caselaw Access Project. One web search for a Michigan unknown owner, receiver or lease statute found none. CourtListener search was rate limited, so Michigan Court of Appeals decisions under the act (an earlier CourtListener result list for \"554.291\" showed about a dozen Court of Appeals opinions, none read) were not read. The code could not be full text searched for \"unknown\", \"missing\", \"heirs\" or \"unlocatable\" near \"oil\" or \"gas\".", "open_questions": [ "Does a recorded probate order, death certificate or heirship affidavit count as a \"transfer by instrument recorded\" under MCL 554.291(1)?", "Read Michigan Court of Appeals decisions applying MCL 554.291, and check whether any addresses heirs or estates.", "Search Part 615 (MCL 324.61501 et seq.) and Supervisor of Wells rules for treatment of unknown or unlocated owners in pooling, and the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act for mineral proceeds.", "Check for amendments to MCL 554.291 to 554.294 after the 2025 snapshots." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Michigan", "abbr": "MI", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "20 years", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 84, "rank": 7, "statute": "Dormant Minerals Act, MCL 554.291", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291", "preservation": "Record a notice of intent to preserve, or use the oil and gas interest within 20 years (Mich. Comp. Laws 554.291).", "note": "Michigan's Dormant Minerals Act applies to oil and gas and reverts a dormant interest to the surface owner after 20 years with no sale, lease, development or recorded notice." } }, { "id": "MN", "name": "Minnesota", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-minnesota", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "registration_or_ancient_claims", "mechanism_label": "Recorded statement of severed mineral interest required; unrecorded interests can be forfeited to the state by court order", "summary": "Minnesota does not end severed mineral interests for nonuse. Since January 1, 1970 every owner of a fee interest in minerals held apart from the surface must record a verified statement with the county recorder or registrar of titles (Minn. Stat. 93.52). An interest not recorded before January 1, 1975 (if owned on or before December 31, 1973) or within one year after it was acquired (if acquired later) forfeits to the state, but only after the commissioner of natural resources gives notice of an order to show cause and a court adjudges the forfeiture absolute; the owner defeats it by showing substantial compliance, which requires both that the county records showed the true owner and that all severed mineral taxes were paid on time (93.55). The obligation is ongoing, not only historical, because each later acquisition starts a new one year recording window.", "period_years": null, "period_description": "No nonuse period. The deadline is a recording deadline: before January 1, 1975 for interests owned on or before December 31, 1973, and within one year after acquiring the interest for interests acquired after December 31, 1973 (93.55 subd. 1). Use or production neither satisfies nor restarts it; only a recorded statement does. Where a statement was recorded but a later conveyance made on or after December 31, 1969 and before July 1, 2007 was not followed by a new statement, the interest is not subject to forfeiture if substantial compliance is shown and a new statement is recorded within one year of any conveyance on or after July 1, 2007 (93.55 subd. 1b).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "The commissioner of natural resources notifies the last owner of record, served like a summons in an adverse claims action under chapter 559, of a hearing on an order to show cause why the interest should not forfeit to the state absolutely; the court is asked to adjudge the forfeiture absolute unless substantial compliance is shown (93.55 subd. 2). Before finishing that procedure the commissioner may lease the interest, but the lessee may not mine (exploration excepted) until a court has adjudged the forfeiture absolute (subd. 1a). A person who owned the interest before forfeiture may recover its fair market value, either as an alternative claim at the show cause hearing or in an action brought within six years after the judgment (subd. 4).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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).", "interest_scope": "Every fee simple interest in minerals owned separately from the fee title to the surface (93.52 subd. 2). Exempt owners: the United States, the State of Minnesota, and any American Indian tribe or band owning reservation lands (93.52 subd. 3). The statute does not say whether royalty or other nonfee interests are covered.", "mineral_scope": "All minerals. The companion tax statute defines a mineral interest as an interest in any minerals, including gas, coal, oil or similar interests, owned apart from the surface (273.165 subd. 1).", "exceptions": [ "Interests owned by the United States, the State of Minnesota, or a tribe or band owning reservation lands (93.52 subd. 3)", "Interests valued and taxed under other laws relating to the taxation of minerals, gas, coal, oil or similar interests, so long as a tax is imposed and no tax forfeiture is complete (93.55 subd. 5)", "No condemnation rights over overlying surface interests for a lessee of an interest leased under 93.55 (subd. 3)" ], "effective": "Created by Laws 1969 c 829, with recording required from January 1, 1970. 93.55 history: 1969 c 829 s 4; 1969 c 1129; 1973 c 492; 1973 c 650 art 20 s 6; 1979 c 303 art 10 s 1; 1Sp1985 c 14; 1988 c 508 s 1 to 3; 1989 c 277; 2005 c 4 s 21 to 24; 2007 c 131 art 2 s 3, 4 (subd. 1b added); 2009 c 101. 93.52 last amended 2023 c 25 s 20. 93.551 created 1979 c 303 art 10 s 2. No 2026 session flag on any of these sections on October 1, 2026.", "date_model": "explain_only", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Read in full on the official revisor site: Minn. Stat. 93.52, 93.55, 93.551, 273.165, 272.039, 541.023, 93.513 to 93.516, and the chapter 93 table of sections. 272.039 records the legislature's finding that Wichelman v. Messner (1957) held the 40 year Marketable Title Act (541.023) inapplicable to severed mineral interests, and that Washburn v. Gregory (1914) held a severed mineral interest does not forfeit when the surface forfeits for unpaid taxes. 273.165 subd. 1 imposes an annual tax of 40 cents per acre (minimum 3.20 dollars) on recorded severed mineral interests not taxed under other mineral tax laws; a 1992 DNR report records a tax judgment and forfeiture of severed mineral interests in Cass County for unpaid severed mineral taxes.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "The statute does not define \"acquiring\"; whether inheritance or devise starts the one year recording window was not researched (93.55 subd. 2(b)(1) treats timely probate as substantial compliance).", "Whether royalty interests or other nonfee mineral interests are a \"fee simple interest in minerals\" under 93.52 was not researched.", "Minnesota appellate decisions applying or testing 93.52 to 93.55 were not read.", "The statutory chain for tax judgment and forfeiture of severed mineral interests for unpaid 273.165 tax (property tax chapters 279 to 282) was not read; the 1992 DNR report shows it has been used.", "Whether DNR still brings 93.55 forfeiture proceedings today, and how many interests remain unrecorded, is not known." ], "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.", "category": "registration_history", "evidence": "primary" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-MN-001", "SRC-MN-002", "SRC-MN-003", "SRC-MN-004", "SRC-MN-005", "SRC-MN-006", "SRC-MN-007" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No compulsory pooling identified. Minn. Stat. 93.515 (1993) and 93.514(a)(4) (2024) authorize and require DNR rules on spacing, pooling and unitization, but 93.513 bars gas or oil production without a DNR permit that demonstrates control of the extraction area through ownership, lease or agreement, and DNR's 2026 notice of proposed rules says the applicant must control 100 percent of the mineral interests in the spacing unit.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Minn. Stat. chapter 93 table of sections; 93.513 to 93.516 and 103I.681 read in full on the official revisor site; DNR notice of intent for proposed rules R-4995 (Minn. R. parts 6124), comment period closed July 2, 2026. Whether those rules were adopted after that date, and their final pooling text, was not checked.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-MN-008", "SRC-MN-009", "SRC-MN-010" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Minnesota statute was found that requires oil and gas operators to notify and compensate surface owners for damage. 93.516 lets DNR require financial assurance for damages only on state gas and oil leases, and 103I.681 does the same for underground storage permits.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Minn. Stat. chapter 93 table of sections; 93.513 to 93.516; 103I.601 (exploratory borings) and 103I.681 (underground storage) read on the official revisor site. No section creates a surface owner notice and compensation duty for oil and gas operations. The proposed DNR rules R-4995 were not read in full.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-MN-011" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P10" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P5" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P9" ] }, "publication": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P9" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P6", "P8", "P10" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P7" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Every owner of a severed fee interest in minerals must record a verified statement of ownership with the county recorder or registrar of titles.", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.52", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.52 subd. 2", "passage": "every owner of a fee simple interest in minerals, hereafter referred to as a mineral interest, in lands in this state, which interest is owned separately from the fee title to the surface of the property upon or beneath which the mineral interest exists, shall record", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Severed fee interests in minerals; exempts the United States, the state and tribes owning reservation lands (subd. 3). Whether royalty or other nonfee interests are covered is not stated.", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55.md", "source_id": "SRC-MN-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An unrecorded interest forfeits to the state, but only after notice and opportunity for hearing; later acquirers must record within one year after acquiring.", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 1", "passage": "or within one year after acquiring the interests as to interests acquired after December 31, 1973, the mineral interest shall forfeit to the state after notice and opportunity for hearing as provided in this section.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All unrecorded severed fee mineral interests. \"Acquiring\" is not defined, so whether inheritance or devise starts the one year window is not stated.", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55.md", "source_id": "SRC-MN-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The commissioner notifies the last owner of record of a show cause hearing, served like a summons in a chapter 559 adverse claims action.", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(a)", "passage": "The commissioner shall notify the last owner of record ... of a hearing on an order to show cause why the mineral interest should not forfeit to the state absolutely. The notice shall be served in the same manner as provided for the service of summons in a civil action to determine adverse claims under chapter 559", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Forfeiture proceedings under 93.55. Notice is directed to the last owner of record; the section does not separately name heirs.", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55.md", "source_id": "SRC-MN-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In a chapter 559 action, unknown persons and the unknown heirs of a deceased person may be served by publication on an affidavit that their names and residences cannot with reasonable diligence be ascertained.", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/559.02", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 559.02", "passage": "the heirs of a deceased person are proper parties defendant, and their names are unknown, and such affidavit shall further state ... that their names and residences cannot with reasonable diligence be ascertained, then service of summons may be made on such unknown heirs by publication", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "This is the chapter 559 rule for adverse claims actions. Section 93.55 subd. 2(a) adopts the chapter 559 manner of service; no decision read confirms that 559.02 applies in 93.55 forfeiture proceedings.", "saved_as": "sources/MN-559-01-02.md", "source_id": "SRC-MN-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Substantial compliance includes timely initiated and diligently pursued probate or other title proceedings by the true owner during the recording window.", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(b)(1)", "passage": "or that probate, divorce, bankruptcy, mortgage foreclosure, or other proceedings affecting the title had been timely initiated and diligently pursued by the true owner during the time period within which the severed mineral interest statement should have been recorded", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Defense in 93.55 forfeiture hearings; must be combined with timely payment of severed mineral taxes (subd. 2(b)(2)).", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55.md", "source_id": "SRC-MN-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Substantial compliance also requires that all severed mineral taxes were timely paid.", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(b)(2)", "passage": "that all taxes relating to severed mineral interests had been timely paid, including any taxes which would have been due and owing under section 273.165, subdivision 1, had the interest been properly recorded", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Defense in 93.55 forfeiture hearings.", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55.md", "source_id": "SRC-MN-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Before completing forfeiture, the commissioner may lease an unrecorded severed interest, but the lessee may not mine until forfeiture is adjudged absolute.", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 1a", "passage": "A lessee holding a lease issued under this subdivision may not mine under the lease until the commissioner completes the procedures set forth in subdivision 2 and a court has adjudged the forfeiture of the mineral interest to be absolute.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unrecorded severed interests only; exploration is excluded from \"mine\".", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55.md", "source_id": "SRC-MN-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "After forfeiture, a person who owned the interest may recover its fair market value, in the hearing or in a separate action within six years.", "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 4(b)", "passage": "An action may be commenced within six years after entry of judgment under this section to determine the ownership and the fair market value of the mineral interests in the property both at the time of forfeiture and at the time of bringing the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Forfeited interests; refund is reduced by taxes, penalties, costs and interest that could have been collected (subd. 4(c)).", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55.md", "source_id": "SRC-MN-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Under the earlier statute, the court held published notice inadequate where forfeiture follows mere failure to act.", "url": "https://static.case.law/nw2d/278/cases/0732-01.json", "publisher": "Minnesota Supreme Court, Contos v. Herbst, 278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979)", "passage": "Under these circumstances, notice by publication is inadequate where forfeiture is the penalty imposed for mere failure to act.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Minnesota Supreme Court, controlling statewide, but it judged the 1969 to 1973 version of the act, which relied on published notice and had no hearing; the current 93.55 adds served notice and a court hearing. Decided before Texaco v. Short (1982). It did not address heirs or unlocated owners specifically.", "saved_as": "sources/MN-contos-v-herbst-1979.md", "source_id": "SRC-MN-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The court held that forfeiture without a hearing on its validity violates due process.", "url": "https://static.case.law/nw2d/278/cases/0732-01.json", "publisher": "Minnesota Supreme Court, Contos v. Herbst, 278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979)", "passage": "We are also in agreement with plaintiffs’ argument that the statutory scheme attending the forfeiture provisions violates due process because it contains no provision for a hearing to determine the validity of the forfeiture.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Minnesota Supreme Court, controlling statewide, but it judged the 1969 to 1973 version of the act, which relied on published notice and had no hearing; the current 93.55 adds served notice and a court hearing. Decided before Texaco v. Short (1982). It did not address heirs or unlocated owners specifically.", "saved_as": "sources/MN-contos-v-herbst-1979.md", "source_id": "SRC-MN-016", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read Minn. Stat. 93.52 to 93.551 and the chapter 93 table of sections (revisor.mn.gov, 2025 Statutes, read directly), and 559.01 to 559.02. Read Contos v. Herbst, 278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979) from the Caselaw Access Project. Not read: 559 rules on nonresident service by publication (Rule 4 of the Rules of Civil Procedure), severed mineral tax and tax forfeiture chapters (273.165, 279 to 282), and any later Minnesota decision applying 93.55, because CourtListener was rate limited.", "open_questions": [ "Whether inheritance or devise is \"acquiring\" that starts a new one year recording window under 93.55 subd. 1.", "Read any Minnesota appellate decision applying the current 93.55 notice and hearing procedure.", "Whether chapter 559.02 publication on unknown heirs is used in 93.55 proceedings in practice, and whether the commissioner still brings them.", "Tax forfeiture of severed mineral interests for unpaid 273.165 tax and its notice rules." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Minnesota appellate decisions after Contos v. Herbst (1979) were not searched because the case search was rate limited.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Lead review 6 Oct 2026: coverage set to partial. Minnesota appellate decisions after Contos v. Herbst (1979) were not searched because the case search was rate limited." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Minnesota", "abbr": "MN", "category": "special", "unused_minerals": "Special mechanism", "lapse_period": "see note", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 45, "rank": 18, "statute": "Minn. Stat. 93.52, 93.55", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.52", "preservation": "File the statement of severed mineral interest and pay the annual tax, or forfeit to the State (Minn. Stat. 93.52 and 93.55).", "note": "Minnesota requires severed mineral interests to be registered and can forfeit unregistered interests through a tax forfeiture process rather than simple reversion." } }, { "id": "MS", "name": "Mississippi", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-mississippi", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified (limited survey)", "summary": "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.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified. The ad valorem exemption in 27-31-73 applies to taxes levied on or after January 1, 1947 (2015 edition text).", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Mississippi.", "survey_scope": "The official Mississippi Code is published by LexisNexis behind a terms of use gate and was not used; law.justia.com was not available, so no full text search of the code was possible. Read: Title 53, chapters 1, 3 and 11 as reproduced in the State Oil and Gas Board Rule Book (June 2025), with no dormancy provision; Title 89 (Real and Personal Property) chapter list (2023 edition) and the chapter 1 section captions (2020 edition) from Internet Archive snapshots of the Justia mirror, with no dormant, abandoned or severed mineral chapter or section and no marketable title act; Title 27, chapter 31, sections 27-31-71 to 27-31-85 (2015 edition, same mirror) on nonproducing mineral interests. Title 89 chapters 11 (Escheats) and 12 (Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act) were seen only as chapter titles. Titles 11, 15 and 29 were not searched.", "confidence": "low", "open_questions": [ "A specialist with access to the official Mississippi Code should confirm that no dormant, abandoned or unknown owner mineral statute exists, including in Titles 11, 15, 27, 29 and 89.", "27-31-73 was read in the 2015 edition through a mirror; amendments since then were not checked.", "Mississippi case law on severed mineral interests was not reviewed." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-MS-001", "SRC-MS-002" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. Under Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(1)(a) the State Oil and Gas Board may, after notice and hearing, require owners in a drilling unit who have not agreed to integrate to do so. Where owners of at least 33 percent of the drilling rights consent and the operator made good faith efforts, the Board may allow alternate risk charges of 250 percent (300 percent for a severed mineral interest or lease owned by a nonconsenting owner), with notice by publication to owners whose addresses are unknown.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-MS-003" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Mississippi statute was found that requires oil and gas operators to notify and compensate surface owners. The oil and gas statutes reproduced by the State Oil and Gas Board contain none, but the full code could not be searched.", "confidence": "low", "survey_scope": "Read the section lists and text of Mississippi Code Title 53, chapters 1, 3 and 11, as reproduced in the State Oil and Gas Board Rule Book (June 2025): no surface owner notice or damage section (53-3-161 concerns a landowner's rights over underground gas storage). Title 89 chapter list (2023 edition, Justia mirror via Internet Archive) shows no surface damage chapter. Board rules mention surface owner notice for some permits, but rules are not statutes. The official code (LexisNexis) could not be searched.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "Unknown persons owning drilling rights in the unit are noticed by publication in integration petitions for alternate charges (53-3-7(2)(c), (d)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy mechanism was identified in the October review; there is nothing for these owners to be subject to.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Integration notice for alternate charges must reach unknown heirs or devisees of deceased owners by publication.", "propositions": [ "P3" ] }, "search": { "status": "statute", "statement": "For integration petitions seeking alternate charges, the operator must state that an owner's address is unknown after diligent search and inquiry.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Certified mail to nonconsenting owners with known addresses; constructive notice by publication to others; only those served are subject to alternate charges.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P5" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Noticed owners may appear before the Board to show cause against the petition.", "propositions": [ "P6" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "The official Mississippi Code could not be searched for receivers, trustees, escrow or unclaimed mineral proceeds provisions; none was identified in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An operator seeking alternate charges must name every nonconsenting real party in interest with address if known, and state of any owner whose address is not known that it is unknown after diligent search and inquiry.", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(b)", "passage": "if any owner's address is not known, the operator shall state in its petition that such person's address is unknown after diligent search and inquiry.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to a forced integration petition asking the State Oil and Gas Board to allow alternate (risk) charges against nonconsenting owners under Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2). Read from the Board's reproduction dated June 2025, not the official code.", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "source_id": "SRC-MS-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Only parties served with actual or constructive notice under the section are subject to the alternate charges the Board allows.", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(b)", "passage": "Only those parties served with actual or constructive notice as set forth hereinbelow will be subject to any alternate charges allowed by the board.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to a forced integration petition asking the State Oil and Gas Board to allow alternate (risk) charges against nonconsenting owners under Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2). Read from the Board's reproduction dated June 2025, not the official code.", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "source_id": "SRC-MS-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The published notice must also notice all unknown heirs or devisees of deceased owners and all unknown persons owning drilling rights in the unit.", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(c)", "passage": "Said notice shall also notice all unknown heirs or devisees of deceased owners, if any there be, and all unknown persons owning drilling rights in said proposed drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to a forced integration petition asking the State Oil and Gas Board to allow alternate (risk) charges against nonconsenting owners under Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2). Read from the Board's reproduction dated June 2025, not the official code.", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "source_id": "SRC-MS-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Notice to nonconsenting parties whose address is unknown after diligent search is published once a week for three successive weeks in a county newspaper, or a statewide one if none, and is complete twenty one days after first publication.", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(d)", "passage": "The publication of notice to nonconsenting real parties in interest whose address is unknown after diligent search and inquiry shall be made once in each week during three (3) successive weeks in a public newspaper of the county or counties in which the proposed drilling unit is located,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to a forced integration petition asking the State Oil and Gas Board to allow alternate (risk) charges against nonconsenting owners under Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2). Read from the Board's reproduction dated June 2025, not the official code.", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "source_id": "SRC-MS-006", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Nonconsenting parties whose address is known receive the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least thirty days before the Board meeting.", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(e)", "passage": "the board shall mail each notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, sufficiently distant in time to allow thirty (30) days to elapse between the date of the mailing of said notice and the date of the regular meeting of the board", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to a forced integration petition asking the State Oil and Gas Board to allow alternate (risk) charges against nonconsenting owners under Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2). Read from the Board's reproduction dated June 2025, not the official code.", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "source_id": "SRC-MS-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The notice summons the persons to appear before the Board and show cause why the integration petition should not be granted.", "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(c), form of notice", "passage": "You are noticed to appear before the State Oil and Gas Board at its regular term,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to a forced integration petition asking the State Oil and Gas Board to allow alternate (risk) charges against nonconsenting owners under Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2). Read from the Board's reproduction dated June 2025, not the official code.", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "source_id": "SRC-MS-008", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7 in full as reproduced in the State Oil and Gas Board's rule book (PDF dated June 13, 2025), fetched directly from the Board's site; the rule book text was searched for unknown, escrow and cannot be located (other hits concern operators and nonoperators, not mineral owners). The official Mississippi Code (LexisNexis) was not readable. One web search for a Mississippi receivership or trustee statute for unknown mineral owners found none. Not reviewed: Mississippi Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act as applied to mineral proceeds, 53-3-39 royalty payment rules, chancery court quiet title and heirship procedures, and all case law (case search quota exhausted).", "open_questions": [ "Whether Mississippi has a statute allowing a court appointed receiver or trustee to lease minerals of unknown or unlocated owners; none was found, but the official code could not be searched.", "How Mississippi's unclaimed property law treats mineral proceeds owed to unlocated owners.", "Whether 53-3-7 was amended after June 2025, and how Mississippi courts treat publication notice to unknown heirs in integration orders." ], "confidence": "low", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Mississippi", "abbr": "MS", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 34, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Mississippi. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "MO", "name": "Missouri", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-missouri", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "summary": "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. Severed oil, gas and mineral rights are assessed and taxed separately from the land (RSMo 259.220) and can be sold for delinquent taxes like other real estate (RSMo 140.150); that is ordinary tax sale law, not a dormancy rule.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the Revised Statutes as published on revisor.mo.gov on 1 Oct 2026.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Missouri.", "survey_scope": "Official Revised Statutes of Missouri at revisor.mo.gov, read 1 Oct 2026. Full text of all 24 sections of chapter 259 (Oil and Gas Production) read. Section headings read and searched for mineral, coal, oil, gas, sever, lapse, abandon, dormant, unknown, marketable, ancient, reservation, royalty and surface in chapters 442 (titles and conveyance of real estate), 444 (mines and mining), 446, 447 (unclaimed property), 516 (limitations), 527, 528 (partition), 137, 140 and 141 (property tax and tax sales). No dormant mineral, statement of claim, marketable title or missing mineral owner statute found. Related: 259.220 taxes severed oil, gas and mineral rights separately from the land; 140.150 makes mineral rights and royalty interests subject to tax sale like other real estate. The official site search was not run for this release.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "The survey read section headings, not full text, outside chapter 259; a full text search of the Revised Statutes was not possible without using the site's search form.", "A search result described a 2022 bill (H.B. 2862) that would have made unused mineral rights revert to the surface owner after 20 years; its text and history were not read, and no such section appears in chapter 444 on revisor.mo.gov.", "Missouri case law on abandonment or adverse possession of severed mineral interests was not reviewed." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-MO-001", "SRC-MO-002", "SRC-MO-003" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "In the absence of voluntary pooling, the oil and gas council (now within the department of natural resources, RSMo 640.010) shall, on application of any interested person, enter an order pooling all interests in a spacing unit, on just and reasonable terms after notice and hearing (RSMo 259.110, effective 28 Aug 1965).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-MO-004" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Missouri statute was found requiring oil and gas operators to notify or compensate surface owners for surface damage.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Full text of all 24 sections of RSMo chapter 259 (Oil and Gas Production) searched for surface: only the definition of waste in 259.050. Section headings of chapters 444 (mines and mining, including coal surface mining reclamation), 442, 446, 447, 516, 527, 528, 137, 140 and 141 read; no oil and gas surface damages provision found.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unlocated": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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).", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2" ] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "None found in chapter 259 (full text of 259.110, 259.120, 259.140, 259.220 and 259.230 read; all chapter 259 headings scanned) or in the headings of chapters 140, 442, 444, 447, 527 and 528, and one web search found none. A full text search of the Revised Statutes was not possible without the site's search form, so a mechanism elsewhere is not ruled out.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Severed oil, gas and other mineral rights are assessed and taxed separately to their owner like other real estate.", "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=259.220", "publisher": "Missouri Revisor of Statutes, Revised Statutes of Missouri", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RSMo 259.220", "passage": "All rights and interests in or to oil, gas or other minerals underlying land ... which rights or interests are owned by any person other than the owner of the land, shall be assessed and taxed separately to the owner of such rights or interests in the same manner as other real estate.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Context only: a tax rule, not a nonuse rule. Tax sale and its notice rules (chapter 140) were not read, so how a separately taxed interest of a dead or unlocated owner fares at tax sale is not addressed here.", "saved_as": "sources/MO-259-sections-and-chapter-survey.md", "source_id": "SRC-MO-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Notice of oil and gas council proceedings, including pooling, is by personal service or by letter to the last recorded address, plus one newspaper publication in the county.", "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=259.140", "publisher": "Missouri Revisor of Statutes, Revised Statutes of Missouri", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RSMo 259.140.4", "passage": "Any notice required by this chapter shall be given at the election of the council either by personal service or by letter to the last recorded address of the person to whom the order is directed and one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the land affected, or some part thereof, is situated.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Council proceedings under chapter 259 (spacing, pooling and similar orders), not a dormancy or title rule. Silent on deceased or unknown owners; the letter goes to the last recorded address whether or not the person is alive there.", "saved_as": "sources/MO-259-sections-and-chapter-survey.md", "source_id": "SRC-MO-006", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "none", "note": "No period or deadline relevant to deceased, unknown or unlocated mineral owners appears in the provisions read." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "revisor.mo.gov read directly: chapter 259 table of sections and full text of 259.110, 259.120, 259.140, 259.220, 259.230; section headings of chapters 140, 442, 444, 447, 527 and 528 scanned for \"unknown\", \"mineral\", \"oil\", \"gas\", \"absent\", \"missing\", \"nonresident\", \"heirs\" and \"royalt\". One web search for a Missouri unknown mineral owner statute found none. The October review noted H.B. 2862 (2022), a proposed 20 year reversion bill, as not enacted in chapter 444; not re-checked. CourtListener was rate limited, so no Missouri decision on abandonment or adverse possession of severed minerals was read. Oil and gas council rules (10 CSR 50) and the unclaimed property act (447.500 et seq.) were not read.", "open_questions": [ "Full text search of RSMo for unknown or missing mineral owner provisions, including chapter 447 unclaimed property treatment of mineral proceeds.", "Oil and gas council rules (10 CSR 50) on notice to and escrow for unlocated owners in pooling.", "Missouri case law on abandonment, adverse possession or tax sale of severed mineral interests." ], "confidence": "low", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Missouri", "abbr": "MO", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 35, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Missouri. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "MT", "name": "Montana", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-montana", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "missing_owner_procedure", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral act; court trust for unlocatable mineral owners", "summary": "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). The court appoints the clerk of court or the Department of Revenue as trustee to sign leases and division orders and hold the income; the absent owner keeps title.", "period_years": null, "period_description": "No dormancy period. A person holding bonuses, rentals, royalties or other income for unlocatable owners may not hold it personally for longer than 6 months and must petition for a trust within that period (MCA 82-1-305).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Petition in the district court of a county where the tract lies, showing a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the absent owner and that a trustee is in the best interest of all mineral owners (82-1-302(2)). The court appoints the clerk of court, or the Department of Revenue if the clerk declines, as trustee with authority to execute leases, ratifications, division orders and related instruments on court approved terms. Income is paid to the trustee, administered under Title 72, and the trust stays in force until the unlocatable owners claim their share and file the address notice under 82-1-306. Trust funds are subject to the abandoned property provisions of Title 70, chapter 9.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": "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.", "interest_scope": "Interests in minerals underlying a tract, including mineral, leasehold and royalty interests (part 3 and 82-1-305), owned or claimed by persons whose residence and whereabouts are unknown.", "mineral_scope": "Minerals generally; the trustee may execute an oil, gas, or other mineral lease.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "Part 3 enacted by Ch. 513, L. 1979; amended by Ch. 126, L. 1997 (Department of Revenue as trustee) and other later acts shown in the history notes. Read in the Montana Code Annotated 2025, the current online edition.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Crawled the official MCA 2025 section captions for titles 1, 15, 25, 27, 70, 71, 72, 76, 77 and 82 (8,683 sections) and searched for: dormant, severed, abandon, marketable, mineral interest, mineral estate, unknown, unlocatable, pool, surface owner, royalty. No dormant, abandoned or severed mineral interest statute and no marketable title act was found. Related: 82-1-301 to 82-1-306 (trust for unlocatable owners); 15-8-501 (assessment to unknown or absent owners); 15-17-326(4) and (5) and 70-19-421 (royalty interests acquired by a county by tax deed; action to recover limited by 27-2-210); 82-1-201 to 82-1-204 (release of forfeited or expired leases). Bill histories on courts.mt.gov show dormant mineral interest bills failed: 1981 HB758 (Senate committee not concurred), 1985 HB434 (killed), 1993 SB102, the Uniform Dormant Mineral Interests Act (tabled in committee). No surface development notice statute for mineral owners was found in these titles.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Montana taxes royalty interests (15-23-505, 15-23-507) and lets counties take royalty interests by tax deed (15-17-326, 70-19-421); whether nonproducing severed mineral interests are assessed and can be lost at tax sale was not researched.", "Montana case law on abandonment or adverse possession of severed minerals was not reviewed.", "Titles outside the ten crawled were not searched by caption." ], "category": "missing_owner", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-MT-001", "SRC-MT-002", "SRC-MT-003", "SRC-MT-004", "SRC-MT-005" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. Under MCA 82-11-202(1)(b) the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, after a hearing, may pool all interests in a permanent spacing unit on application of an interested owner or operator who has made an unsuccessful good faith attempt to pool voluntarily. A refusing unleased owner is treated as owning a one eighth landowner royalty until the consenting owners recover costs, including a 200 percent charge on drilling costs.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-MT-006" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. MCA 82-10-501 to 82-10-511 (Surface Owner Damage and Disruption Compensation) require written notice to the surface owner 20 to 180 days before surface disturbing activity, require the operator to pay for loss of agricultural production and income, lost land value and lost value of improvements, and make the operator responsible for damage to property caused by oil and gas operations.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-MT-007", "SRC-MT-008" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read; the trust statute speaks of unknown residence and whereabouts, not unknown identity.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "statute", "statement": "A diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the absent owner must be shown before a trustee is appointed.", "propositions": [ "P2" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P7" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Part 3 contains no publication requirement; any service in the court proceeding would follow general civil procedure, not reviewed.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P3", "P4" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An owner of an interest in the minerals may petition the district court to declare a trust for co owners whose residence and whereabouts are unknown and cannot reasonably be ascertained.", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-302(1)", "passage": "may petition the district court of the county in which the tract or a portion of the tract is located to declare a trust in favor of other persons also owning or claiming an interest in the minerals underlying the tract if their place of residence and present whereabouts is unknown", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unlocated owners and claimants. The text addresses unknown whereabouts, not unknown identity, and does not mention heirs or deceased owners.", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-306.md", "source_id": "SRC-MT-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The petitioner must show a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the absent owner and that a trustee is in the best interest of all owners.", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-302(2)", "passage": "(a) a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the absent owner or claimant has been made; and (b) appointment of a trustee will be in the best interest of all owners of an interest in the minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trust petitions under part 3. Diligent effort is not defined in the provisions read.", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-306.md", "source_id": "SRC-MT-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The court appoints the clerk of court, or the Department of Revenue if the clerk declines, as trustee with authority to sign leases and division orders.", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-302(3)", "passage": "the court shall appoint the clerk of court or, if the clerk of court declines to act as trustee, the department of revenue as trustee and shall authorize the clerk of court or the department to execute and deliver an oil, gas, or other mineral lease, a ratification, a division order", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trusts under part 3.", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-306.md", "source_id": "SRC-MT-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A person holding payments for unlocatable owners may not keep them more than six months and must petition for a trust within that period.", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0050/0820-0010-0030-0050.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-305(1)", "passage": "A person may not personally hold for longer than 6 months any bonuses, rental payments, royalties, or other income for unlocatable owners or claimants of an interest in minerals underlying a tract of land. Within the 6-month period, the person shall petition the district court for creation of a trust", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Anyone holding proceeds for unlocatable owners; subsection (2) imposes fees, costs and double interest for noncompliance.", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-306.md", "source_id": "SRC-MT-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The trust stays in force until the unlocatable owners claim their share and file the address notice; money is distributed on court order.", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0040/0820-0010-0030-0040.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-304(4)", "passage": "A trust in favor of unlocatable owners must be kept in force until the unlocatable owners of the mineral interest in question have successfully claimed their share of the funds held in trust and have filed the notice, as provided in 82-1-306.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Absent owners who reappear. Funds in the trusts are also subject to the abandoned property provisions of Title 70, chapter 9 (82-1-304(6)), not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-306.md", "source_id": "SRC-MT-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A claimant may record a notice of address and interest, which creates a rebuttable presumption of ownership.", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0060/0820-0010-0030-0060.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-306(1)", "passage": "a person claiming an interest in minerals underlying a tract of land that is the subject of a trust proceeding under 82-1-302 may file with the clerk and recorder of each county in which the land is located a notice containing the person's address and a description of the person's interest in the minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Claimants in a part 3 trust proceeding; the clerk and recorder forwards a copy to the trustee.", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-306.md", "source_id": "SRC-MT-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Income is paid to the trustee until the trust ends and notice of termination is given to all interested parties.", "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0040/0820-0010-0030-0040.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-304(3)", "passage": "All bonuses, rental payments, royalties, and other income must be paid to the trustee until the trust is terminated and notice of its termination given to all interested parties.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Termination of part 3 trusts. The provisions read say nothing about notice to the absent owner of the petition itself.", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-306.md", "source_id": "SRC-MT-011", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "Read in full: MCA 82-1-301 to 82-1-306 (Montana Code Annotated 2025 section pages). Reviewed indexes of MCA Title 82 chapters, chapter 1 parts, chapter 10 parts and chapter 10 part 1 sections; read 82-10-503 and 82-10-504 (surface damage, not relevant). The October 2026 dormancy review records failed dormant mineral bills in 1981, 1985 and 1993; that history was not re-read. No Montana Supreme Court decision interpreting 82-1-302 was found (one web search; CourtListener search unavailable after its daily limit). Not reviewed: Title 70 chapter 9 abandoned property, probate, quiet title, Title 82 chapter 11 pooling.", "open_questions": [ "Whether any Montana decision construes 'diligent but unsuccessful effort' or applies part 3 to heirs of a deceased owner.", "How Title 70, chapter 9 abandoned property rules apply to funds in part 3 trusts." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "No Montana decision on the diligent effort standard or on heirs was found, and the case search was limited.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: No Montana decision on the diligent effort standard or on heirs was found, and the case search was limited." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Montana", "abbr": "MT", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 36, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "Montana has no dormant minerals act, so severed minerals do not lapse through nonuse. It does have a surface owner damage and disruption law." } }, { "id": "NE", "name": "Nebraska", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/nebraska-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Dormant mineral statute, 23 years, suit in equity by the surface owner required", "summary": "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. There is no late filing cure once suit is filed, and the Nebraska Supreme Court requires strict compliance and holds that the record owner must be the one who exercises ownership.", "period_years": 23, "period_description": "The 23 years immediately prior to the filing of the action (Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-229). Each qualifying act extends the interest for 23 years from the date of the act.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Suit in equity by any surface owner, for himself and the other surface owners, in the county where the land lies, naming everyone having or appearing to have an interest, with unknown defendants proceeded against under Chapter 25, article 3 (57-228). If the court finds abandonment it enters judgment terminating and extinguishing the interest, canceling it of record and vesting title in the owners of the surface from which it was severed, in proportion to their surface ownership (57-230).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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.", "interest_scope": "Severed mineral interests; the statute does not define the term or distinguish royalty interests. Only acts of the record owner count, and the record owner can include a person shown by county probate records (Gibbs Cattle Co. v. Bixler, 2013, per the official annotations).", "mineral_scope": "Not limited by the text to particular minerals.", "exceptions": [ "Mineral interests of which the State of Nebraska or any of its political subdivisions is the record owner (57-229)", "The Nebraska Supreme Court held 57-228 to 57-231 unconstitutional insofar as they could be read to operate retroactively (Monahan Cattle Co. v. Goodwin and Wheelock & Manning 00 Ranches v. Heath, 1978, per the official annotations)" ], "effective": "Laws 1967, c. 348, sections 1 to 4 (57-228 to 57-231). Owners sued within two years after October 23, 1967 could appear and assert their interest and were deemed to have timely exercised ownership (57-231). Sections 57-232 and 57-233 were repealed by Laws 1971, LB 636. No later amendment appears in the Source lines read.", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": null, "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "The official site was not available when AMR checked; amendments after the snapshot dates (May 2025 to August 2026) were not checked against session laws.", "How Monahan and Wheelock limit application to nonuse before October 23, 1967, and how Peterson v. Sanders (2011) treats post 1967 transfers, is set out in the opinions, which were not read for this review.", "Whether production by a lessee, rather than by the record owner, counts as the record owner's public exercise under 57-229(2) should be checked in the case law." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-NE-001", "SRC-NE-002", "SRC-NE-002", "SRC-NE-003", "SRC-NE-004", "SRC-NE-005", "SRC-NE-006" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Absent voluntary pooling, the Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission may, on application or on its own motion, pool all interests in a spacing unit (57-909); a nonconsenting owner pays out of production after the operator recovers 300 to 500 percent of well costs and 200 to 500 percent of equipment costs depending on well depth, and an unleased owner is treated as a lessee of seven eighths and lessor of one eighth. Compulsory unitization requires written consent of owners of at least 75 percent of unit production and, for the operating plan, 65 percent of costs (57-910.03).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-NE-007", "SRC-NE-008" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify and compensate surface owners for damage was found in Chapter 57 (Oil, Gas, and Minerals).", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Nebraska Legislature Chapter 57 section caption index (227 sections, Internet Archive snapshot January 23, 2026) searched for surface, damage, owner and notice; the only caption mentioning damages concerns easements across public lands (57-1103), and no caption concerns compensation of surface owners for oil and gas operations. Other chapters and commission rules were not searched.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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).", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P3", "P10" ] }, "succession": { "status": "case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P9", "P12" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute", "statement": "All persons having or appearing to have an interest are named as defendants; unknown ones proceed under chapter 25, article 3.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "publication": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Publication by court order on affidavit that service cannot be made with reasonable diligence otherwise (general rule).", "propositions": [ "P6" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P11", "P13" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P7", "P8" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The surface owner sues in equity, naming everyone who has or appears to have an interest, and may proceed against unknown defendants under chapter 25, article 3.", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-228", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-228", "passage": "naming as parties defendant therein all persons having or appearing to have any interest in such severed mineral interest, and if such parties defendant are not known and cannot be ascertained, they may be proceeded against as unknown defendants under the provisions of Chapter 25, article 3.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every action to terminate a severed mineral interest. Notice is through the lawsuit and its service of process, not a separate notice of lapse.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-228-231.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The interest is abandoned unless the record owner publicly exercised ownership in the twenty three years before the action was filed.", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-229", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-229", "passage": "A severed mineral interest shall be abandoned unless the record owner of such mineral interest has within the twenty-three years immediately prior to the filing of the action provided for in sections 57-228 to 57-231, exercised publicly the right of ownership by", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed mineral interests except those of which the state or a political subdivision is record owner.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-228-231.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the court finds abandonment, it terminates the interest and vests title in the surface owners.", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-230", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-230", "passage": "If the court shall find that the severed mineral interest has been abandoned, it shall enter judgment terminating and extinguishing it, canceling it of record, and vesting the title thereto in the owner or owners of the interest in the surface from which it was originally severed", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Judgment in a 57-228 action.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-228-231.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A verified claim of interest must identify the instrument under which the interest is claimed and give the claimants' names and addresses.", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-229", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-229", "passage": "shall properly identify the deed or other instrument under which the interest is claimed, shall give the name and address of the person or persons claiming the interest, and shall state that such person or persons claim the interest and do not intend to abandon the same.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Verified claims, which must be recorded within the twenty three years before suit. The statute provides no cure after suit is filed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-228-231.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Persons whose interest does not appear of record may be sued as all persons claiming an interest, real names unknown, after diligent investigation and inquiry.", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-321", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-321", "passage": "after diligent investigation and inquiry, is unable to ascertain and does not know the names or whereabouts if in this state, or the residence of such persons, such action may proceed against all such persons designated as \"all persons having or claiming any interest in\" such property", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General civil procedure, incorporated for unknown defendants by 57-228. Applies where the claimants' interest does not appear of record in their names. Not mineral specific.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-25-321-25-517-02.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Service by publication or other substitute means requires a court order on an affidavit that service cannot be made with reasonable diligence by other statutory methods.", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-517.02", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-517.02", "passage": "Upon motion and showing by affidavit that service cannot be made with reasonable diligence by any other method provided by statute, the court may permit service to be made (1) by leaving the process at the defendant's usual place of residence and mailing a copy by first-class mail to the defendant's last-known address, (2) by publication", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General civil procedure; its application to 57-228 actions is by way of the ordinary service rules and was not tested against a mineral case. Other chapter 25 service sections were not reviewed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 24, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-25-321-25-517-02.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The county court may authorize an executor, administrator, guardian, conservator or trustee to lease the oil and gas interest of a deceased person or protected person.", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-210", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-210", "passage": "for authority to lease any interest in real estate, or any part thereof, of any deceased person, beneficiary of a trust, minor, incompetent, or person unfit by reason of infirmities of age or physical disability", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interests of decedents in administration and of protected persons; procedure in 57-211 and 57-212.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 18, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-210-212-01.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Where there are unknown owners or unknown heirs or devisees of deceased owners, the court follows 25-321 and may appoint a trustee to represent them before authorizing a lease.", "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-212.01", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-212.01", "passage": "the court may, upon the hearing of the petition, appoint a trustee to represent the interests of such unknown owners, or unknown heirs, devisees, or legatees and to carry out the orders of the court with respect thereto.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Lease petitions under 57-210 to 57-212.01 only. Whether a lease made this way is a public exercise of ownership under 57-229 is not addressed in the provisions read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 22, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-210-212-01.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The record owner may be identified from county probate records as well as from the register of deeds.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2013/05/24/gibbs_cattle_co._v._bixler.pdf", "publisher": "Nebraska Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gibbs Cattle Co. v. Bixler, 285 Neb. 952 (2013)", "passage": "We hold that the \"record owner\" of mineral interests, as used in § 57-229, may be determined not only from the register of deeds, but also from probate records in the county where the interests are located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Nebraska Supreme Court, controls statewide. Probate records were in the county where the minerals lay; the decision does not address out of county probate.", "saved_as": "sources/NE-gibbs-cattle-v-bixler-2013.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A devisee identified through county probate records had her own twenty three year period running from her acquisition at death.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2013/05/24/gibbs_cattle_co._v._bixler.pdf", "publisher": "Nebraska Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gibbs Cattle Co. v. Bixler, 285 Neb. 952 (2013)", "passage": "And because she acquired her interest in 1996, her 23-year statutory period has not elapsed and her property cannot be deemed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Nebraska Supreme Court, controls statewide. The decedent died in 1996 and his estate was probated in the county. The trial court's view that a transfer by will is not itself a public exercise was not challenged on appeal and was not decided.", "saved_as": "sources/NE-gibbs-cattle-v-bixler-2013.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Severed mineral owners, including heirs filing verified claims, must strictly comply with 57-229.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/10/03/rice_v._bixler.pdf", "publisher": "Nebraska Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Rice v. Bixler, 289 Neb. 194 (2014)", "passage": "we hold that severed mineral owners must strictly comply with the statutory requirements of § 57-229 and that the district court erred in concluding that substantial compliance was sufficient.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Nebraska Supreme Court, controls statewide. Claimants included heirs of owners who died intestate or testate.", "saved_as": "sources/NE-rice-v-bixler-2014.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A claim that refers to an unrecorded deed does not establish the chain of ownership required for a verified claim.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/10/03/rice_v._bixler.pdf", "publisher": "Nebraska Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Rice v. Bixler, 289 Neb. 194 (2014)", "passage": "Reference to an unrecorded deed that may or may not exist does not establish the proper chain of ownership necessary to comply with the requirements for filing a verified claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Nebraska Supreme Court, controls statewide. ", "saved_as": "sources/NE-rice-v-bixler-2014.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A claim of interest recorded after the surface owner's suit was filed did not save the interest.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2015/06/05/fisher_v._heirs__devisees_of_t.d._lovercheck.pdf", "publisher": "Nebraska Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Fisher v. Heirs & Devisees of T.D. Lovercheck, 291 Neb. 9 (2015)", "passage": "Because US Bank did not publicly exercise its right of ownership during the 23 years preceding the original complaint, the Fishers are entitled to summary judgment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Nebraska Supreme Court, controls statewide. Defendant was a trustee of a trust, not an heir; an amended complaint adding the real party in interest related back under 25-301.", "saved_as": "sources/NE-fisher-v-heirs-lovercheck-2015.md", "source_id": "SRC-NE-018", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "Read: Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-228 to 57-231, 57-210, 57-211, 57-212, 57-212.01, 25-321, 25-322, 25-323, 25-517.02 (Nebraska Legislature pages via Internet Archive; the official host was not available when AMR checked). Chapter 57 section index scanned for unknown, whereabouts, absent, nonresident, missing, heir, trust, receiver, deceased. Opinions read: Gibbs Cattle Co. v. Bixler (2013), Rice v. Bixler (2014), Fisher v. Heirs & Devisees of T.D. Lovercheck (2015). CourtListener result list for '57-229' also showed Ricks v. Vap (2010), WTJ Skavdahl Land v. Elliott (2013), Monahan Cattle Co. v. Goodwin and Wheelock & Manning 00 Ranches v. Heath (1978), which were not read. Not reviewed: other chapter 25 service sections, probate, quiet title chapter 25-21,112.", "open_questions": [ "Whether a 57-228 judgment against heirs served only by publication as unknown defendants is open to attack where heirs were identifiable; no Nebraska mineral decision on this was found.", "Whether probate records outside the county count after Gibbs.", "Whether a lease authorized under 57-210 to 57-212.01 for unknown heirs is a public exercise of ownership under 57-229." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Ricks v. Vap and Monahan Cattle were not read, and whether a judgment on publication binds identifiable heirs is open.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Ricks v. Vap and Monahan Cattle were not read, and whether a judgment on publication binds identifiable heirs is open." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Nebraska", "abbr": "NE", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "23 years", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 79, "rank": 12, "statute": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-228 to 57-231", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-228", "preservation": "Record an instrument, produce, or record a verified claim within 23 years (Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-229).", "note": "Nebraska treats a severed mineral interest as abandoned unless the record owner has publicly exercised ownership, by recording, leasing, producing or filing a claim, within the prior 23 years." } }, { "id": "NV", "name": "Nevada", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-nevada", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "summary": "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.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the NRS chapters read (archived versions current through the 2023 or 2025 session as stamped on each page).", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Official Nevada Revised Statutes chapter pages (leg.state.nv.us was not available when AMR checked) read in full from Internet Archive snapshots: chapters 11 (limitation of actions, snapshot September 25, 2026, through 2025 session), 40 (actions concerning property, June 7, 2026, through 2025), 111 (estates in property, conveyancing and recording, January 28, 2026, through 2023), 361 (property tax, September 25, 2026, through 2025), 362 (taxes on patented mines and proceeds of minerals, November 19, 2025), 517 (mining claims, September 15, 2025, through 2023) and 522 (oil and gas, November 13, 2025, through 2023). Searched for mineral, severed, dormant, marketable title, statement of claim, lapse, abandon, unknown owner and surface owner: no dormant mineral, statement of claim, marketable title or missing mineral owner provision found; chapter 111 never uses the word mineral. Related: chapter 517 governs location, relocation of abandoned lode claims (517.080) and mill sites, a mining claim topic; 361 allows assessment to 'unknown owner'. Chapter 120A (unclaimed property) had no archived snapshot and was not searched.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "The official host was not available when AMR checked; chapters were read from archive snapshots, and chapters 111, 517 and 522 carry 2023 session revision stamps, so 2025 session amendments to them were not checked.", "Chapter 120A (unclaimed property) and NRS titles other than those listed were not searched.", "Nevada case law on abandonment of severed mineral interests was not reviewed." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-NV-001" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "If persons owning drilling rights in separately owned tracts within an established drilling unit do not agree to pool, the Division of Minerals may, to prevent waste, protect correlative rights or avoid unnecessary wells, order their interests pooled after notice and hearing; lessees who refuse to agree bear a 300 percent cost recovery out of production (NRS 522.060(3) and (4)). NRS 522.0824 to 522.0838 also provide for compulsory unitization.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-NV-002", "SRC-NV-003" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Nevada statute was found requiring oil and gas operators to notify or compensate surface owners for surface damage.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Full text of archived NRS chapter 522 (oil and gas, snapshot November 13, 2025, revision through the 2023 session) searched for surface owner, landowner, damage and surface: only waste and unitization royalty references. Chapters 111, 40, 361 and 517 also contain no surface owner damages provision.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read, apart from proceeds escrow \"for any other reason\" a payment cannot be made (NRS 522.113(1)(b)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "NRS 522.113 refers to \"inability to locate\" but sets no search standard.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No dormancy notice exists. Division proceeding notices are covered under special_mechanism.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read, beyond payout from escrow on a final legal determination of entitlement.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P3" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A payor unable to pay oil or gas proceeds because it cannot locate the person entitled must deposit the unpaid money in an interest bearing escrow account in Nevada.", "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-522.html", "publisher": "Nevada Legislature, Legislative Counsel Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NRS 522.113(1)(b)", "passage": "If unable to pay timely any portion of the money because of inability to locate a person entitled to receive the money or for any other reason, deposit the unpaid portion of the money in an escrow account in a bank, credit union, savings and loan institution or savings bank in Nevada", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Money from the sale of production from oil or gas wells in Nevada, owed by the owner, lessee, operator or other person liable for payment. It holds proceeds; it does not transfer or lease the mineral interest.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NV-522-113-escrow.md", "source_id": "SRC-NV-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The escrow agent pays principal and interest to the person legally entitled within 30 days after receiving a final legal determination of entitlement.", "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-522.html", "publisher": "Nevada Legislature, Legislative Counsel Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NRS 522.113(1)(b)", "passage": "The escrow agent shall pay the appropriate amount of principal and accrued interest from such an account to a person legally entitled thereto within 30 days after the date of receipt by the escrow agent of a final legal determination of entitlement thereto.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Same as P1. The section does not say how a final legal determination is obtained or what happens to money never claimed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NV-522-113-escrow.md", "source_id": "SRC-NV-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Notices under the oil and gas conservation chapter are given by personal service, with substituted service under the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure if personal service cannot be made.", "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-522.html", "publisher": "Nevada Legislature, Legislative Counsel Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NRS 522.090(2)", "passage": "Any notice required by this chapter must be given by personal service on all interested persons, and if personal service cannot be made, then substituted service may be made in the manner provided for substitute service of process under the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Division of Minerals hearings and orders under chapter 522, such as pooling. The Rules of Civil Procedure were not reviewed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NV-522-113-escrow.md", "source_id": "SRC-NV-005", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Nevada Revised Statutes, official chapter pages read from the Internet Archive because the official host was not available when AMR checked: NRS 522 (snapshot November 13, 2025) and NRS 517 (snapshot September 15, 2025), both searched in full for: unknown, unlocat, cannot be found or located, whereabouts, missing, escrow, co-owner, heirs, publication. NRS 517 hits concerned survey corners, blind lodes and sale notices, none about owners. Archive captures of NRS 111 and 40 returned block pages this session, so those chapters were not re-read. No case law search was run because no statute on these points was found. Not reviewed: probate, general quiet title, NRS 120A unclaimed property, Division of Minerals regulations.", "open_questions": [ "Does NRS 120A (unclaimed property) take escrowed oil and gas proceeds after a period? Not reviewed.", "Re-read NRS 111 and 40 from a working copy to confirm no mineral specific unknown owner provision." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "NRS chapters 111 and 40 could not be re-read, and the unclaimed property chapter was not reviewed.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Nevada", "abbr": "NV", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 37, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Nevada. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "NH", "name": "New Hampshire", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-hampshire", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified", "summary": "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. RSA 12-E is a mining permit and reclamation law for solid minerals.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the RSA chapters reviewed.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "survey_scope": "Read the RSA title list and the chapter lists of Titles I, V, XII, XLVIII, L, LII and LV (archived 2025-10 to 2026-09), searching for mine, mining, mineral, oil, gas, petroleum, excavation, quarry, title, abandon, marketable, quiet and severed. Matches were RSA 12-E (Mining and Reclamation), 155-E (Local Regulation of Excavations), 72-B (Excavation Tax), 78-C (Refined Petroleum Products Tax) and 508 (Limitation of Actions). Read the full merged text of RSA 477 and RSA 12-E. A full text search of the RSA was not possible because gc.nh.gov was not available.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "Titles not listed above were not searched; a mineral specific provision elsewhere in the RSA cannot be ruled out.", "Amendments after the 2025 to 2026 snapshot dates were not checked." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-NH-001" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No New Hampshire statute on oil and gas conservation, spacing or compulsory pooling was found.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Same chapter list review as for dormancy; no oil and gas production chapter appears in the titles reviewed.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No New Hampshire surface damages or split estate statute was found. RSA 12-E:3 only provides that a prospecting permit does not authorize entry on another's land without the landowner's written permission.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Same chapter list review as for dormancy, plus the full text of RSA 12-E.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unlocated": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees or successors was found in RSA 12-E or RSA 477.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific search requirement was found in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice procedure for deceased, unknown or unlocated owners was found in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "There is no lapse mechanism, so no preservation filing exists in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No receivership, trust, escrow or leasing mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners appears in RSA 12-E or RSA 477, but a whole code search could not be run, so its absence is not confirmed.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [], "dates": { "status": "none", "note": "The provisions read create no period or deadline concerning mineral owners." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read: RSA 12-E (Mining and Reclamation) and RSA 477 (Conveyances of Realty), full merged chapter texts, through Internet Archive copies (June 10, 2026 and October 13, 2025) because gc.nh.gov was not available. Both were searched for unknown, cannot be located, whereabouts, heirs, missing and absent; no match concerned a mineral owner. The October review searched the chapter lists of Titles I, V, XII, XLVIII, L, LII and LV for mineral, oil, gas, title and quiet terms and found no dormant mineral, marketable title or pooling statute. A whole code full text search was not possible. Not reviewed: RSA 498:5-a and related quiet title procedure, probate, partition and unclaimed property law (RSA 471-C).", "open_questions": [ "Run a whole code full text search of the RSA for unknown or missing owner, receiver and escrow provisions near mineral, oil or gas once gc.nh.gov is reachable.", "Whether RSA 471-C (unclaimed property) defines or treats mineral proceeds; not read." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "New Hampshire", "abbr": "NH", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 38, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in New Hampshire. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "NJ", "name": "New Jersey", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-jersey", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral or marketable title statute identified", "summary": "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.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the New Jersey statutes text updated through P.L.2025, c.405.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No lapse mechanism found, so there is no date to compute.", "survey_scope": "Searched the whole of the Legislature's statutes text file, updated through P.L.2025, c.405, for mineral interest, mineral right(s), mineral estate, severed mineral, dormant, marketable title, marketable record title, oil and gas, pooling, spacing unit, drilling unit and surface owner. Related statutes found: 46:3-27 (mineral rights exclude water rights); 2A:62-1 to 2A:62-26 (quiet title actions; 2A:62-15 states the aim of establishing marketable title), which are general procedures; the Tax Sale Law (54:5-85, 54:5-129), which is general; and the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, whose 46:30B-6 defines mineral proceeds, reaching unpaid royalty money but not title to the interest.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Laws enacted in 2026 (P.L.2026) are not in the text file searched.", "Case law on abandonment or adverse possession of severed minerals was not researched." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-NJ-001" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No compulsory pooling or unitization statute was found. New Jersey's oil and gas law, N.J.S.A. 13:1M-1 to 13:1M-18 (P.L.1985, c.432), is a Department of Environmental Protection permit, bonding, restoration and plugging scheme that mentions a proposed drilling unit only as permit application content; offshore exploration and production in State waters is prohibited by 13:19-49.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": "Full text search as for dormancy; every 13:1M section heading and every mention of surface, owner, damage, pool and unit in 13:1M was read.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-NJ-002" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify and compensate surface owners was found. N.J.S.A. 13:1M-8 requires a permit holder to restore the disturbed land surface under DEP rules, and 13:1M-12 requires the plugging report to name the surface owner; neither creates a compensation duty.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": "Full text search for surface owner, landowner, damage and compensation in the oil and gas chapters 13:1M and 13:19.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-NJ-003" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific provision on heirs, devisees or successors was found in the full text search.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific search requirement was found in the full text search.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice procedure for deceased, unknown or unlocated owners was found in the full text search.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found in the full text search.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "There is no lapse mechanism, so no preservation filing exists.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The unclaimed property chapter defines mineral proceeds to include amounts payable for the extraction, production or sale of minerals, including royalties and delay rentals.", "url": "https://pub.njleg.gov/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip", "publisher": "New Jersey Legislature, Office of Legislative Services (statutes bulk text)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.J.S.A. 46:30B-6(p)", "passage": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means amounts payable for the extraction, production, or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable thereafter, and includes, but is not limited to, amounts payable: for the acquisition and retention of a mineral lease, including bonuses, royalties, compensatory royalties, shut-in royalties, minimum royalties, and delay rentals;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Uniform Unclaimed Property Act as enacted in New Jersey, N.J.S.A. 46:30B. It governs amounts held or owing by a holder, such as an operator or purchaser, not title to the mineral interest itself. Statutory text only; no decision was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 30, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NJ-statutes-search-and-46-30B.md", "source_id": "SRC-NJ-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Property held or owing in the ordinary course of a holder's business that remains unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after it became payable is presumed abandoned.", "url": "https://pub.njleg.gov/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip", "publisher": "New Jersey Legislature, Office of Legislative Services (statutes bulk text)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.J.S.A. 46:30B-7", "passage": "all property, including any income or increment derived therefrom, less any lawful charges, whether located in this State or another state, that is held, issued, owing in the ordinary course of a holder's business and has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after it became payable or distributable is presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Uniform Unclaimed Property Act as enacted in New Jersey, N.J.S.A. 46:30B. It governs amounts held or owing by a holder, such as an operator or purchaser, not title to the mineral interest itself. Statutory text only; no decision was read. The section opens with the words \"Except as otherwise provided by this chapter\"; other sections of the chapter were not read for exceptions.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 30, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NJ-statutes-search-and-46-30B.md", "source_id": "SRC-NJ-005", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "A full text search of the New Jersey statutes (bulk text updated through P.L.2025, c.405, Internet Archive copy of August 30, 2026; the official host timed out) for sections containing any of: unknown owner, cannot be located, unlocat, whereabouts, missing owner, absent owner, unknown heir, heirs, together with any of: mineral, oil, natural gas, royalt. One section matched, N.J.S.A. 48:2-13 (Board of Public Utilities jurisdiction), which is not a mineral owner provision. Chapter 46:30B sections mentioning minerals: 46:30B-6 and 46:30B-47. The October review found no mineral lapse or marketable record title statute. Not reviewed: general quiet title (N.J.S.A. 2A:62), probate, partition, and the rest of chapter 46:30B.", "open_questions": [ "Read the rest of N.J.S.A. 46:30B for any mineral proceeds exception to the three year presumption and for the holder's duty to notify the apparent owner.", "Whether N.J.S.A. 2A:62 quiet title procedure has any rule specific to severed mineral interests; not reviewed." ], "confidence": "high", "coverage_reason": "The rest of N.J.S.A. 46:30B and the quiet title chapter were not read.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: The rest of N.J.S.A. 46:30B and the quiet title chapter were not read." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "New Jersey", "abbr": "NJ", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 39, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in New Jersey. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "NM", "name": "New Mexico", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-mexico", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "summary": "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.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable; no mechanism identified.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified. Chapter PDFs read were dated 1 July to September 4, 2026 by NMOneSource.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for New Mexico.", "survey_scope": "Downloaded the full official chapter PDFs from NMOneSource (New Mexico Compilation Commission) for NMSA 1978 Chapters 7 (Taxation), 14 (Records), 37 (Limitation of Actions), 42 (Actions Relating to Property), 47 (Property Law), 69 (Mines), 70 (Oil and Gas) and 71 (Energy and Minerals), and searched for: dormant, severed, mineral interest, abandon, unknown, whereabouts, unlocatable, marketable. Found no dormant, abandoned or unknown owner mineral statute and no marketable title act. Related: 37-1-22 (adverse possession; surface possession is constructive possession for the severed mineral claimant); 70-1-3 (release of forfeited oil, gas or mineral leases); 70-10-3.1 (payor's duty to locate payees and notify the operator); 7-8A-1 (Uniform Unclaimed Property Act defines mineral proceeds, custody of payments only); 42-5A-2(E) (Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act excludes undivided mineral interests). A text search of Chapter 7 found no property tax or tax sale provision aimed at severed mineral interests. Other chapters and case law were not searched.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "New Mexico case law on abandonment of severed mineral interests was not reviewed.", "NMSA chapters other than 7, 14, 37, 42, 47, 69, 70 and 71 were not searched." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-NM-001", "SRC-NM-002", "SRC-NM-003" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. Under NMSA 1978, 70-2-17(C), where owners in a spacing or proration unit have not agreed to pool and an owner with the right to drill has drilled or proposes a well, the Oil Conservation Division shall pool the unit after notice and hearing. A risk charge of up to 200 percent may apply to nonconsenting working interests, and a pooled unleased mineral interest is treated as seven eighths working interest and one eighth royalty.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-NM-004" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. The Surface Owners Protection Act (NMSA 1978, 70-12-1 to 70-12-10, effective July 1, 2007) applies to private fee surface land, requires notice and a proposed surface use and compensation agreement at least 30 days before entry for oil and gas operations, and requires the operator to compensate the surface owner for lost agricultural production and income, lost land value, lost use and access, and lost value of improvements, and to reclaim.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-NM-005", "SRC-NM-006" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "Not addressed in mineral specific provisions read, apart from suspense of proceeds that cannot be paid on time (70-10-4(A)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy statute found in NMSA chapters 7, 37, 42 and 70.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in the mineral provisions read; general quiet title and partition statutes naming unknown heirs were not reviewed.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed in mineral specific provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "Not addressed, beyond payment from suspense within thirty days after a final legal determination.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4", "P5" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The operator or lessee must give the payor the name, address and interest of each person to be paid.", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-3.1(A)", "passage": "The operator or lessee arranging for the sale of oil and gas shall furnish the payor with the name, the address and the percentage of interest of each person to whom payment is to be made, as well as proof of marketable title to all of the oil and gas to be sold.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Oil and gas proceeds under the Oil and Gas Proceeds Payment Act. It concerns payment, not title to the mineral interest.", "saved_as": "sources/NM-70-10-3-4-proceeds.md", "source_id": "SRC-NM-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the purchaser or payor cannot locate a listed person, it must tell the operator or lessee.", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-3.1(C)", "passage": "If the purchaser or payor is unable to locate any person listed by the operator or lessee then the purchaser or payor shall notify the operator or lessee that he has been unable to locate or obtain the address of the person entitled to payment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Same as P1. The section, headed \"Duty to locate\", does not define a search standard beyond this notice duty and the diligent effort in 70-10-3.1(B).", "saved_as": "sources/NM-70-10-3-4-proceeds.md", "source_id": "SRC-NM-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Payments that cannot be made on time go into a suspense account on the payor's books, or may be interpleaded into court.", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-4(A)", "passage": "In instances where payments cannot be made within the time period provided in Section 70-10-3 NMSA 1978, the payor shall create a suspense account on his books for such interest or may interplead the suspended funds into court.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Oil and gas proceeds. A suspense account on the payor's books, not a third party escrow or state agency.", "saved_as": "sources/NM-70-10-3-4-proceeds.md", "source_id": "SRC-NM-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The person entitled receives interest on suspended funds and is paid within thirty days after a final legal determination of entitlement.", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-4(B)", "passage": "Payment of principal and interest on the suspended funds shall be made to all persons legally entitled to the funds within thirty days from the date that the persons are determined to be entitled to the suspended funds by a final legal determination.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Same as P3.", "saved_as": "sources/NM-70-10-3-4-proceeds.md", "source_id": "SRC-NM-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "New Mexico's unclaimed property act defines mineral proceeds, including royalties, as property it can cover.", "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4340/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 7-8A-1(9)", "passage": "\"mineral proceeds\" means amounts payable for the extraction, production or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable thereafter.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General unclaimed property law. The abandonment period for mineral proceeds and claim procedure were not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/NM-7-8A-1-unclaimed.md", "source_id": "SRC-NM-010", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "NMOneSource official chapter PDFs (NMSA 1978) for chapters 70 (Oil and Gas), 37 (Limitation of Actions), 42 (Actions Relating to Property) and 7 (Taxation), searched in full for: unknown, unlocat, cannot be located, unable to locate, whereabouts, missing, escrow, nonresident, heirs, mineral. Only chapter 70 hit on unlocated payees was 70-10-3.1(C). Chapter 42 contains general unknown owner and unknown heirs provisions for condemnation, partition (42-5-3) and quiet title (42-6), not mineral specific and not reviewed. Not reviewed: probate, Oil Conservation Division rules (19.15 NMAC) on pooling notice, unclaimed property procedure. No case law on owner status points was searched because the statutes found concern payment, not title; First Baptist Church of Roswell v. Yates Petroleum, 2015-NMSC-004, appears in the 70-10-4 annotations on interest on suspended funds and was not read.", "open_questions": [ "Do Oil Conservation Division rules set notice or publication terms for pooling owners who cannot be located? Not reviewed.", "Read First Baptist Church of Roswell v. Yates Petroleum Corp., 2015-NMSC-004, on interest on suspended funds.", "What abandonment period applies to mineral proceeds under 7-8A-2?" ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Oil Conservation Division pooling notice rules and the unclaimed property abandonment period were not reviewed.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Oil Conservation Division pooling notice rules and the unclaimed property abandonment period were not reviewed." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "New Mexico", "abbr": "NM", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 40, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "New Mexico, despite heavy production, has no dormant minerals act, so severed minerals do not lapse through nonuse. It added a surface owner protection law in 2007." } }, { "id": "NY", "name": "New York", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-new-york", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Allegany State Park only: one time 20 year oil and gas lapse (Real Property Law § 329-a), claim window closed September 22, 2013", "summary": "Real Property Law § 329-a applies only to oil and gas interests severed from land now owned by the State within Allegany State Park. Any such interest unused for the 20 years immediately before September 23, 2011 was extinguished and reverted to the State unless a statement of claim was filed in the Cattaraugus County Clerk's office within two years. No statewide dormant mineral act or marketable title act was identified; outside the park, nonuse does not end a severed interest under any statute found.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Unused for a period of twenty years immediately prior to the effective date of the section (September 23, 2011), with a statement of claim due within two years after that date. It is a one time test, not a rolling period.", "self_executing": "yes", "procedure": "Extinguishment and reversion to the State occurred by force of the statute for interests without a timely statement of claim. OPRHP had to publish notice of the enactment within 30 days and may publish and mail notice of lapse; a filed copy with an affidavit of service is prima facie evidence that notice was given (§ 329-a(4), (7)).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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)).", "interest_scope": "Oil and gas interests created by grant, assignment, reservation or otherwise in oil and gas on or beneath lands owned by the State within Allegany State Park; a lease for a fixed term is excluded.", "mineral_scope": "Oil and gas only.", "exceptions": [ "A lease for a fixed term (§ 329-a(2))", "All land outside Allegany State Park, and park land not owned by the State" ], "effective": "Added by Laws of 2011, chapter 501, § 2; became law September 23, 2011 and took effect immediately (§ 3). The statement of claim period expired September 22, 2013 according to OPRHP's public notice dated January 16, 2014.", "date_model": "fixed_historical_dates", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Statewide search: Real Property Law Article 9 section list (329-a is the only oil and gas lapse provision), Environmental Conservation Law Article 23 title and section lists. No general dormant mineral or marketable record title statute was found. Full text search of the Consolidated Laws was not possible because nysenate.gov was not available and the Open Legislation API host was not available when AMR checked.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Any litigation over § 329-a or later amendments was not checked; the nysenate.gov version note is September 22, 2014.", "Whether separately assessed oil and gas rights elsewhere in New York can be lost through real property tax enforcement was not researched." ], "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).", "category": "registration_history", "evidence": "primary" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-NY-001", "SRC-NY-002", "SRC-NY-003" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. ECL § 23-0901 requires the Department of Environmental Conservation, absent voluntary integration and after notice and hearing, to issue an order integrating all tracts or interests in a spacing unit. Uncontrolled owners elect to be participating, non participating (cost recovery plus a 200 percent risk penalty) or integrated royalty owners (lowest lease royalty in the unit, at least one eighth).", "confidence": "high", "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-NY-004" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No New York statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify and compensate surface owners was found.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "ECL Article 23 title list (Titles 1 to 27) and the section lists of Titles 3, 5 and 9, archived 2025; no title or section addresses surface owner notice or compensation. Section texts other than § 23-0901 were not read and no full text search was possible.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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).", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P3" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P12" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P6", "P8" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P6", "P10" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6", "P10" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P4", "P7" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P8", "P9", "P11" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Section 329-a applies only to oil and gas interests severed from land the State now owns within Allegany State Park.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a (opening paragraph)", "passage": "The provisions of this section shall apply to oil and gas interests that were previously severed from interests in lands that are currently owned by the state within Allegany state park.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only oil and gas interests severed from land now owned by the State within Allegany State Park (Real Property Law § 329-a, L. 2011, ch. 501, effective September 23, 2011). Not a statewide rule. Statutory text only; no decision construing it was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An interest unused for twenty years before the section took effect was extinguished and reverted to the State unless a statement of claim was filed within two years.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(1)", "passage": "Any interest in oil and gas shall, if unused for a period of twenty years immediately prior to the effective date of this section, be extinguished, and the ownership thereof shall revert to the state, unless a statement of claim is filed within two years after the effective date of this section", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only oil and gas interests severed from land now owned by the State within Allegany State Park (Real Property Law § 329-a, L. 2011, ch. 501, effective September 23, 2011). Not a statewide rule. Statutory text only; no decision construing it was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The legislature declared that the act gives unknown owners ample notice of the potential lapse and ample opportunity to assert their claims.", "url": "https://www.parks.ny.gov/documents/inside-our-agency/Chapter501LawsNewYork2011.pdf", "publisher": "New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (copy of Laws of New York 2011, chapter 501)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "L. 2011, ch. 501, § 1", "passage": "The provisions of this act provide ample notice to the unknown owners of the potential lapse of their rights as well as ample opportunity to assert their claims.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only oil and gas interests severed from land now owned by the State within Allegany State Park (Real Property Law § 329-a, L. 2011, ch. 501, effective September 23, 2011). Not a statewide rule. Statutory text only; no decision construing it was read. A legislative declaration; it does not itself set a notice procedure.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 18, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-L2011-ch501.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-006", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The statement of claim was to be filed by the owner, and any one co-owner could file it for all owners.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(5)", "passage": "Where such an interest is co-owned by more than one party, any one owner may file the statement of claim on behalf of all owners.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only oil and gas interests severed from land now owned by the State within Allegany State Park (Real Property Law § 329-a, L. 2011, ch. 501, effective September 23, 2011). Not a statewide rule. Statutory text only; no decision construing it was read. The section does not mention heirs, devisees or a deceased owner.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Within thirty days after enactment the parks office was to publish notice of the law in three successive issues of three Cattaraugus County newspapers.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(4)", "passage": "Within thirty days after the effective date of this section, the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation shall cause to be published in three successive issues of three newspapers of general circulation published in the county of Cattaraugus, a notice announcing the enactment of the provisions of this section", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only oil and gas interests severed from land now owned by the State within Allegany State Park (Real Property Law § 329-a, L. 2011, ch. 501, effective September 23, 2011). Not a statewide rule. Statutory text only; no decision construing it was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "After the claim period the parks office may publish notice of lapse and must mail a copy if the owner's address is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(7)", "passage": "by publishing the same in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of Cattaraugus, and, if the address of such oil and gas interest owner is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry, by mailing within ten days after such publication a copy of such notice to the owner", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only oil and gas interests severed from land now owned by the State within Allegany State Park (Real Property Law § 329-a, L. 2011, ch. 501, effective September 23, 2011). Not a statewide rule. Statutory text only; no decision construing it was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A late statement of claim saves an interest lost through inadvertence if filed within sixty days after the lapse notice or after actual knowledge, and the owner preserved other interests in the county.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(6)(b), (c)", "passage": "(b) failed to preserve such interest through inadvertence; and (c) filed the statement of claim required by this section within sixty days after publication of notice as provided in subdivision seven of this section or, if no such notice is published, within sixty days after receiving actual knowledge that such oil and gas interest had been extinguished.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only oil and gas interests severed from land now owned by the State within Allegany State Park (Real Property Law § 329-a, L. 2011, ch. 501, effective September 23, 2011). Not a statewide rule. Statutory text only; no decision construing it was read. Subdivision 6(a) also requires a diligent effort to preserve, and actual preservation of other interests in the county.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In compulsory integration the operator must identify each tract whose owners remain unknown or cannot be located after diligent efforts.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(c)", "passage": "If applicable, such list shall also identify each tract where the owners remain unknown or cannot be located after diligent efforts by the well operator.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Compulsory integration of uncontrolled owners in a spacing unit under Environmental Conservation Law § 23-0901(3), statewide for oil and gas wells. Page version published September 22, 2014. Statutory text only; no decision construing these sentences was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-ecl-23-0901.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Royalty owed to an integrated royalty 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.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(c)", "passage": "cannot be determined after diligent efforts by the well operator and such owner is integrated as an integrated royalty owner, the well operator shall hold the royalty percentage payable to such integrated royalty owner in an interest bearing account for such integrated royalty owner until the owner is located or the property is deemed abandoned, whichever comes first.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Compulsory integration of uncontrolled owners in a spacing unit under Environmental Conservation Law § 23-0901(3), statewide for oil and gas wells. Page version published September 22, 2014. Statutory text only; no decision construing these sentences was read. The section does not say in these words which law decides when the property is deemed abandoned.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-ecl-23-0901.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Before the integration hearing the operator gives actual notice to all uncontrolled owners and notice by publication as the department prescribes.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(c)", "passage": "provide actual notice of the hearing to all uncontrolled owners wholly or partially within the spacing unit and shall provide notice by publication in a form and manner prescribed by the department.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Compulsory integration of uncontrolled owners in a spacing unit under Environmental Conservation Law § 23-0901(3), statewide for oil and gas wells. Page version published September 22, 2014. Statutory text only; no decision construing these sentences was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-ecl-23-0901.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An owner who makes no election becomes an integrated royalty owner.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(a)(3)", "passage": "\"Integrated royalty owner\" means an owner who has either elected to be an integrated royalty owner or who does not elect to become either a participating owner or a non-participating owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Compulsory integration of uncontrolled owners in a spacing unit under Environmental Conservation Law § 23-0901(3), statewide for oil and gas wells. Page version published September 22, 2014. Statutory text only; no decision construing these sentences was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-ecl-23-0901.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The recorded integration order binds the operator, all owners and their heirs, successors and assigns.", "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(e)", "passage": "such order shall be final and binding upon the well operator, all owners and their heirs, successors and assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Compulsory integration of uncontrolled owners in a spacing unit under Environmental Conservation Law § 23-0901(3), statewide for oil and gas wells. Page version published September 22, 2014. Statutory text only; no decision construing these sentences was read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-ecl-23-0901.md", "source_id": "SRC-NY-013", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read: Real Property Law § 329-a in full; L. 2011, ch. 501 (title, enactment line and § 1); ECL § 23-0901(3) opening through paragraph c. NY Senate pages was not available when AMR checked and were read through Internet Archive copies; the ECL page states version published September 22, 2014. CourtListener search for 329-a or Allegany State Park with oil and gas listed U.S. Energy Development Corp. v. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (App. Div. 2014) and Watters v. People (Sup. Ct. 1960); neither opinion could be opened (CourtListener blocked further requests), so neither was read or relied on. Not reviewed: the Abandoned Property Law, the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law article 15, Surrogate's Court procedure, and the remainder of ECL article 23.", "open_questions": [ "Read U.S. Energy Development Corp. v. NYS DEC (App. Div. 2014) to see whether it construes § 329-a or Allegany State Park mineral rights.", "Which law decides when escrowed integration royalty is \"deemed abandoned\" under ECL § 23-0901(3)(c), and to whom it is then paid; the Abandoned Property Law was not read.", "Whether ECL § 23-0901 has been amended since the September 22, 2014 version shown, and whether DEC rules define \"diligent efforts\".", "Whether a deceased owner's heirs could file the § 329-a statement of claim as \"owner\"; the section does not say." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "The Abandoned Property Law and any later amendment of ECL 23-0901 were not read.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: The Abandoned Property Law and any later amendment of ECL 23-0901 were not read." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "New York", "abbr": "NY", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 41, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in New York. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "NC", "name": "North Carolina", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-north-carolina", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "registration_or_ancient_claims", "mechanism_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", "summary": "North Carolina has no general dormant mineral act, and its Marketable Title Act does not extinguish the rights of mineral owners (G.S. 47B-3(5)). Acts passed from 1965 to 1985 declared certain old oil, gas or mineral interests, created by a reservation or exception in a deed of the surface, null and void in favor of surface owners with long record chains unless a sworn notice was recorded within a fixed two year window; four acts are statewide, four are limited to one county, and every window closed by January 1, 1988. The exception is Avery County, where G.S. 1-42.5 has applied a rolling 30 year record chain rule since June 30, 1982. Separately, G.S. 113-423(b) ends an oil or gas lease or other conveyance separating oil or gas rights, if entered into on or after June 15, 2011, at 10 years unless oil or gas is then being produced commercially.", "period_years": null, "period_description": "No rolling statewide period. Each act fixed its own dates. G.S. 1-42.1 (1965): interests founded on reservations or exceptions executed or recorded 50 years or more before September 1, 1965, in favor of surface owners with a 50 year record chain on that date; notice to preserve within two years after September 1, 1965. G.S. 1-42.2 (1971): reservations 50 to 56 years before September 1, 1971; notice within two years after September 1, 1971. G.S. 1-42.3 (1974): reservations 50 years or more before September 1, 1974; notice within two years after September 1, 1974. G.S. 1-42.9 (1983, dates moved by 1985 c. 573): reservations 30 years or more before January 1, 1986, surface chain of 30 years, interest not listed for tax for five years before January 1, 1986; notice within two years after January 1, 1986. County acts: Ashe (1-42.4, September 1, 1977), Chatham (1-42.7, September 1, 1979), Alleghany (1-42.6, July 1, 1981), Rutherford (1-42.8, September 1, 1982), each with a two year notice window. Avery County (1-42.5): interests founded on a reservation or exception recorded before the surface owner's unbroken 30 year record chain are void unless a notice is recorded within that 30 year period. G.S. 113-423(b): 10 years from execution of the lease or conveyance, then reversion if commercial production stops for six months or more.", "self_executing": "yes", "procedure": "None by the surface owner. Each act deemed a qualifying surface owner to hold marketable title free of the qualifying interests and declared those interests null and void unless the claimant recorded the sworn notice in time. In practice the question arises in a title examination or a quiet title action, where the conditions (instrument date, surface chain, working status, tax listing, county, absence of a timely notice) must be shown from the public records. G.S. 113-423(b) states that the lease or conveyance 'shall expire' and the rights 'shall revert'; no filing is prescribed.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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.", "interest_scope": "Fee simple oil, gas or mineral interests severed from the surface fee and founded upon a reservation or exception in an instrument conveying the surface estate in fee simple (Avery: interests whose existence depends on such a reservation or exception). Interests created by a separate grant of minerals are not expressly within the wording. The county lists in the (d) subsections of 1-42.1 to 1-42.4 and 1-42.6 to 1-42.8 also required all severed oil, gas or mineral interests in those counties to be listed for tax and noticed by a fixed date to be effective against the surface owner, creditors and purchasers. G.S. 113-423(b) reaches any lease of oil or gas rights or other conveyance separating oil or gas rights from the surface, entered into on or after June 15, 2011.", "mineral_scope": "Oil, gas and minerals generally ('any oil, gas or mineral interests') for G.S. 1-42.1 to 1-42.9; oil and gas only for G.S. 113-423(b).", "exceptions": [ "Governmental claims, State or federal", "Claims by reason of unexpired oil, gas or mineral leases; the codified text of G.S. 1-42.1 to 1-42.8 reads 'releases', while the 1965 session law for 1-42.1 and the 1984 amended text of 1-42.9 read 'leases'", "Interests in actual course of being mined, drilled, worked or operated, or in the adverse possession of another", "G.S. 1-42.3 was repealed in its application to Avery County by 1981 c. 329, s. 2, effective June 30, 1982", "1983 c. 502 and 1985 c. 573 state that they do not revive interests rendered ineffective under the earlier acts", "The Real Property Marketable Title Act does not extinguish 'Rights of any owners of mineral rights' (G.S. 47B-3(5))" ], "effective": "G.S. 1-42.1: 1965 c. 1072, ratified June 16, 1965, effective September 1, 1965, statewide; subsection (d) added by 1967 c. 905, ratified June 23, 1967, applying only to Anson, Buncombe, Durham, Franklin, Guilford, Hoke, Jackson, Montgomery, Person, Richmond, Swain, Transylvania, Union, Wake and Warren. G.S. 1-42.2: 1971 c. 235, effective September 1, 1971, statewide; (d) added by 1971 c. 855 for 25 listed counties. G.S. 1-42.3: 1973 c. 1435, ratified and effective April 13, 1974, statewide; (d) for 21 listed counties, Avery removed and the whole section repealed as to Avery by 1981 c. 329, s. 2. G.S. 1-42.4 (Ashe): 1977 c. 751, effective June 27, 1977. G.S. 1-42.7 (Chatham): 1979 c. 343. G.S. 1-42.6 (Alleghany): 1981 c. 333. G.S. 1-42.5 (Avery): 1981 c. 329, ratified May 5, 1981, effective June 30, 1982, still in force. G.S. 1-42.8 (Rutherford): 1981 (Reg. Sess. 1982) c. 1391. G.S. 1-42.9: 1983 c. 502, effective July 1, 1983, statewide; amended 1984 c. 1096 (late publishing counties use 1984), 1985 c. 160 (agents may record) and 1985 c. 573 (dates moved to January 1, 1986, effective July 3, 1985). G.S. 113-423: S.L. 2011-276, approved June 23, 2011, for leases or contracts entered into on or after June 15, 2011; rewritten by S.L. 2012-143, which became law July 2, 2012 and applies to leases or contracts entered into on or after that date.", "date_model": "fixed_historical_dates", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Not a none_identified record. Read in full: G.S. 1-42 and 1-42.1 to 1-42.9 (the archive holds no 1-42.10), G.S. 47B-2 to 47B-4, G.S. 113-389 (definitions), 113-393, 113-420 to 113-425 and 113-423.1, and the enacting session laws listed in the sources. North Carolina tax foreclosure of separately assessed subsurface interests under Chapter 105 was not surveyed.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Whether courts read G.S. 1-42.1 and 1-42.3 subsections (a) to (c) as statewide: the 1965 and 1974 session laws contain no county limit except for subsection (d), but the codified catchlines say 'in certain counties'", "Whether G.S. 1-42.4 (a) to (c) reach beyond Ashe County: the act's title says Ashe County, while its text limits only subsection (d)", "What the (d) subsections mean today for severed interests in the listed counties that were not listed for tax and noticed by the fixed dates, and whether they reach interests created after those dates", "Whether 'any other conveyance of any kind separating rights to oil or gas' in G.S. 113-423(b) reaches mineral deeds and reservations as well as leases, and how reversion is evidenced of record; no appellate decision was found", "The codified 'releases' in (c) of G.S. 1-42.1 to 1-42.8 against 'leases' in the 1965 session law and in 1-42.9: confirm the operative word", "ncleg.gov was not available when AMR checked; sections were read from Internet Archive snapshots dated March 12, 2025 to June 16, 2026 (Chapter 113 snapshots are from March 2025), and amendments after each snapshot date were not checked against 2025 and 2026 session laws", "No North Carolina appellate decision applying G.S. 1-42.1 to 1-42.9 was found in a brief search; case law was not surveyed in depth" ], "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.", "category": "registration_history", "evidence": "primary" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-NC-001", "SRC-NC-002", "SRC-NC-003", "SRC-NC-004", "SRC-NC-005", "SRC-NC-006", "SRC-NC-007", "SRC-NC-008", "SRC-NC-009", "SRC-NC-010", "SRC-NC-011", "SRC-NC-012", "SRC-NC-013", "SRC-NC-014", "SRC-NC-015", "SRC-NC-016" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "G.S. 113-393(a) provides that where owners of separately owned tracts within an established drilling unit have not agreed to integrate their interests, the North Carolina Oil and Gas Commission shall require them to integrate and develop their lands as a drilling unit, by order made after notice and hearing on just and reasonable terms, with the designated operator recovering reasonable costs out of production.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-NC-017" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Part 3 of Article 27 of Chapter 113 (Landowner Protection) requires an oil or gas developer or operator that is not the surface owner to give the surface owner written notice by certified mail 14 days before entry that does not disturb the surface and 30 days before entry that does (G.S. 113-420), to compensate the surface owner for damage to water supplies, personal property, livestock, crops and timber, to reclaim the surface within two years under a bond, and to replace contaminated water, with a presumption of liability for contamination within one half mile of a wellhead (G.S. 113-421), to indemnify the surface owner (G.S. 113-422), and to minimize intrusion on the surface (G.S. 113-423.1). The current text came from S.L. 2012-143 and applies to wells drilled and leases or contracts entered into on or after July 2, 2012.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-NC-018", "SRC-NC-019", "SRC-NC-020", "SRC-NC-015" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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).", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P6", "P9" ] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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).", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P7", "P8" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P5" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A qualifying surface owner and his successors in interest take free of old severed oil, gas or mineral interests founded on a reservation or exception in a surface deed.", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(b)", "passage": "This marketable title shall be held by such person and shall be taken by his successors in interest free and clear of any and all fee simple oil, gas or mineral interests in the area of land founded upon any reservation or exception contained in an instrument conveying the surface estate in fee simple", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "G.S. 1-42.9, statewide, for severed oil, gas or mineral interests founded on a reservation or exception in a surface deed executed or recorded 30 or more years before January 1, 1986, not worked and not listed for tax for five years before that date. The two year recording window closed; the provision is historical.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-NC-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The claims extinguished include those of persons within or without the State, natural or corporate, excluding governmental claims and claims under unexpired leases.", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(c)", "passage": "The oil, gas or mineral claims hereby extinguished shall include those of persons whether within or without the State, and whether natural or corporate, but shall exclude governmental claims, State or federal, and all such claims by reason of unexpired oil, gas or mineral leases.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "G.S. 1-42.9, statewide, for severed oil, gas or mineral interests founded on a reservation or exception in a surface deed executed or recorded 30 or more years before January 1, 1986, not worked and not listed for tax for five years before that date. The two year recording window closed; the provision is historical. The same sentence appears in (c) of G.S. 1-42.1 to 1-42.8. It does not mention deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-NC-021", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The statewide 1986 act turns on whether the record titleholder of the mineral interest listed it for ad valorem tax for five years before January 1, 1986.", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(a)", "passage": "the record titleholder of any such oil, gas or mineral interests has not listed the same for ad valorem tax purposes in the county in which the same is located for a period of five years prior to January 1, 1986", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "G.S. 1-42.9, statewide, for severed oil, gas or mineral interests founded on a reservation or exception in a surface deed executed or recorded 30 or more years before January 1, 1986, not worked and not listed for tax for five years before that date. The two year recording window closed; the provision is historical. The text does not say whether listing by heirs or an estate counts for a deceased record titleholder.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-NC-022", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The preservation notice could be recorded by the claimant, an authorized agent, or anyone acting for a claimant under disability, unable to act, or one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain.", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(b)", "passage": "The notice may be made and recorded by the claimant, by any person authorized by the claimant to act on his behalf, or by any person acting on behalf of any claimant who is under a disability, unable to assert a claim on his own behalf, or one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "G.S. 1-42.9, statewide, for severed oil, gas or mineral interests founded on a reservation or exception in a surface deed executed or recorded 30 or more years before January 1, 1986, not worked and not listed for tax for five years before that date. The two year recording window closed; the provision is historical. Similar wording without the agent clause appears in (b) of G.S. 1-42.1 to 1-42.8. The text does not say who may act for unidentified heirs or whether they are such a class.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-NC-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In Avery County an interest is preserved by recording a sworn notice within the surface owner's 30 year record period,.", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.5.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.5(b)", "passage": "any such fee simple oil, gas or mineral interest may be preserved and kept effective by recording within such 30-year period, a notice in writing duly sworn to and subscribed before an official authorized to take probate by G.S. 47-1, which sets forth the nature of such oil, gas or mineral interest and gives the book and page where recorded.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "G.S. 1-42.5, Avery County only, rolling 30 year surface record chain; still operative as written.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-NC-023", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In Avery County the notice may be recorded on behalf of a claimant under disability, unable to act, or one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain.", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.5.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.5(b)", "passage": "Such notice may be made and recorded by the claimant or by any other person acting on behalf of any claimant who is either under a disability, unable to assert a claim on his own behalf, or one of a class but whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "G.S. 1-42.5, Avery County only, rolling 30 year surface record chain; still operative as written. The text does not say whether unidentified heirs of a deceased owner are such a class.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-NC-023", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For the 1986 act the board of county commissioners published a general notice of the section once a week for four consecutive weeks before January 1, 1986.", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(e)", "passage": "The board of county commissioners shall publish a notice of this section in a newspaper published in the county or having general circulation in the county once a week for four consecutive weeks prior to January 1, 1986.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "G.S. 1-42.9, statewide, for severed oil, gas or mineral interests founded on a reservation or exception in a surface deed executed or recorded 30 or more years before January 1, 1986, not worked and not listed for tax for five years before that date. The two year recording window closed; the provision is historical. This is public notice of the statute, not notice to any particular owner. 1-42.9(f) adjusts dates for counties that published late.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-NC-024", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For Avery County the board of county commissioners published a general notice of the section within 90 days after ratification and within 90 days before June 30, 1982.", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.5.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.5(d)", "passage": "The board of county commissioners shall publish a notice of this section within 90 days after the ratification date, and within 90 days prior to June 30, 1982. Such notice shall be published once per week for four consecutive weeks", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "G.S. 1-42.5, Avery County only, rolling 30 year surface record chain; still operative as written. A one time general notice of the statute; no continuing or owner specific notice is provided.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-NC-025", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Under the 1986 act an unrecorded and unlisted interest was ineffective against the surface owner and that owner's creditors, purchasers, heirs or assigns.", "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(d)", "passage": "must be listed for ad valorem taxes, and notice of this interest must be filed in writing in the manner provided by G.S. 1-42.9(b) and recorded in the local registry in the book provided by G.S. 1-42 to be effective against the surface fee simple owner or creditors, purchasers, heirs or assigns of such owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "G.S. 1-42.9, statewide, for severed oil, gas or mineral interests founded on a reservation or exception in a surface deed executed or recorded 30 or more years before January 1, 1986, not worked and not listed for tax for five years before that date. The two year recording window closed; the provision is historical. The heirs named are the surface owner's, not the mineral owner's. Similar (d) subsections appear in 1-42.1 to 1-42.4 and 1-42.6 to 1-42.8 for listed counties.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "source_id": "SRC-NC-026", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "G.S. 1-42 and 1-42.1 to 1-42.9 read in full from Internet Archive snapshots (March 12, 2026 to April 2, 2026) of ncleg.gov, which was not available; alternate official hosts (ncleg.net, library, house) also was not available or was not available when AMR checked. Full text of G.S. Chapter 113 Article 27 (snapshot March 11, 2025), G.S. 113-423 (March 12, 2025) and Chapter 116B (June 7, 2026) searched for unknown owner terms. Case law: one web search and CourtListener queries for 1-42.1, 1-42.9 and 'ancient mineral claims' in North Carolina appellate courts found no decision; CourtListener was heavily rate limited. G.S. 47B, the Marketable Title Act, was not re-read here (the October review records that 47B-3(5) leaves mineral owners' rights unaffected).", "open_questions": [ "Whether any North Carolina appellate decision applies 1-42.1 to 1-42.9 to a deceased record owner, unidentified heirs or an absentee owner; none was found.", "Whether listing for tax or recording by an estate, heirs or a co-owner satisfied the acts for a deceased record titleholder.", "Whether the closed windows can be attacked on due process grounds by owners who had no individual notice; not researched.", "Amendments after the snapshot dates were not checked against 2025 and 2026 session laws." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Amendments after the archived copies were not checked, and no appellate decision was found.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Amendments after the archived copies were not checked, and no appellate decision was found." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "North Carolina", "abbr": "NC", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 42, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in North Carolina. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "ND", "name": "North Dakota", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/north-dakota-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Termination of mineral interest statute, 20 years before published notice", "summary": "N.D.C.C. chapter 38-18.1 deems a severed mineral interest abandoned if it was unused for the 20 years immediately preceding the first publication of a surface owner's notice of lapse, unless a statement of claim was recorded; title then vests in the surface owner as of the date of abandonment. The surface owner must publish the notice for three weeks and, where the mineral owner's address is shown of record or can be found by reasonable inquiry, mail it within ten days after the last publication. Even after publication, the record owner keeps the interest by recording a statement of claim, or proof of a use in the 20 year window, within 60 days after first publication. The chapter reaches all minerals but not interests owned by a governmental body.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Twenty years immediately preceding the first publication of the notice required by 38-18.1-06 (38-18.1-02). Any use listed in 38-18.1-03(1) during that window, including recording a statement of claim, means the interest was used; a timely statement of claim makes the interest in use at the date of recording (38-18.1-04). The window is anchored to the notice, whose timing the surface owner chooses.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "The surface owner publishes a notice of lapse once each week for three weeks in the official county newspaper and, if the mineral owner's address is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry, mails a copy within ten days after the last publication (38-18.1-06(1) and (2)). The notice names the record owner, describes the land and names the surface owner giving it (38-18.1-06(3)). A copy of the notice and an affidavit of service are recorded with the county recorder and are prima facie evidence that notice was given (38-18.1-06(4)); the surface owner may record a statement of succession in interest (38-18.1-02, 38-18.1-06(5)). Reasonable inquiry means a search of county recorder records for uses, clerk of court records for judgments, liens or probate records, the social security death index, and one or more free public internet databases (38-18.1-06(6)). No court action is required. The surface owner may bring a quiet title action to perfect title, in which it must prove every step and a subsection 6 reasonable inquiry; the judgment is conclusive except for fraud, misrepresentation or other misconduct (38-18.1-06.1). The Supreme Court calls the procedure wholly self executing once notice is completed, meaning no later court action is needed, not that the interest lapses without notice (Nelson v. McAlester Fuel Co., 2017 ND 49, quoting Peterson v. Jasmanka, 2014 ND 40).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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.", "interest_scope": "Any interest in the listed minerals, whether created by grant, assignment, reservation, or otherwise, owned by a person other than the owner of the surface estate (38-18.1-01). Interests owned by a governmental body or agency are excluded (38-18.1-08). The text does not separately address royalty, executive or leasehold interests.", "mineral_scope": "Oil, gas, coal, clay, gravel, uranium, and all other minerals of any kind and nature (38-18.1-01).", "exceptions": [ "Mineral interests owned by any governmental body or agency (38-18.1-08).", "Not a use: payment of royalties, bonus or any other payment into a named or unnamed interest bearing, trust, escrow or similar account for a person who cannot be located; such an account in existence for three years is abandoned property under chapter 47-30.2, and a lease given by a trustee remains valid (38-18.1-03(2)).", "A statement of claim filed after July 31, 2009 by someone other than the owner of record does not preserve the interest unless it references the record owner under whom the claimant claims (38-18.1-04)." ], "effective": "The chapter applies both prospectively and retrospectively (38-18.1-08). The original enactment was not read; the 2009 act struck a transition clause allowing a statement of claim within two years after July 1, 1983. Amendments found in the official session law section tables: S.L. 2005, ch. 320 (HB 1344, approved April 11, 2005) put the uses into subsection 1 and added subsection 2 on payments into accounts; S.L. 2007, ch. 313 (HB 1045, approved March 2, 2007) added the statement of succession; S.L. 2009, ch. 317 (HB 1370, approved April 24, 2009) made the surface owner the notice giver, defined reasonable inquiry, replaced the 60 day cure in 38-18.1-05, added the rule for claims by non record owners after July 31, 2009, and created 38-18.1-06.1; S.L. 2015, ch. 62 (SB 2053, approved March 19, 2015) deleted payment of taxes as a use; S.L. 2021, ch. 337 (SB 2048, approved April 19, 2021) changed the unclaimed property cross reference to chapter 47-30.2. The Supreme Court states the 2007 and 2009 amendments to 38-18.1-06 took effect August 1, 2007 and August 1, 2009 and are not retroactive (Sorenson v. Felton, 2011 ND 33). No entries for the chapter in the 2003, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2023 or 2025 tables. Code text read from the official PDF built July 1, 2025.", "date_model": "notice_lookback", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Not a none_identified record.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Under the 2009 text, is a reasonable inquiry required even when an address is shown of record? Sorenson v. Felton (2011) and Nelson (2017) read the disjunctive wording of the 2004 text to require inquiry only when no address is of record, and Nelson requires mailing to the most recent address of record; but 38-18.1-06.1(2) now requires proof of a subsection 6 reasonable inquiry in a perfecting title action. No decision applying the 2009 text was read.", "Whether royalty, overriding royalty, executive rights or leasehold interests are mineral interests under 38-18.1-01 was not checked against case law.", "The original enactment (the 2009 act refers to July 1, 1983) and any amendments before 2003 were not read; special sessions of 2021 and 2023 were not checked; the 2026 special sessions were limited by their convening orders to rural health funding and kratom.", "Effective dates of the 2005, 2015 and 2021 acts were not read; only approval dates were.", "Decisions cited inside the opinions read (Johnson v. Taliaferro, 2011 ND 34; Sorenson v. Alinder, 2011 ND 36; Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201; Peterson v. Jasmanka, 2014 ND 40) were not themselves read. The official court site was not available when AMR checked; the two opinions read are archived copies of the court's own PDFs." ], "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.", "category": "lapse_statute", "evidence": "primary" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-ND-001", "SRC-ND-002", "SRC-ND-003", "SRC-ND-004", "SRC-ND-005", "SRC-ND-006", "SRC-ND-007", "SRC-ND-008", "SRC-ND-009", "SRC-ND-010", "SRC-ND-011", "SRC-ND-012", "SRC-ND-013", "SRC-ND-014", "SRC-ND-015", "SRC-ND-016", "SRC-ND-017", "SRC-ND-018" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "N.D.C.C. 38-08-08 requires the Industrial Commission, in the absence of voluntary pooling and on application of any interested person, to pool all interests in a spacing unit after notice and hearing on just and reasonable terms. A nonparticipating owner bears a risk penalty of 200 percent of its share of drilling and completion costs if leased and 50 percent if unleased, recoverable from production only after a good faith attempt to lease it or obtain its participation and notice of the intended penalty; an unleased interest pooled after July 31, 2009 receives a cost free royalty equal to the acreage weighted average royalty of the leased tracts or, at the operator's election, 16 percent. Statutory unitization is separate, under 38-08-09.1 to 38-08-09.16, and a unit order takes effect only when approved by those paying more than 55 percent of unit costs and owners of more than 55 percent of the royalty interests.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-ND-019", "SRC-ND-020", "SRC-ND-021", "SRC-ND-022" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "N.D.C.C. chapter 38-11.1 (Oil and Gas Production Damage Compensation) requires the mineral developer to pay the surface owner for lost land value, lost use of and access to the land, and lost value of improvements caused by drilling operations (38-11.1-04), and for loss of agricultural production and income (38-11.1-08.1). The developer must give at least seven days' notice before first entry for activities that do not disturb the surface and at least twenty days' written notice before drilling operations, with the plan of work, a plat and a state form on the owner's rights, unless the parties waive notice by agreement (38-11.1-04.1), and must make a written settlement offer with that twenty day notice (38-11.1-08). A claimant must notify the developer within two years after the injury occurs or would become apparent (38-11.1-07) and obtain an appraisal before suing (38-11.1-07.1); if the court awards more than the developer offered, the court awards the claimant reasonable attorney's fees, costs and interest from the day drilling commenced (38-11.1-09). For this chapter minerals means oil and gas, and drilling operations covers drilling commenced after June 30, 1979 and geophysical work commenced after June 30, 1983 (38-11.1-03).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-ND-023", "SRC-ND-024", "SRC-ND-025", "SRC-ND-026" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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)).", "unknown": "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.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P21" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P9", "P10", "P16", "P20" ] }, "search": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P6", "P7", "P14" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4", "P15", "P17", "P18", "P19", "P23" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "statement": "Record owner records a statement of claim or proof of use within sixty days after first publication; a representative may record for heirs.", "propositions": [ "P8", "P22" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P11", "P12", "P13" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A severed mineral interest unused for twenty years before the surface owner first publishes notice is deemed abandoned unless a statement of claim is recorded.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-02", "passage": "Any mineral interest is, if unused for a period of twenty years immediately preceding the first publication of the notice required by section 38-18.1-06, deemed to be abandoned, unless a statement of claim is recorded in accordance with section 38-18.1-04.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed mineral interests except those owned by a governmental body (38-18.1-08). Does not by itself say anything about deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Payments held in an account for a person who cannot be located are not a use that keeps the interest alive.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-03(2)", "passage": "The payment of royalties, bonus payments, or any other payment to a named or unnamed interest-bearing account, trust account, escrow account, or any similar type of account on behalf of a person who cannot be located does not satisfy the requirements of this section", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unlocated owners whose proceeds are held in suspense or trust accounts. The same subsection says such an account existing three years is treated as abandoned property under chapter 47-30.2, which was not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Mailed notice to the mineral owner is required only where the owner's address is shown of record or can be found by the reasonable inquiry defined in subsection 6.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(2)", "passage": "if the address of the mineral interest owner is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry as defined in subsection 6, notice must also be made by mailing a copy of the notice to the owner of the mineral interest within ten days after the last publication is made.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Current text, as amended by S.L. 2009 (HB 1370). Does not say whether a record address of an owner known to be dead suffices; see the case law propositions, which applied the earlier text.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-006", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The notice must name the record owner of the mineral interest.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(3)(a)", "passage": "The notice must state: a. The name of the record owner of the mineral interest;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All notices of lapse. The provision names the record owner, not heirs or successors.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-027", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Publication once a week for three weeks in the official county newspaper is required in every case, whether or not an address is known.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(1) and (2)", "passage": "The publication provided for in subsection 1 must be made once each week for three weeks in the official county newspaper of the county in which the mineral interest is located", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every notice of lapse. Publication is the only notice the provisions require when no address is of record and none is found by reasonable inquiry.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-028", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A reasonable inquiry includes the Social Security death index if the owner is deceased and public internet databases to locate or identify the owner or known heirs.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(6)(c) and (d)", "passage": "c. The social security death index for the last-known residence of the owner of the mineral interest, if deceased; and d. One or more public internet databases to locate or identify the owner of the mineral interest or any known heirs of the owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Subsection 6 also requires searches of county recorder records for uses and of clerk of court records for judgments, liens or probate records; private fee databases are not required. Added in 2009.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-029", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "To obtain a quiet title judgment perfecting title, the surface owner must prove to the district court that a subsection 6 reasonable inquiry was conducted.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06.1(2)", "passage": "the owner or owners of the surface estate shall submit evidence to the district court establishing that all procedures required by this chapter were properly completed and that a reasonable inquiry as defined by subsection 6 of section 38-18.1-06 was conducted.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Actions to perfect title under 38-18.1-06.1, added in 2009. The provision does not say whether the inquiry is required where an address is of record.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-030", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The owner of record can still save the interest by recording a statement of claim, or proof of a use, within sixty days after first publication.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-05(1)", "passage": "The owner of record of the mineral interest satisfies either one of the following requirements within sixty days after first publication of the notice provided for in section 38-18.1-06:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Owner of record. Subsection (2) covers persons other than the owner of record.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A person who is not the owner of record, such as an heir, may respond within sixty days by a sworn affidavit or declaration explaining the basis of the claimed title.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-05(2)", "passage": "A person other than the owner of record of the mineral interest files with the county recorder within sixty days after first publication of the notice provided for in section 38-18.1-06 an affidavit under oath or a declaration under oath which includes an explanation of the factual and legal basis for the person's assertion of title to the mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Heirs, devisees and other unrecorded successors. The explanation must be accompanied by documentation or an explanation why documentation is unavailable.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-031", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A statement of claim filed after July 31, 2009 by someone other than the owner of record must reference the record owner under whom the claimant claims.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-04", "passage": "A statement of claim filed after July 31, 2009, by a person other than the owner of record of the mineral interest is not effective to preserve a mineral interest unless accompanied by a reference to the name of the record owner under whom the owner of the mineral interest claims.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Statements of claim by heirs, devisees or other successors not yet of record.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A mineral, leasehold or royalty owner may petition the district court to declare a trust for co owners whose whereabouts are unknown and cannot reasonably be ascertained.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c13-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-13.1-01", "passage": "A person that owns a mineral, leasehold, or royalty interest underlying a tract of land may petition the district court of the county in which the tract or a portion of the tract is located to declare a trust in favor of other persons also owning or claiming an interest", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unlocated owners. The court appoints the county treasurer as trustee with authority to sign leases, ratifications and division orders. The text speaks of whereabouts, not unknown identity.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-13-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-032", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The petitioner must show a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the absent owner and that a trustee is in the best interest of all owners.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c13-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-13.1-01", "passage": "the petitioner must show that a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the absent owner or claimant has been made and that appointment of a trustee will be in the best interest of all owners of an interest in the mineral, leasehold, or royalty interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trust petitions under chapter 38-13.1.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-13-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-032", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A trust for unlocatable owners does not affect a surface owner who succeeds to the interest on lapse under chapter 38-18.1.", "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c13-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-13.1-03", "passage": "The creation of a trust in favor of unlocatable owners does not affect the right of a surface owner who succeeds to ownership of a mineral interest upon its lapse under chapter 38-18.1.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interaction between the unlocatable owner trust and the dormancy chapter. Funds held in trust are also subject to chapter 47-30.2, not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-13-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-033", "official": true }, { "id": "P14", "topic": "search", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Under the earlier text, a reasonable inquiry was required only where no address appeared of record, even if the surface owner knew the record owner was dead.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/10/31/capps_v._weflen.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201, paragraph 13", "passage": "We conclude a surface owner is required to conduct a reasonable inquiry only if the mineral owner's address does not appear of record, even if the surface owner knows the mineral owner whose address appears of record is deceased.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "North Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Applied the pre 2009 text of N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(2), before subsection 6 (reasonable inquiry search list) and section 38-18.1-06.1 were added by S.L. 2009 (HB 1370); whether the holding carries over to the current text is not decided in this opinion. ", "saved_as": "sources/ND-capps-v-weflen-2014ND201.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-034", "official": true }, { "id": "P15", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Under the earlier text, notice to deceased owners of record must still be mailed to their record address.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/10/31/capps_v._weflen.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201, paragraph 12", "passage": "this Court made it clear that when the mineral interest owners of record are deceased, the notice must still be mailed to the address of the deceased owners of record.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "North Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Applied the pre 2009 text of N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(2), before subsection 6 (reasonable inquiry search list) and section 38-18.1-06.1 were added by S.L. 2009 (HB 1370); whether the holding carries over to the current text is not decided in this opinion. Describes Sorenson v. Alinder, 2011 ND 36.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-capps-v-weflen-2014ND201.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-035", "official": true }, { "id": "P16", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Devolution of the interest to heirs at death did not mean the owner's address no longer appeared of record for notice purposes.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/10/31/capps_v._weflen.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201, paragraph 12", "passage": "The district court's ruling that the owner's address did not appear of record because the mineral interests devolved to Nelson's heirs upon her death under the Uniform Probate Code again ignores this Court's precedent", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "North Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Applied the pre 2009 text of N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(2), before subsection 6 (reasonable inquiry search list) and section 38-18.1-06.1 were added by S.L. 2009 (HB 1370); whether the holding carries over to the current text is not decided in this opinion. ", "saved_as": "sources/ND-capps-v-weflen-2014ND201.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-035", "official": true }, { "id": "P17", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Under the earlier text, where two addresses were of record and the surface owner knew of the newer one, notice had to go to the most recent address of record.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2017/03/07/nelson_v._mcalester_fuel_company.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Nelson v. McAlester Fuel Co., 2017 ND 49, paragraph 1", "passage": "requires a surface owner to mail notice of lapse to the most recent address of record.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "North Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Applied the 2004 text of 38-18.1-06(2). Record owner was a company, not a deceased individual.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-nelson-v-mcalester-2017ND49.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-036", "official": true }, { "id": "P18", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The statutory mailing is not part of a court action, so the civil procedure rules do not govern it.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2010/07/13/state_v._poitra.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Halvorson v. Starr, 2010 ND 133, paragraph 10", "passage": "The mailing required by N.D.C.C. §38-18.1-06 does not begin a civil action. It is not part of a procedure in the district court.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "North Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Also holds the ten day mailing period is computed under N.D.C.C. 1-02-15.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-halvorson-v-starr-2010ND133.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-037", "official": true }, { "id": "P19", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A defect in mailing the notice of lapse to a record owner who had died did not void a later quiet title judgment for lack of personal jurisdiction.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/02/21/peterson_v._jasmanka.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Peterson v. Jasmanka, 2014 ND 40, paragraph 18", "passage": "We conclude any defect in the mailing of the notice of lapse of mineral interest did not deprive the district court of personal jurisdiction in the subsequent quiet title action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "North Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Record owner had died 27 years before the mailing. The court did not decide whether the mailing complied with 38-18.1-06(2); a fraud based challenge was held untimely.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-peterson-v-jasmanka-2014ND40.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-038", "official": true }, { "id": "P20", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "An heir becomes legal owner of the mineral interest immediately at the decedent's death, without a recorded transfer.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2013/04/04/waslaski_v._state.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Estate of Christeson v. Gilstad, 2013 ND 50, paragraph 9", "passage": "Emmett Christeson, as Edyth Christeson's sole heir, succeeded to her interest and became legal owner of the mineral interest immediately upon her death.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "North Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Estate was not administered and nothing was recorded transferring the interest. Cites the probate code; probate law was not reviewed further.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-christeson-v-gilstad-2013ND50.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-039", "official": true }, { "id": "P21", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A recorded lease by an heir who is legal owner but not owner of record is a use that prevents abandonment.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2013/04/04/waslaski_v._state.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Estate of Christeson v. Gilstad, 2013 ND 50, paragraph 15", "passage": "Section 38-18.1-03(1)(d), N.D.C.C., does not require that the lease be executed by the owner of record, but merely provides that the recording of a lease of the mineral interest is deemed to be a use under N.D.C.C. ch. 38-18.1.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "North Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. The notice there was mailed to two deceased record owners; the court decided the case on use and did not rule on the notice.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-christeson-v-gilstad-2013ND50.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-040", "official": true }, { "id": "P22", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Heirs may preserve the interest through representatives who record the statement of claim for them; the agency need not be in writing.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2013/04/08/larson_v._norheim.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Larson v. Norheim, 2013 ND 60, paragraph 18", "passage": "Section 38-18.1-04, N.D.C.C., allows an owner's representative to record a statement of claim and does not require the owner of the mineral interest to record the claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "North Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Applied the pre 2009 text. Heirs had no probate determination at the time. The court did not reach the trial court's finding that a reasonable inquiry for heirs was required.", "saved_as": "sources/ND-larson-v-norheim-2013ND60.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-041", "official": true }, { "id": "P23", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The court rejected a due process challenge to the chapter's notice provisions.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/10/31/capps_v._weflen.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201, paragraph 23", "passage": "We conclude the Capps have failed to establish that the notice provisions of N.D.C.C. ch. 38-18.1 are unconstitutional on their face or as applied in this case.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "North Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Applied the pre 2009 text of N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(2), before subsection 6 (reasonable inquiry search list) and section 38-18.1-06.1 were added by S.L. 2009 (HB 1370); whether the holding carries over to the current text is not decided in this opinion. ", "saved_as": "sources/ND-capps-v-weflen-2014ND201.md", "source_id": "SRC-ND-042", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "Read in full: N.D.C.C. ch. 38-18.1 (ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf), ch. 38-13.1 (t38c13-1.pdf), repealed ch. 38-13 (t38c13.pdf), enrolled 2009 HB 1370. Title 38 chapter index checked for other absent owner chapters. Opinions read: Capps v. Weflen 2013 ND 16 and 2014 ND 201, Sorenson v. Felton 2011 ND 33, Sorenson v. Alinder 2011 ND 36, Estate of Christeson v. Gilstad 2013 ND 50, Larson v. Norheim 2013 ND 60, Peterson v. Jasmanka 2014 ND 40, Halvorson v. Starr 2010 ND 133, Nelson v. McAlester Fuel 2017 ND 49, Nelson v. Lindvig 2024 ND 208, Siana Oil & Gas 2018 ND 164, Sadek v. Weber 2023 ND 14 (last three not relevant). CourtListener searches for '38-18.1' with deceased, heirs, reasonable inquiry, notice of lapse, social security death index, '38-13.1'. Not reviewed: chapter 47-30.2 unclaimed property, probate and heirship procedure, general quiet title chapter 32-17.", "open_questions": [ "Whether Capps v. Weflen (record address suffices even if the owner is known to be dead) still applies to notices given under the 2009 text, given 38-18.1-06(6) and the proof of inquiry required by 38-18.1-06.1(2). No Supreme Court decision applying the 2009 text was found; CourtListener's daily search limit was reached and ndcourts.gov was not available, so the search was not exhaustive.", "How a 38-13.1 trust for an unlocatable owner and a later notice of lapse interact in practice beyond 38-13.1-03.", "Treatment of suspense and trust accounts under chapter 47-30.2 (not read)." ], "confidence": "medium", "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.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: 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." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "North Dakota", "abbr": "ND", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "20 years", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 84, "rank": 8, "statute": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.html", "preservation": "Record a statement of claim, or use the interest within 20 years (N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-03).", "note": "North Dakota terminates a severed mineral interest after 20 years of nonuse unless the owner records a statement of claim, with notice by publication and mail." } }, { "id": "OH", "name": "Ohio", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/ohio-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Dormant Mineral Act, surface owner notice with a 20 year look back", "summary": "R.C. 5301.56 lets the surface owner take over a severed mineral interest held by someone else, but only through a notice and recording procedure. The interest is deemed abandoned and vests in the surface owner if none of six savings events occurred in the 20 years immediately preceding the date the surface owner's notice is served or published, and the holder does not record a claim to preserve or a savings event affidavit within 60 days after that notice. Coal interests and interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision are excluded. Nothing lapses by the passage of time alone: the Supreme Court of Ohio held the 1989 version was not self executing, and the 2006 procedure governs every claim asserted after June 30, 2006.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "The 20 years immediately preceding the date on which the surface owner's notice of intent to declare the interest abandoned is served by certified mail or, if service cannot be completed, published (R.C. 5301.56(B)(3)). Any savings event in (B)(3)(a) to (f) inside that window blocks abandonment, and successive savings events, including successive claims to preserve, preserve the interest indefinitely (R.C. 5301.56(D)(1)). Separately, a claim to preserve recorded within 60 days after the notice defeats that notice even if nothing happened in the 20 year window (R.C. 5301.56(H)(1); Dodd v. Croskey, 2015-Ohio-2362).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Surface owner serves notice of intent to declare the interest abandoned by certified mail, return receipt requested, on each holder or successor at the last known address; if service cannot be completed to any holder, publishes the notice at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in each county where the land lies (R.C. 5301.56(E)(1)). The notice must contain the items in (F), including a statement that no (B)(3) event occurred in the 20 years preceding notice. At least 30 but not later than 60 days after service or publication, the surface owner records an affidavit of abandonment with the (G) contents (R.C. 5301.56(E)(2)). Within 60 days after service or publication the holder may record a claim to preserve or an affidavit identifying a (B)(3) event in the window, and must notify the surface owner (R.C. 5301.56(H)(1)). If the holder does not file in time, the surface owner records a notice of failure to file, and on recording the interest vests in the surface owner, only as to that owner's property (R.C. 5301.56(H)(2)). No court action is required by the statute. Before relying on publication the surface owner must use reasonable diligence to identify and locate holders, judged case by case, with county property and court records, including probate, as the usual baseline (Gerrity v. Chervenak, 2020-Ohio-6705).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "(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_filing": "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.", "interest_scope": "Any mineral interest, defined as a fee interest in at least one mineral, however created, absolute or fractional, divided or undivided (R.C. 5301.56(A)(3)), held by a person other than the owner of the surface (R.C. 5301.56(B)). Holder includes the record holder and anyone deriving rights from or sharing a common source with the record holder whose claim is not adverse (R.C. 5301.56(A)(1)). Whether royalty or leasehold interests are fee interests within (A)(3) was not resolved in the material read.", "mineral_scope": "All minerals as defined in R.C. 5301.56(A)(4): gas, oil, coal, coalbed methane gas, other hydrocarbons, sand, gravel, clay, shale, gypsum, halite, limestone, dolomite, sandstone, other stone, metalliferous or nonmetalliferous ore, and other commercially valuable material excavated in a solid state. Interests in coal are excluded by (B)(1), so in practice it reaches oil, gas and non coal minerals.", "exceptions": [ "Coal: an interest in coal, or in mining or other rights pertinent to or exercisable in connection with an interest in coal, as described in R.C. 5301.53(E). Where one interest covers coal and other minerals, the non coal part can still be deemed abandoned (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1)).", "Government: interests held by the United States, Ohio, or any political subdivision, body politic or agency of either, as described in R.C. 5301.53(G) (R.C. 5301.56(B)(2)).", "Vesting is effective only as to the property of the surface owner who filed the affidavit of abandonment (R.C. 5301.56(H)(2)).", "A claim to preserve does not affect a lessor's right to obtain forfeiture of an oil or gas lease under R.C. 5301.332 (R.C. 5301.56(D)(2))." ], "effective": "Enacted by Sub.S.B. 223 (117th General Assembly), effective March 22, 1989 according to Walker v. Shondrick-Nau at paragraph 8 (the official code page for the companion R.C. 5301.53 shows March 23, 1989), with a three year grace period before any interest could be deemed abandoned, to March 22, 1992 (former R.C. 5301.56(B)(2), Walker footnote 2). Rewritten by Sub.H.B. 288 (151 Ohio Laws, Part III, 5960, cited in Dodd footnote 3), effective June 30, 2006, which added the notice, affidavit and 60 day response procedure; under Corban the 2006 version applies to every claim asserted after June 30, 2006, including claims that an interest was abandoned before then. Current text effective January 30, 2014 (House Bill 72, 130th General Assembly), word for word the same in official site snapshots of March 12, 2025 and July 8, 2025. 2019 H.B. 100 (133rd General Assembly), which proposed to amend the section, shows only its introduced version on its official status page and was not enacted.", "date_model": "notice_lookback", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Not a none_identified record. Related statute read: Marketable Title Act, R.C. 5301.47 to 5301.55 (40 year marketable record title, preservation notice under 5301.51, exceptions in 5301.53), from the official chapter page archived July 8, 2025.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Amendments after the July 8, 2025 snapshot of the official code were not checked on the official site, which was not available when AMR checked. A web search found no 136th General Assembly bill amending R.C. 5301.56, which is not proof of absence.", "What House Bill 72 (130th General Assembly, effective January 30, 2014) changed in the 2006 text was not read.", "Whether the Marketable Title Act, R.C. 5301.47 to 5301.55, can still extinguish a severed oil and gas interest independently of the Dormant Mineral Act. Corban's lead opinion (paragraph 18) describes 1973 amendments under which the Act extinguished oil and gas rights 40 years after the root of title absent a savings event, Erickson (2021) applied the Act's preservation rule to a mineral reservation, and the Blackstone concurrence (2018) called continued application to minerals an open issue. Whether the Dormant Mineral Act is the only route is not settled.", "Whether royalty interests and other non possessory interests are mineral interests within R.C. 5301.56(A)(3) was not resolved in the decisions read.", "When a deed of the surface that repeats an earlier mineral reservation makes the mineral interest the subject of a title transaction under (B)(3)(a) was not resolved in the decisions read; Dodd (paragraph 22) and Walker (paragraph 21) expressly did not reach it.", "Reasonable diligence before publication has no statutory checklist in Ohio; Gerrity declined a bright line rule, so whether a given search suffices is fact dependent." ], "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.", "category": "lapse_statute", "evidence": "primary" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-OH-001", "SRC-OH-002", "SRC-OH-003", "SRC-OH-004", "SRC-OH-005", "SRC-OH-006", "SRC-OH-007", "SRC-OH-008", "SRC-OH-009", "SRC-OH-010", "SRC-OH-011", "SRC-OH-012", "SRC-OH-013", "SRC-OH-014", "SRC-OH-015", "SRC-OH-016" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "R.C. 1509.27 lets an owner whose tract is too small or oddly shaped to meet spacing rules, and who cannot form a voluntary drilling unit on a just and equitable basis, apply to the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management for a mandatory pooling order; after notice to the mineral owners and a hearing or 30 days, the chief may pool the tracts, with a nonparticipating owner's costs recovered from production up to a total of 200 percent of its share of costs, and no surface operations may occur on a pooled tract without the surface owner's written consent or agreement. R.C. 1509.28 separately allows unit operation of a pool on application backed by owners of at least 65 percent of the land area, effective only when approved by owners paying 65 percent of costs and by royalty or unleased fee owners of 65 percent of the acreage.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-OH-017", "SRC-OH-018" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Ohio statute was identified that requires an oil and gas operator to give the surface owner notice of drilling and compensate it for surface damage or lost use, in the way North Dakota chapter 38-11.1 does. Chapter 1509 does impose a duty to restore the disturbed surface (R.C. 1509.072), a complaint route for failure to restore (R.C. 1509.32), a duty to replace or compensate for a water supply damaged by oil or gas operations (R.C. 1509.22(F)), mailed notice of urban well permit applications to owners of parcels within 500 feet (R.C. 1509.06(A)(9)), and a bar on surface operations on a tract pooled by order without the surface owner's written consent (R.C. 1509.27).", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Official Ohio Revised Code chapter 1509 (Oil and Gas), full text on the codes.ohio.gov chapter page archived August 12, 2026: all 77 section headings read and the text searched for surface owner, owner of the surface, surface rights owner, landowner, compensat and damages. Not searched: other Revised Code titles, Ohio Administrative Code 1501:9 rules, and case law.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-OH-019", "SRC-OH-020", "SRC-OH-021" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P8", "P9", "P10", "C8", "C10", "C11" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "C1" ] }, "search": { "status": "case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "C2", "C4", "C5", "C6" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P5", "C8" ] }, "publication": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "C3", "C7" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P6", "P7", "C9" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [ "P11" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A severed mineral interest is deemed abandoned and vested in the surface owner only if the notice and affidavit steps of division (E) are satisfied and no exception applies.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(B)", "passage": "Any mineral interest held by any person, other than the owner of the surface of the lands subject to the interest, shall be deemed abandoned and vested in the owner of the surface of the lands subject to the interest if the requirements established in division (E) of this section are satisfied", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to severed mineral interests other than coal and other than interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1), (B)(2)); statute in force since January 30, 2014 per the code page.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-022", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The statute defines holder to include the record holder and anyone who derives rights from, or shares a common source with, the record holder without claiming adversely.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(A)(1)", "passage": "\"Holder\" means the record holder of a mineral interest, and any person who derives the person's rights from, or has a common source with, the record holder and whose claim does not indicate, expressly or by clear implication, that it is adverse to the interest of the record holder.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to severed mineral interests other than coal and other than interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1), (B)(2)); statute in force since January 30, 2014 per the code page. The definition does not itself mention death, heirs or probate.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-023", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The surface owner must serve notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, on each holder or the holder's successors or assignees at the last known address of each.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(E)(1)", "passage": "Serve notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each holder or each holder's successors or assignees, at the last known address of each, of the owner's intent to declare the mineral interest abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to severed mineral interests other than coal and other than interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1), (B)(2)); statute in force since January 30, 2014 per the code page. The text does not say whether notice addressed to a deceased holder is effective.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If service cannot be completed to any holder, the surface owner must publish notice at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in each county where the land lies.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(E)(1)", "passage": "If service of notice cannot be completed to any holder, the owner shall publish notice of the owner's intent to declare the mineral interest abandoned at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the land that is subject to the interest is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to severed mineral interests other than coal and other than interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1), (B)(2)); statute in force since January 30, 2014 per the code page. The text sets no search requirement before publication; see the case law propositions.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The notice must name each holder and the holder's successors and assignees, as applicable.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(F)(1)", "passage": "The name of each holder and the holder's successors and assignees, as applicable;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to severed mineral interests other than coal and other than interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1), (B)(2)); statute in force since January 30, 2014 per the code page.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-024", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A holder or the holder's successors or assignees who claim the interest is not abandoned must, within 60 days after notice is served or published, record a claim to preserve or an affidavit identifying a savings event.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(H)(1)", "passage": "the holder or the holder's successors or assignees, not later than sixty days after the date on which the notice was served or published, as applicable, shall file in the office of the county recorder of each county where the land that is subject to the mineral interest is located one of the following:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to severed mineral interests other than coal and other than interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1), (B)(2)); statute in force since January 30, 2014 per the code page.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A compliant claim to preserve preserves the rights of all holders of a mineral interest in the same lands.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(C)(2)", "passage": "A claim that complies with division (C)(1) of this section or, if applicable, divisions (C)(1) and (3) of this section preserves the rights of all holders of a mineral interest in the same lands.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to severed mineral interests other than coal and other than interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1), (B)(2)); statute in force since January 30, 2014 per the code page.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-025", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The savings events are measured over the twenty years immediately preceding the date the notice is served or published.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(B)(3)", "passage": "Within the twenty years immediately preceding the date on which notice is served or published under division (E) of this section, one or more of the following has occurred:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to severed mineral interests other than coal and other than interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1), (B)(2)); statute in force since January 30, 2014 per the code page. The statute does not say that a holder's death pauses, resets or extends this period.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-026", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The surface owner must record an affidavit of abandonment no sooner than 30 and no later than 60 days after notice is served or published.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(E)(2)", "passage": "At least thirty, but not later than sixty days after the date on which the notice required under division (E)(1) of this section is served or published, as applicable, file in the office of the county recorder of each county in which the surface of the land that is subject to the interest is located an affidavit of abandonment", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to severed mineral interests other than coal and other than interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1), (B)(2)); statute in force since January 30, 2014 per the code page.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-027", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The interest vests in the surface owner immediately after the surface owner records a notice of failure to file.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(H)(2)", "passage": "Immediately after the notice of failure to file a mineral interest is recorded, the mineral interest shall vest in the owner of the surface of the lands formerly subject to the interest", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to severed mineral interests other than coal and other than interests held by the United States, Ohio or a political subdivision (R.C. 5301.56(B)(1), (B)(2)); statute in force since January 30, 2014 per the code page.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-004", "official": true }, { "id": "C1", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The sole heir and successor of a deceased record owner qualifies as a holder under R.C. 5301.56(A)(1).", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity v. Chervenak, 162 Ohio St.3d 694, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 15", "passage": "As Richards's sole heir and as successor to her interest in the mineral rights, Gerrity qualifies as a \"holder\" under R.C. 5301.56(A)(1).", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Ohio; controls statewide. Decided on facts where the county property and probate records showed no sign of the record owner's death or of any heir. Applies R.C. 5301.56(E) as amended in 2006. The heir had inherited through a Florida probate that was never recorded in the Ohio county.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-028", "official": true }, { "id": "C2", "topic": "search", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A surface owner must use reasonable diligence to identify all holders, but failing to identify or locate all of them does not by itself defeat the act.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 41", "passage": "A surface owner attempting to comply with R.C. 5301.56(E) must exercise reasonable diligence to identify all holders of the severed mineral interest, but the inability to identify or locate all such holders does not, in itself, preclude application of the Dormant Mineral Act.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Ohio; controls statewide. Decided on facts where the county property and probate records showed no sign of the record owner's death or of any heir. Applies R.C. 5301.56(E) as amended in 2006.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-029", "official": true }, { "id": "C3", "topic": "publication", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "When a reasonable search fails to reveal holders' names or addresses, the surface owner may publish and need not first attempt certified mail to those holders.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 41", "passage": "When a surface owner's reasonable search fails to reveal the names or addresses of holders of the mineral interest, the surface owner may provide notice by publication, pursuant to R.C. 5301.56(E)(1), and need not attempt to serve the unknown or unlocated holders by certified mail.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Ohio; controls statewide. Decided on facts where the county property and probate records showed no sign of the record owner's death or of any heir. Applies R.C. 5301.56(E) as amended in 2006.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-029", "official": true }, { "id": "C4", "topic": "search", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A review of public property and court records in the county where the land lies will generally establish a baseline of reasonable diligence.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 36", "passage": "Review of publicly-available property and court records in the county where the land subject to a severed mineral interest is located will generally establish a baseline of reasonable diligence in identifying the holder or holders of the severed mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Ohio; controls statewide. Decided on facts where the county property and probate records showed no sign of the record owner's death or of any heir. Applies R.C. 5301.56(E) as amended in 2006. Paragraph 35 adds that a reasonable search will generally include probate records in that county.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-030", "official": true }, { "id": "C5", "topic": "search", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The surface owner's own knowledge or what the records reveal may require searching further, depending on the circumstances of each case.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 36", "passage": "There may, however, be circumstances in which the surface owner's independent knowledge or information revealed by the surface owner's review of the property and court records would require the surface owner, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, to continue looking elsewhere to identify or locate a holder.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Ohio; controls statewide. Decided on facts where the county property and probate records showed no sign of the record owner's death or of any heir. Applies R.C. 5301.56(E) as amended in 2006. The court held no further search was required on its facts and refused a bright line rule (paragraph 31).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-030", "official": true }, { "id": "C6", "topic": "search", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The court declined to require an internet search or any paid genealogy service as a matter of law.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 34", "passage": "all weigh against a bright-line requirement for online searches, let alone a bright-line requirement that a surface owner consult any particular paid subscription services, to identify heirs to a severed mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Ohio; controls statewide. Decided on facts where the county property and probate records showed no sign of the record owner's death or of any heir. Applies R.C. 5301.56(E) as amended in 2006. This is a refusal to impose a rule, not a holding that online searches are never needed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-031", "official": true }, { "id": "C7", "topic": "publication", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Nothing in the statute precludes publication to notify classes of unknown or potential holders.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 21", "passage": "And again, nothing in the statutory text precludes the use of publication to notify classes of unknown or potential holders.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Ohio; controls statewide. Decided on facts where the county property and probate records showed no sign of the record owner's death or of any heir. Applies R.C. 5301.56(E) as amended in 2006. The surface owner need not name every holder in the notice (paragraph 19).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-032", "official": true }, { "id": "C8", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The notice and affidavit duties are mandatory, and an interest cannot be deemed abandoned if the holder was not provided notice.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2016/2016-Ohio-5814.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Albanese v. Batman, 148 Ohio St.3d 85, 2016-Ohio-5814, paragraph 20", "passage": "The mineral rights cannot be deemed abandoned if the mineral-rights holder has not been provided notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Ohio; controls statewide. Read with Gerrity (2020), which holds that publication after a reasonable search satisfies the notice duty for unidentified or unlocated holders.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 16, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-albanese-v-batman-2016-Ohio-5814.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-033", "official": true }, { "id": "C9", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A claim to preserve recorded within 60 days after the surface owner's notice prevents abandonment even if no savings event occurred in the prior 20 years.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2015/2015-Ohio-2362.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Dodd v. Croskey, 143 Ohio St.3d 293, 2015-Ohio-2362, paragraph 37", "passage": "We hold that a mineral-interest holder's claim to preserve filed pursuant to R.C. 5301.56(H)(1)(a) is sufficient to preclude the mineral interests from being deemed abandoned if filed within 60 days after notice of the surface owner's intent to declare those interests abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Ohio; controls statewide. Does not address deceased, unknown or unlocated holders specifically.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 15, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-dodd-v-croskey-2015-Ohio-2362.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-011", "official": true }, { "id": "C10", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Dormant interests did not pass automatically under the 1989 law; any surface owner claiming after June 30, 2006 must follow the 2006 notice and recording procedure.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2016/2016-Ohio-5796.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Corban v. Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C., 149 Ohio St.3d 512, 2016-Ohio-5796, paragraph 31", "passage": "Thus, as of June 30, 2006, any surface holder seeking to claim dormant mineral rights and merge them with the surface estate is required to follow the statutory notice and recording procedures enacted in 2006 by H.B. 288.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Ohio, answering a certified question; controls statewide.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 16, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-corban-v-chesapeake-2016-Ohio-5796.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-034", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The mandatory pooling section read contains no provision for unknown, unlocated or missing mineral owners; it directs the chief to notify mineral rights owners of tracts in the proposed pool.", "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1509.27", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 1509.27", "passage": "The chief shall notify all mineral rights owners of tracts within the area proposed to be pooled by an order and included within the drilling unit of", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies to mandatory pooling applications only. Cited to show what the section says, not as an unknown owner mechanism.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-1509-27.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-035", "official": true }, { "id": "C11", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The Supreme Court of Ohio held that the Marketable Title Act and the Dormant Mineral Act are independent, alternative ways to reunite a severed mineral interest with the surface.", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-5473.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "West v. Bode, 162 Ohio St.3d 293, 2020-Ohio-5473, paragraph 2", "passage": "we must apply them as the General Assembly wrote them—as independent, alternative statutory mechanisms that may be used to reunite severed mineral interests with the surface property subject to those interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Severed oil and gas interests in Ohio. The opinion does not address deceased, unknown or unlocated owners; how the Marketable Title Act's 40 year record chain applies to them was not reviewed.", "via": "Internet Archive capture of the official PDF, 9 Dec 2024", "saved_as": "sources/OH-west-v-bode-2020-Ohio-5473.md", "source_id": "SRC-OH-036", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read in full: R.C. 5301.56 (codes.ohio.gov, archived March 12, 2025) and R.C. 1509.27 (archived April 28, 2025). Read: Gerrity v. Chervenak 2020-Ohio-6705 (full opinion), Dodd v. Croskey 2015-Ohio-2362 (paragraphs 26 to 37), Albanese v. Batman 2016-Ohio-5814 (paragraphs 15 to 22), Corban 2016-Ohio-5796 (syllabus line and paragraph 31). CourtListener search of Supreme Court of Ohio opinions citing \"5301.56\" listed 20 results; West v. Bode, Erickson v. Morrison, Fonzi v. Brown, Peppertree Farms and Senterra were listed but not read because their headings concern savings events and the Marketable Title Act. R.C. 1509.28 (unitization), R.C. 2703.24, Civ.R. 4.4, probate, quiet title and the Marketable Title Act were not reviewed for unknown owner provisions.", "open_questions": [ "How the Marketable Title Act route (R.C. 5301.47 to 5301.55), which West v. Bode keeps available alongside the Dormant Mineral Act, applies to a deceased, unknown or unlocated owner. Requires case-specific review.", "Whether notice mailed to a holder the surface owner knows or should know is dead satisfies R.C. 5301.56(E)(1); Gerrity decided only a case where the records gave no sign of death.", "Whether any Supreme Court of Ohio decision after Gerrity (2021 to 2026) refines the reasonable diligence standard; West v. Bode, Erickson, Fonzi and Peppertree were not read.", "Seventh and Fifth District decisions (Shilts v. Beardmore, Sharp v. Miller) are discussed in Gerrity but were not read and are not controlling statewide.", "Whether R.C. 1509.28 unitization orders or Ohio unclaimed funds law hold proceeds for unknown mineral owners; not reviewed." ], "confidence": "high", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Added West v. Bode (2020-Ohio-5473) paragraph 2, read from the official PDF.", "Coverage set to partial: the Marketable Title Act route and post-Gerrity Supreme Court decisions were not reviewed for owner status." ] }, "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.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Ohio", "abbr": "OH", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "20 years", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 84, "rank": 9, "statute": "Dormant Mineral Act, R.C. 5301.56", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "preservation": "Record a claim to preserve, or show a savings event within 20 years; 60 days after notice (Ohio Rev. Code 5301.56).", "note": "Ohio's Dormant Mineral Act can return a severed mineral interest to the surface owner after 20 years of no use, now through a notice and recording process." } }, { "id": "OK", "name": "Oklahoma", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-oklahoma", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "missing_owner_procedure", "mechanism_label": "State judicial sale of mineral interests whose proceeds have been abandoned 15 years under the unclaimed property act; no nonuse lapse", "summary": "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). It does have an abandoned mineral interest rule tied to unclaimed money: if the proceeds or other intangible property from a mineral interest have been abandoned for 15 years under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, the mineral interest itself becomes subject to judicial sale by the State on a petition by the Attorney General or a district attorney (84 O.S. 271.1, 273 to 277; 60 O.S. 658.1). The sale price goes to the State Treasurer and is treated as unclaimed property, the buyer takes subject to Corporation Commission pooling and drilling orders, and the surface owner of record only receives mailed notice of the sale; title does not pass to the surface owner.", "period_years": 15, "period_description": "Not a nonuse period. The 15 years are a period during which the proceeds or other intangible property generated by the mineral interest have been abandoned, or presumed abandoned, under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (84 O.S. 271.1; 60 O.S. 658.1). Mineral proceeds are presumed abandoned when unclaimed by the owner for more than five years after becoming payable or distributable (60 O.S. 658(A)); the text read does not say whether those five years count toward the 15. A district court may also presume abandonment where the interest should have been reported to the State Treasurer but was not (60 O.S. 658.1A).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "The Attorney General or the district attorney files a petition in the name of the State in the district court of the county where the interest lies (84 O.S. 273); summons issues and notice is published, and claimants must appear within 30 days of first publication or judgment is entered by default (274, 275). On judgment for the State the interest is sold by the sheriff under court order at no less than a court fixed minimum price; abandoned interests in a single production unit are grouped for sale, the interest stays subject to Corporation Commission pooling and drilling orders, the record surface owner is mailed notice of the sale at least 30 days before, and the buyer pays the costs of the action (271.1, 276). The net sale proceeds are paid to the State Treasurer and treated as unclaimed property (276).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Mineral interests in Oklahoma land that generate proceeds or other intangible property (royalties, net revenue and overriding royalty interests, production payments, bonuses, delay rentals, shut in and minimum royalties: 60 O.S. 651(14)) that has been abandoned. A mineral interest that generates no such property is outside the statute's terms (inference from the text).", "mineral_scope": "All minerals (any mineral interest in land in Oklahoma).", "exceptions": [ "Mineral interests subject to sale under 84 O.S. 271.1 are excluded from the seven year absentee escheat rule in 84 O.S. 271(2); they are sold, not escheated", "A sold interest remains subject to all prior valid pooling and drilling orders, rules or regulations of the Corporation Commission (84 O.S. 271.1(2))" ], "effective": "84 O.S. 271.1 and 60 O.S. 658.1 added by Laws 1978, c. 229, effective January 1, 1979; 271.1 amended 1983, 1984 and 2005 (c. 421); 658.1 amended 1988, 1991, 1999 and 2005; 658.1A added 1985. Marketable Record Title Act 16 O.S. 71 to 80 from 1963; section 76 amended 1995. Text from the Oklahoma Legislature's complete title files dated December 31, 2025.", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Read the Oklahoma Legislature's official complete text of Titles 16, 52, 60 and 84 (PDFs dated December 31, 2025) and searched them for dormant, abandoned mineral, nonuse and similar terms. No dormant mineral act or nonuse lapse statute was found. The Marketable Record Title Act (16 O.S. 71 to 80, 30 years) does not apply to severed mineral or royalty interests (16 O.S. 76(A)). Money owed to unknown or unlocatable owners under pooling orders is escrowed, sent to the State Treasurer's Mineral Owner's Fund after one year, and moved to the Unclaimed Property Fund five years after the pooling date (52 O.S. 551 to 558).", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "Whether the 15 years in 84 O.S. 271.1 and 60 O.S. 658.1 run from when the proceeds first became payable or from when they were first presumed abandoned (five years later) is not stated in the text read.", "How often the Attorney General or district attorneys have used 271.1 sales, and any Oklahoma Supreme Court decisions on them or on their constitutionality, were not reviewed; how often they are used is not known.", "The text is the Legislature's complete title files dated December 31, 2025; 2026 session amendments were not checked. OSCN, the usual official route, was not available when AMR checked.", "Whether money in the Mineral Owner's Fund from pooling orders counts toward the 15 year abandonment for a 271.1 sale was not researched." ], "category": "missing_owner", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-OK-001", "SRC-OK-002", "SRC-OK-003", "SRC-OK-004", "SRC-OK-005", "SRC-OK-006" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. Where owners in an established spacing unit have not agreed to pool and one owner has drilled or proposes to drill, the Corporation Commission, on application and after notice and hearing, shall require the owners to pool and develop their lands in the unit on just and reasonable terms; an unleased owner is treated as a lessee for seven eighths and a lessor for one eighth until an election under the order (52 O.S. 87.1(e)). The Extended Horizontal Well Development Act (52 O.S. 87.6 to 87.9) adds multiunit horizontal wells and horizontal unitization of targeted reservoirs, the latter effective only with written consent of 63 percent of the working interest and 63 percent of the royalty interest in each spacing unit.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-OK-007", "SRC-OK-008" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. The Surface Damages Act (52 O.S. 318.2 to 318.9, operative July 1, 1982) requires the operator to give the surface owner written notice of intent to drill and to negotiate surface damages in good faith; each operator must post a 25,000 dollar bond or equivalent with the Secretary of State. If no agreement is reached, the operator must petition the district court for three appraisers, may enter after filing, and either side may take exceptions or demand a jury; willful entry without notice, agreement or an appraiser petition exposes the operator to treble damages.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-OK-009", "SRC-OK-010" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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).", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P12" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P8" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P13", "P6" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P10", "P14", "P11" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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)).", "propositions": [ "P3", "P14", "P17" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P15" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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).", "propositions": [ "P1", "P5", "P6", "P7", "P9", "P16" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The district court may appoint a receiver over the mineral interest of defendants owning in aggregate a minority interest whose residence, business address or whereabouts cannot be ascertained.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 521", "passage": "wherein it is made to appear that the defendant or defendants in such action own or appear to own in the aggregate a minority interest in said minerals thereunder but that the residence, business address or whereabouts of one or more of the defendants cannot be ascertained,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Actions by an owner of a mineral interest or oil and gas lease in the same tract; minority interests only. The section speaks of whereabouts, not of unknown identity or death.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The verified petition must state the defendants' apparent interest from the county clerk's record and other sources, the last known address, the sources checked, and that due diligence failed to find them.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 522(a)(3)", "passage": "the sources of information which plaintiff has checked in an attempt to locate the present address or whereabouts of said defendant or defendants, and further stating that plaintiff has exercised due diligence and cannot by any means within his control ascertain the present address or whereabouts", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Receivership petitions under 52 O.S. 521 to 523.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Notice of the receivership hearing is given by one publication in a county newspaper and by mail to each defendant's last known address, if any, at least seven days before a hearing set at least fifteen days after filing.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 522(b)", "passage": "Notice of the hearing, the nature of the hearing and relief requested shall be given by publication one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the county and by mailing to the last-known address, if any, of the defendant or defendants as set forth in said petition.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Receivership hearings under 52 O.S. 522.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "At the hearing the court dismisses the action as to every defendant who answers and asks for dismissal.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 522(c)", "passage": "On the date set for said hearing the court shall dismiss the action as to all defendants who answer and request such dismissal,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Receivership actions under 52 O.S. 521 to 523.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The receiver sells an oil and gas lease of up to five years primary term, and the money and later lease payments are held in the court registry for the defendants.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 523", "passage": "All monies paid to the receiver shall be by him deposited in the registry of the court for the use and benefit of the defendants", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Leases sold by a 52 O.S. 521 receiver; minimum bonus, rental and royalty are fixed by the court under 522(c).", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Where money is payable under a Corporation Commission pooling order to persons who are unknown or cannot be located after due diligence, the holder must keep it in an escrow account for the rightful recipient.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 552(A) and (B)", "passage": "2. Persons entitled to the receipt of such monies are unknown or cannot be located after exercise of due diligence. B. The escrow account shall be for the benefit of the rightful recipient of the monies.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Royalties, bonus and other money under pooling orders issued under 52 O.S. 87.1, in pooling proceedings filed after July 1, 1984 (52 O.S. 558(B)). Treats unknown and unlocated persons alike.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Escrowed pooling money is sent to the Corporation Commission and held by the State Treasurer in the Mineral Owner's Fund in trust for the mineral owners.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 554(A)", "passage": "transmit the funds to the State Treasurer, who shall hold the funds in trust for the mineral owners in the Mineral Owner's Fund.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Money transmitted under 52 O.S. 552(E); the Commission keeps ten percent for administration (554(D)).", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Claims on the Mineral Owner's Fund are paid on sufficient proof of ownership to the rightful owner or the owner's heirs, devisees or assigns.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 554(C)", "passage": "upon sufficient proof of ownership, the State Treasurer shall pay monies to the rightful owner or to the rightful owner’s heirs, devisees or assigns", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Claims on pooling escrow money only; says nothing about title to the mineral interest.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Money held five years or more after the date of pooling passes to the Unclaimed Property Fund and becomes subject to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 556", "passage": "shall transfer to the Unclaimed Property Fund those monies which have been in escrow accounts and the Mineral Owner's Fund five (5) years or more after the date of pooling.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Pooling escrow money.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-006", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A pooling applicant must mail notice, return receipt requested, at least fifteen days before the hearing to all owners whose addresses are known or could be known through due diligence, and must also publish.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 87.1(e)", "passage": "The applicant shall give all the owners whose addresses are known or could be known through the exercise of due diligence at least fifteen (15) days' notice by mail, return receipt requested. The applicant shall also give notice by one publication,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Forced pooling applications before the Corporation Commission.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "When the names and addresses of affected parties are known or easily ascertainable with diligence, publication alone does not satisfy due process in a Corporation Commission proceeding.", "url": "https://static.case.law/p2d/613/cases/0442-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Oklahoma Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Cravens v. Corporation Commission, 613 P.2d 442 (Okla. 1980)", "passage": "When the names and addresses of the parties are known, or are easily ascertainable by the exercise of diligence, notice of pending proceedings by publication service alone, is not sufficient to satisfy the requirements of due process under federal or Oklahoma constitutions.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Oklahoma Supreme Court, controlling statewide. Arose from a spacing order affecting a known receiver of a producing lease; it does not address owners who cannot be found after diligence.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-cravens-1980.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If proceeds from a mineral interest are abandoned for fifteen years under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, the mineral interest is not escheated but becomes subject to judicial sale by the State.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "84 O.S. 271.1", "passage": "If the proceeds or other intangible property interest from any mineral interests are abandoned for a period of fifteen (15) years, as provided for in the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, then the mineral interest which generates the intangible property interest shall not be subject to escheat, but shall be subject to judicial sale by the state", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Mineral interests generating unclaimed proceeds; this is the only Oklahoma mechanism found that can end an owner's title for inactivity, and it runs from abandoned proceeds, not nonuse of the minerals.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-60-658-abandoned-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Holders of unclaimed mineral proceeds must report to the State Treasurer the names and last known addresses of the owners of record and the legal description; the Treasurer sends the names to the county clerk for public viewing.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os60.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "60 O.S. 658.1", "passage": "shall report to the State Treasurer, in addition to the reporting otherwise required by law, the names and the last-known addresses of owners of record of the unclaimed mineral interest, the legal description of the land affected, and the extent of the property rights in the mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Reporting step that feeds the 84 O.S. 271.1 sale; no search duty for the State is stated in the provisions read.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-60-658-abandoned-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P14", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "On the State's petition the clerk issues summons as in other civil cases and a summons by publication for all persons interested to answer within thirty days from first publication.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "84 O.S. 274", "passage": "the clerk shall also issue a summons for publication, setting forth briefly the contents of the petition, for all persons interested in the property to appear and answer within thirty (30) days from the date of first publication,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Proceedings under 84 O.S. 271.1 and 273.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-60-658-abandoned-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-020", "official": true }, { "id": "P15", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Any person claiming an interest may appear and plead within thirty days of first publication; if no one appears, default judgment is entered for the State.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "84 O.S. 275", "passage": "If no person after notice as aforesaid shall appear and plead within the time prescribed by law, which shall not be less than thirty days after the first publication of notice, judgment shall be rendered by default in behalf of the state;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Proceedings under 84 O.S. 271.1 and 273 to 277.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-60-658-abandoned-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-021", "official": true }, { "id": "P16", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Proceeds of a sale of minerals deemed abandoned are paid to the State Treasurer and treated as proceeds subject to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "84 O.S. 276", "passage": "any proceeds paid to the Treasurer resulting from a sale of minerals deemed abandoned pursuant to Sections 658.1 and 658.1A of Title 60 of the Oklahoma Statutes and Section 271.1 of this title shall be treated as proceeds subject to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Sales under 84 O.S. 271.1.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-60-658-abandoned-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-022", "official": true }, { "id": "P17", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Before an abandoned mineral sale, the surface owner of record is mailed notice at the last known address in the county treasurer's records at least thirty days before the sale.", "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "84 O.S. 271.1(3)", "passage": "The record owner or owners of the surface from which abandoned mineral interests have been severed shall be mailed at the last-known address as shown by the records of the county treasurer a notice of the sale of such abandoned mineral interest at least thirty (30) days prior to said sale;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Notice to the surface owner, not to the mineral owner.", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-60-658-abandoned-minerals.md", "source_id": "SRC-OK-002", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read in full from the official Oklahoma Legislature complete title PDFs (created 31 Dec 2025): 52 O.S. 521 to 523, 551 to 558 and the notice paragraph of 87.1(e); 84 O.S. 271.1 and 273 to 277; 60 O.S. 658, 658.1 and 658.1A. Title 52 searched for unknown, cannot be located, whereabouts, due diligence and nonresident; hits outside those sections concern surface damages notice (52 O.S. 318.2 to 318.9, reviewed in October) and nonresident transferees. Cases: Cravens v. Corporation Commission (1980) and Cate v. Archon Oil Co. (1985) read in full through the Caselaw Access Project; CourtListener searches for cases on 52 O.S. 521 and 84 O.S. 271.1 could not run (rate limit), so no case law on those sections was reviewed. OSCN refused connections. Not reviewed: 12 O.S. service by publication rules, quiet title and probate.", "open_questions": [ "Whether any Oklahoma appellate decision interprets 52 O.S. 521 to 523 (receiver leases for unlocated owners) or the 84 O.S. 271.1 sale; none was located because the case search was rate limited.", "How Corporation Commission rules implement 52 O.S. 551 to 558 and what proof the State Treasurer requires from heirs.", "Cate v. Archon Oil Co., 695 P.2d 1352 (Okla. 1985), on mailed notice in execution sales of an oil and gas lease, was read and saved but not relied on because it concerns a judgment debtor, not an absent mineral owner." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "The case search was rate limited, and no decision on the 52 O.S. 521 receivership was located.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: The case search was rate limited, and no decision on the 52 O.S. 521 receivership was located." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Oklahoma", "abbr": "OK", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 43, "statute": "Marketable Record Title Act", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "Oklahoma has no dormant minerals act, so severed minerals do not lapse through nonuse. Stale interests are cleared through its Marketable Record Title Act. Forced pooling is common and its 1982 Surface Damages Act protects surface owners." } }, { "id": "OR", "name": "Oregon", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/oregon-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Dormant mineral interest statute, 30 year statement of claim or acquisition window, surface owner notice with a 60 day cure", "summary": "ORS 517.180, headed 'Procedure for extinguishing dormant mineral interest', lets an owner of land extinguish a mineral interest held by another person by publishing and mailing a notice of lapse and recording an affidavit, unless within the last 30 years the holder recorded a statement of claim or acquired the interest. It is not a nonuse statute: production, leasing, royalties and tax payment are not listed as savings, so dormancy turns only on the recorded statement of claim and the holder's acquisition date. The holder keeps the interest by recording a statement of claim within 60 days after the last publication. It covers coal, oil, gas, other minerals and geothermal resources, but not sand or gravel, and excludes interests vested in the United States, Oregon or its political subdivisions. Although ORS chapter 517 is mainly about mining claims, 517.170 and 517.180 form a separate dormant mineral interest part.", "period_years": 30, "period_description": "The owner of land may proceed unless 'Within the last 30 years, the holder of the mineral interest has submitted a statement of claim for recording' or 'The holder of the mineral interest acquired the mineral interest within the previous 30 years' (ORS 517.180(1)(a), (b)). Both windows are counted back from the time the owner of land acts. A recorded statement of claim protects for 30 years from recording and can be recorded again; a new acquisition protects that holder for 30 years. Within 60 days after the last publication of a notice of lapse, a statement of claim still prevents extinguishment (517.180(8)).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "To extinguish the interest and acquire it, the owner of land publishes notice of the lapse at least once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and, if the holder's address is known or can be found with due diligence, mails the notice to the holder before the first publication (ORS 517.180(4)). The notice names the holder of record, identifies the instrument that created the interest and where it is recorded, describes the land, names the person giving notice, gives the first publication date, and states that the holder must submit a statement of claim to the county clerk within 60 days after the last publication or the interest may be extinguished (517.180(5)). Within 15 days after the last publication, a copy of the notice and an affidavit of publication, stating the mailing or describing the due diligence search, are submitted to the county clerk (517.180(6), (7)). If the holder does not submit a statement of claim within 60 days after the last publication, the interest is extinguished and becomes the property of the owner of the land (517.180(8)). The clerk records statements of claim and notices in the Mineral and Mining Record (517.180(9)). No court action is required by the statute.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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.", "interest_scope": "Any interest 'created by an instrument transferring, either by grant, assignment, reservation or otherwise, an interest of any kind' in the listed resources (ORS 517.180(2)(a)). The procedure is available to an 'owner of land', which includes a vested fee simple owner or a contract purchaser (517.180(2)(b)). The text does not separate mineral fee, royalty or leasehold interests.", "mineral_scope": "Coal, oil, gas or other minerals and geothermal resources; sand and gravel are excluded (ORS 517.180(2)(a)).", "exceptions": [ "Interests vested in the United States, the State of Oregon or a political subdivision of the State of Oregon (ORS 517.180(2)(a))", "Interests in sand or gravel (ORS 517.180(2)(a))", "The provisions may not be waived at any time (ORS 517.180(10))" ], "effective": "Enacted by Oregon Laws 1983, chapter 421, sections 1 and 2 (ORS 517.170 policy and 517.180); amended by 1997 c.819 section 10 and 1999 c.654 section 31. Text read in the 2025 edition of ORS. No grace period or transition rule appears in the current text; the 1983 session law was not read.", "date_model": "explain_only", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Read ORS 517.170 and 517.180 in the official 2025 edition via an archived copy of oregonlegislature.gov, and compared it with the oregon.public.law page AMR cites (same wording). The rest of chapter 517 concerns mining claims, assessment work and surface mining reclamation.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "The official text was read from an Internet Archive snapshot dated August 1, 2026 of the 2025 edition; amendments enacted after that edition, including any 2026 session law, were not checked.", "What counts as the holder having 'acquired the mineral interest within the previous 30 years' (recorded deed, devise or inheritance, probate, corporate succession) is not defined; whether an unrecorded acquisition counts is unresolved.", "Whether active production or a recorded lease gives any protection outside 517.180(1); the text lists none, which may surprise producing owners who never recorded a statement of claim. No Oregon appellate decision was checked.", "Oregon Laws 1983 chapter 421 was not read; whether it included a grace period for interests already older than 30 years in 1983 is unknown." ], "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.", "category": "lapse_statute", "evidence": "primary" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-OR-001", "SRC-OR-002", "SRC-OR-003", "SRC-OR-004", "SRC-OR-005" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. In the absence of voluntary integration, the governing board of the State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, on application of any interested person, shall make an order integrating all tracts or interests in a spacing unit, on just and reasonable terms; the board may also deem royalty interests integrated as part of the spacing order (ORS 520.220(2)).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-OR-006" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute was found requiring oil and gas operators to notify and compensate surface owners. The oil and gas conservation chapter mentions the surface owner only in the gas storage ownership provision, and chapter 517 references concern mining exploration permits and surface mining reclamation, not oil and gas surface damages.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Searched the full text of ORS chapter 520 (Conservation of Gas and Oil, 2023 edition) and ORS chapter 517 (Mining and Mining Claims, 2025 edition) for 'surface owner', 'owner of the surface', 'landowner', 'compensat' and 'damage'. Chapters 522 (geothermal) and the rest of ORS were not searched.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-OR-007" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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).", "unknown": "Not separately addressed. Publication is required in every case, and the notice names the holder as shown of record.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P3" ] }, "search": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Due diligence to determine the holder's address; if no mailing, a detailed dated description of the efforts in the affidavit.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P7" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6" ] }, "publication": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Publication once a week for three consecutive weeks in a county newspaper is required in every case.", "propositions": [ "P4" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute", "statement": "The holder preserves the interest by submitting a statement of claim within 60 days after the last publication.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P8" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P9", "P10" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A landowner may extinguish another person's mineral interest by publishing notice and recording an affidavit, unless the holder recorded a statement of claim or acquired the interest within 30 years.", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(1)", "passage": "An owner of land in which another person holds a mineral interest, may extinguish the holder's interest by publishing notice and submitting an affidavit of publication for recording as described in subsections (4) to (9) of this section, unless:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Coal, oil, gas, other minerals and geothermal resources, not sand or gravel, and not interests vested in the United States, Oregon or its subdivisions (517.180(2)(a)). The section does not mention a deceased, unknown or missing holder.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "source_id": "SRC-OR-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The 30 year bar applies if the holder acquired the interest within the previous 30 years.", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(1)(b)", "passage": "The holder of the mineral interest acquired the mineral interest within the previous 30 years.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All holders. \"Acquired\" is not defined in the section, so whether passing by inheritance or devise is an acquisition that restarts the 30 years is not settled by this text.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "source_id": "SRC-OR-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The statement of claim names both the holder shown in the original instrument and the current holder.", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(3)(a), (b)", "passage": "(a) The name and address of the holder of the mineral interest as that name is shown in the instrument that created the original mineral interest; and (b) The name and address of the current holder of the mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Statement of claim content. The section does not say whether an heir whose title is not of record may file as \"current holder\".", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "source_id": "SRC-OR-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Notice of lapse must always be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a county newspaper.", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(4)", "passage": "the owner of the land shall publish notice of the lapse of the mineral interest at least once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the lands affected by the mineral interest are located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Every extinguishment under 517.180; publication is required whether or not the holder is located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "source_id": "SRC-OR-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Mailing is required only if the holder's address is known or can be found by due diligence, and the mailing comes before first publication.", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(4)", "passage": "If the address of the mineral interest holder is known or can be determined by due diligence, the notice shall also be mailed by the owner of the land to the holder of the mineral interest before the first publication.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "The text refers to \"the holder\"; it does not address heirs or devisees of a deceased holder, or whether mailing to a decedent's address is sufficient.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "source_id": "SRC-OR-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The notice names the holder as shown of record.", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(5)(a)", "passage": "The name of the holder of the mineral interest, as shown of record;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Notice content. Other required content is listed in 517.180(5)(b) to (f).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "source_id": "SRC-OR-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If no notice was mailed, the affidavit must describe in detail, with dates, the due diligence efforts to find the holder's address.", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(7)(b)", "passage": "If no copy of the notice was mailed, a detailed description, including dates, of the efforts made to determine with due diligence the address of the holder of the mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unlocated holders. The statute does not define what due diligence requires.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "source_id": "SRC-OR-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The interest is extinguished unless the holder submits a statement of claim within 60 days after the last publication.", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(8)", "passage": "the mineral interest of the holder shall be extinguished and become the property of the owner of the lands, unless the holder of the mineral interest submits a statement of claim to the county clerk within 60 days after the date of the last publication of the notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All holders. 517.180(10) says the section may not be waived at any time.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "source_id": "SRC-OR-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For quartz or placer mines held by co-owners, notice to a delinquent co-owner who cannot be found in the state is given by publication for 90 days.", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.250", "passage": "If the delinquent co-owner cannot be found within the state, or if at the time of giving the notice the delinquent co-owner is without the state, service of the notice shall be made by publication thereof in the weekly newspaper published in the county nearest to where the mine is situated.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Only co-owners of quartz or placer mines who fail to contribute to annual assessment work (517.230 to 517.320, mining claims). It is not a procedure for severed oil, gas or mineral estates generally.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "source_id": "SRC-OR-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the delinquent co-owner does not pay within 90 days of service or last publication, the interest vests in the contributing co-owners.", "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.270", "passage": "the delinquent co-owner has not paid the proportion of the delinquent co-owner to the co-owners who performed or caused to be performed the assessment work, the title to the interest of the delinquent co-owner in the mine shall be immediately vested in the co-owners who performed or caused to be performed the assessment work.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Same limits as P9. 517.320 (not quoted) provides counteraffidavits and a suit to quiet title.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "source_id": "SRC-OR-014", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 517, official page read from the Internet Archive snapshot of August 1, 2026 because the official host timed out: 517.170, 517.180 in full, 517.230 to 517.320 read. ORS chapter 520 (Internet Archive snapshot September 3, 2025) searched for: unknown, unlocat, cannot be found or located, missing, absent, nonresident, heir, whereabouts, escrow; only gas storage \"heirs, successors and assigns\" wording appeared. Case law: a CourtListener search was cut off by rate limits and one web search found no Oregon appellate decision applying 517.180; the case law search is incomplete. Not reviewed: probate, general quiet title, ORS chapter 98 unclaimed property.", "open_questions": [ "Is a transfer by inheritance or devise an acquisition under 517.180(1)(b)? Needs case law or specialist review.", "Is mailing to a deceased holder's last address, or to the record holder rather than unrecorded heirs, enough under 517.180(4)?", "Complete a citator search for Oregon appellate decisions on 517.180.", "Does ORS chapter 98 (unclaimed property) cover oil and gas proceeds of unlocated owners? Not reviewed." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: heirs, devisees and successors.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Oregon", "abbr": "OR", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "30 years", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 68, "rank": 14, "statute": "Or. Rev. Stat. 517.180", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_517.180", "preservation": "Record a statement of claim within a 30 year window, or within 60 days of a lapse notice (Or. Rev. Stat. 517.180).", "note": "Oregon lets a surface owner extinguish a mineral interest more than 30 years old unless the owner has recorded a statement of claim, through a notice and recording process. Enacted 1983." } }, { "id": "PA", "name": "Pennsylvania", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-pennsylvania", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "missing_owner_procedure", "mechanism_label": "Court appointed trustee for unknown or unlocatable oil and gas owners; no lapse", "summary": "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. Any person who owns an interest in the oil and gas under a tract, in fee, by lease, by royalty or by correlative rights, may petition the county court of common pleas to declare a trust for owners whose identity or address cannot be found by diligent efforts; the court appoints a financial institution as trustee to sign leases. Bonuses, rentals and royalties owed to the missing owners are paid to the trustee, the trust lasts until those owners are identified and paid, and the funds are subject to the Fiscal Code article on unclaimed property.", "period_years": null, "period_description": "No period. The trust has no end date: it remains in force until the unknown owners are identified to the trustee's satisfaction and receive their share of the funds (section 5(c)). Separately, anyone who fails to pay amounts due to unknown owners to the trustee within six months after they become due is liable for attorney fees, court costs and interest (section 7).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Petition to the court of common pleas of the county where the tract or part of it lies. The petitioner must show a diligent effort to locate the owner, that despite it one or more owners cannot be identified or located, and that appointing a trustee is in the best interest of all owners. The court then appoints a financial institution authorized to do business in Pennsylvania as trustee and authorizes it to execute oil or gas leases or other instruments on court approved terms. The trust is administered under 20 Pa.C.S. (decedents, estates and fiduciaries), and a payor who pays the trustee is released from further claims by the unknown owners for that income.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Interests in oil and gas owned by unknown or unlocatable owners; \"owner\" includes any person with a legal or equitable interest and any person who owns a royalty interest. The petitioner's own interest may be in fee, by lease, a royalty, or by ownership of correlative rights in the reservoir (section 4(a)).", "mineral_scope": "Oil and gas only. \"Gas\" excludes methane contained in or produced from coal beds or mined out coal areas; \"oil\" excludes liquid hydrocarbons that were originally in a gaseous phase (section 3).", "exceptions": [ "Coalbed methane is excluded from \"gas\" (section 3)", "The act does not vest the surface owner with title to severed oil and gas (section 2)", "Funds held in the trust remain subject to Article XIII.1 of The Fiscal Code on unclaimed and abandoned property (section 5(d))" ], "effective": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115, effective immediately (section 8). The official page, as archived on August 20, 2026, shows no amendment notes. Pennsylvania House archive records show HB 70 (2015 to 2016) and HB 91 (2017 to 2018), each proposing to amend the act's purpose, definitions and trust section; neither appears in the official text.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Dormancy survey: full official text of the Dormant Oil and Gas Act read; no Pennsylvania statute that terminates or transfers severed oil, gas or mineral interests for nonuse was identified. Also read: Oil and Gas Conservation Law (Act 359 of 1961, sections 3 and 8), 58 Pa.C.S. Chapter 32 section list, Act 60 of 1979 as amended. Searched for amendment bills to the 2006 act (House archive records for HB 70 and HB 91). Not searched: a Pennsylvania marketable title statute, and Pennsylvania tax sale case law on unseated lands, which can decide whether severed subsurface interests passed in old tax sales.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "legis.state.pa.us and palegis.us were not available when AMR checked; the text is the Internet Archive copy of the official page dated August 20, 2026. Changes after that date were not checked.", "The Purdon's citation 58 P.S. 701.1 et seq. used by AMR was not confirmed on an official source; the official page cites the act as P.L. 1134, No. 115.", "Court decisions applying the act's diligent effort and best interest tests were not reviewed.", "When trust funds become reportable as unclaimed property under Fiscal Code Article XIII.1 was not researched." ], "category": "missing_owner", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-PA-001", "SRC-PA-002", "SRC-PA-003", "SRC-PA-004" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Limited. The Oil and Gas Conservation Law (Act 359 of 1961) requires the commission, on an operator's application, to integrate all tracts and interests in a spacing unit when owners do not agree, but the act does not apply to wells that do not penetrate the Onondaga horizon (or, where the Onondaga is shallower than 3,800 feet, wells not deeper than 3,800 feet), so it generally does not reach Marcellus Shale wells, which are completed above the Onondaga. Provisions added in 2013 and 2019 let an operator develop its own contiguous leases jointly and drill across units it already holds, but they do not pool unleased owners.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-PA-005", "SRC-PA-006", "SRC-PA-007" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Pennsylvania statute was found that requires oil and gas operators to compensate surface owners for surface damage. 58 Pa.C.S. Chapter 32 (Act 13 of 2012) requires the permit applicant to send the well plat to the surface landowner by certified mail, gives the surface owner a 15 day objection window, requires the operator to restore the well site, and requires an operator that pollutes or diminishes a water supply to restore or replace it.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "58 Pa.C.S. Chapter 32 section list and sections 3211, 3212, 3216 and 3218 (official text, Internet Archive copy of October 13, 2024); Act 359 of 1961; Act 60 of 1979 as amended. No surface damage compensation section found. Amendments to Chapter 32 after October 2024 were not checked.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-PA-008", "SRC-PA-009" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read. The Act defines owner to include a legal representative but says nothing about heirs, devisees or death.", "unknown": "Covered: an owner who is unknown, after diligent efforts, may be placed in a court declared trust (sections 3 and 4).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute", "statement": "The Act defines owner to include a person's legal representative but does not mention heirs, devisees or the effect of death.", "propositions": [ "P2" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P9" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "The Act does not mention publication. Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure and local court practice were not reviewed.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P7", "P10" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6", "P8" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The Act states that its purpose is to protect unknown or unlocatable oil and gas owners and that it is not meant to vest severed oil and gas in the surface owner.", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 2", "passage": "It is not the purpose of this act to vest the surface owner with title to oil and gas interests that have been severed from the surface estate.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (Dormant Oil and Gas Act), as enacted. Covers oil and gas only; the definition of gas excludes coalbed methane. Later amendments, if any, were not checked.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "source_id": "SRC-PA-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Owner is defined as anyone with a legal or equitable interest, or that person's legal representative, and includes royalty owners.", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 3, \"Owner\"", "passage": "\"Owner.\" Any person having a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this act or the person's legal representative and any person who owns a royalty interest in oil or gas deposits.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (Dormant Oil and Gas Act), as enacted. Covers oil and gas only; the definition of gas excludes coalbed methane. Later amendments, if any, were not checked. The Act does not mention heirs, devisees or death.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "source_id": "SRC-PA-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Unknown owners are those who are unknown or whose present residence or address cannot be found by reasonable efforts.", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 3, \"Unknown owner or owners\"", "passage": "\"Unknown owner or owners.\" The owner or owners of interests in oil and gas who are unknown or whose present residence or other addresses cannot be found by reasonable efforts to do so.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (Dormant Oil and Gas Act), as enacted. Covers oil and gas only; the definition of gas excludes coalbed methane. Later amendments, if any, were not checked. One definition covers both unidentified and unlocated owners.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "source_id": "SRC-PA-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Before declaring a trust, the court must be satisfied that the petitioner made a diligent effort to locate the owner and still could not identify or locate one or more owners.", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(b)(1) and (2)", "passage": "(1) Petitioner has made a diligent effort to locate the owner or claimant. (2) Despite this diligent effort, petitioner has been unable to identify or to locate the present residence or other address of one or more owners or claimants of the oil or gas interest or interests in question.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (Dormant Oil and Gas Act), as enacted. Covers oil and gas only; the definition of gas excludes coalbed methane. Later amendments, if any, were not checked. The Act does not list what records must be searched.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "source_id": "SRC-PA-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Any person owning an interest in the oil and gas under a tract, in fee, by lease, by royalty or by correlative rights, may petition the county court of common pleas to declare a trust for unknown owners.", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(a)", "passage": "Any person who owns an interest in oil and gas underlying a tract of land may petition the appropriate division of the court of common pleas of the county in which the tract or any portion of the tract is located to declare a trust in favor of all unknown owners", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (Dormant Oil and Gas Act), as enacted. Covers oil and gas only; the definition of gas excludes coalbed methane. Later amendments, if any, were not checked.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "source_id": "SRC-PA-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The court appoints a financial institution as trustee and authorizes it to sign oil or gas leases on court approved terms.", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(c)", "passage": "the court shall appoint a financial institution authorized to do business in this Commonwealth as trustee of a trust for the unknown owner or owners and shall authorize the trustee to execute and deliver one or more oil or gas leases or other instruments on terms and conditions approved by the court.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (Dormant Oil and Gas Act), as enacted. Covers oil and gas only; the definition of gas excludes coalbed methane. Later amendments, if any, were not checked.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "source_id": "SRC-PA-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The trust stays in force until the unknown owners are identified to the trustee's satisfaction and have received their share.", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(c)", "passage": "A trust for unknown owners shall remain in force until the unknown owners of the oil and gas interests in question have been identified to the satisfaction of the trustee and received their share of any funds held in trust.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (Dormant Oil and Gas Act), as enacted. Covers oil and gas only; the definition of gas excludes coalbed methane. Later amendments, if any, were not checked.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "source_id": "SRC-PA-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Funds held in the trust are subject to the Fiscal Code article on unclaimed and abandoned property.", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(d)", "passage": "Funds held in a trust for unknown owners are subject to the provisions of Article XIII.1 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, relating to disposition of unclaimed and abandoned property.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (Dormant Oil and Gas Act), as enacted. Covers oil and gas only; the definition of gas excludes coalbed methane. Later amendments, if any, were not checked. Article XIII.1 of the Fiscal Code was not reviewed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "source_id": "SRC-PA-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Bonuses, rentals and royalties due to unknown owners are paid to the trustee until the trust is terminated and notice of termination is given to all interested parties.", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(b)", "passage": "All bonuses, rental payments, royalties and other income due to the unknown owner or owners shall be paid to the trustee until the trust is terminated and notice of its termination given to all interested parties.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (Dormant Oil and Gas Act), as enacted. Covers oil and gas only; the definition of gas excludes coalbed methane. Later amendments, if any, were not checked. This is the only notice the Act mentions; it says nothing about notice of the petition.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "source_id": "SRC-PA-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The trust is administered under Title 20 (decedents, estates and fiduciaries) and the trustee distributes funds to those entitled as it or the court determines.", "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(a) and (b)", "passage": "The trust shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of 20 Pa.C.S. (relating to decedents, estates and fiduciaries).", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (Dormant Oil and Gas Act), as enacted. Covers oil and gas only; the definition of gas excludes coalbed methane. Later amendments, if any, were not checked. Title 20 was not reviewed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "source_id": "SRC-PA-016", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read in full: Act of July 11, 2006, P.L. 1134, No. 115 (session law text at legis.state.pa.us, archived August 20, 2026). Not read: its codified form in Purdon's Title 58, any later amendment, Fiscal Code Article XIII.1, 20 Pa.C.S., the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, tax sale law for unseated lands, and Pennsylvania case law. One web search found trade press reporting a 2014 Superior Court ruling on a Chesapeake Act 115 trust petition; the opinion itself was not located or read, and the CourtListener search API was blocked by a rate limit. Pennsylvania's consolidated and unconsolidated statutes were not searched for other unknown owner provisions.", "open_questions": [ "Whether Act 115 has been amended since 2006 and where it is codified; the session law text was read as enacted.", "Whether any Pennsylvania appellate decision interprets Act 115 on diligent search, notice or heirs; a 2014 Superior Court ruling on a Chesapeake trust petition was reported in trade press but not read.", "What notice of the petition, if any, courts of common pleas require in Act 115 proceedings.", "Whether other Pennsylvania statutes, such as the 2012 Oil and Gas Act or the 2013 royalty and lease integration provisions, address unknown owners; not reviewed." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Act 115 was read only as enacted in 2006; later amendments, its codification and the 2014 Superior Court ruling were not read.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Act 115 was read only as enacted in 2006; later amendments, its codification and the 2014 Superior Court ruling were not read." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Pennsylvania", "abbr": "PA", "category": "special", "unused_minerals": "Special mechanism", "lapse_period": "see note", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 45, "rank": 19, "statute": "58 Pa. Stat. 701.1 et seq. (Dormant Oil and Gas Act)", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "preservation": "Stay identifiable in the record; a court may place an unlocatable owner interest into a trust (58 Pa. Stat. 701.1 et seq.).", "note": "Pennsylvania's Dormant Oil and Gas Act does not transfer ownership. It places an unlocatable owner's interest into a trust so the oil and gas can be developed." } }, { "id": "RI", "name": "Rhode Island", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-rhode-island", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "marketable_title_act", "mechanism_label": "Marketable Record Title Act, 40 years, no mineral exception (R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 34-13.1)", "summary": "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. The exceptions (lessor reversions, easements evidenced by physical facilities, and interests of the United States, the State, its subdivisions and public utilities) do not mention mineral interests, so a severed mineral interest outside the surface owner's 40 year chain can be extinguished. Nonuse plays no part; the test is the record.", "period_years": 40, "period_description": "Forty years from the effective date (recording) of the root of title, the most recent title transaction recorded as of a date 40 years before marketability is determined (§§ 34-13.1-1(e), 34-13.1-2). A notice of claim must be recorded during the 40 years after the root of title; any period expiring within two years after the act took effect was extended to two years after that date (§ 34-13.1-11).", "self_executing": "yes", "procedure": "No proceeding is required: prior interests not preserved are declared null and void (§ 34-13.1-4). Disputes are resolved when marketability is determined, for example in a quiet title action under chapter 34-16.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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).", "interest_scope": "Any interest in land not excepted, which on the statute's words includes severed mineral interests and royalties.", "mineral_scope": "All minerals; the chapter has no mineral specific language.", "exceptions": [ "Lessor or successor as reversioner of the right to possession on expiration of a lease", "Easements and similar interests evidenced by a pipe, valve, road, wire, cable, conduit, duct, sewer, track, hole, tower or other physical facility", "Interests of the United States, the State, its political subdivisions and public utility companies (§ 34-13.1-7)", "Conservation and preservation restrictions (§ 34-13.1-3(6))" ], "effective": "Enacted by P.L. 1995, ch. 241, § 1 and P.L. 1995, ch. 299, § 1 (effective date not confirmed); § 34-13.1-3 amended by P.L. 1998, ch. 330, § 1 and § 34-13.1-1 by P.L. 2011, ch. 363, § 14. Section 34-13.1-11 gave two years after the effective date to record notices where the 40 year period had expired or would expire sooner.", "date_model": "explain_only", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Title 34 chapter index searched; besides chapter 34-13.1 it lists chapters on possession and prescription (34-7) and quieting title (34-16), neither mineral specific. No dormant mineral statute appears in the chapter indexes of Titles 34, 42 or 46; full text was not searched.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "No Rhode Island decision applying chapter 34-13.1 to a severed mineral interest was located, and how the act treats a mineral owner who holds his own 40 year record chain is untested in the sources read.", "Effective date of P.L. 1995, ch. 241 and ch. 299 not confirmed; § 34-13.1-9 was not retrieved; amendments after the April 2025 snapshots were not checked." ], "category": "marketable_title", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-RI-001", "SRC-RI-002", "SRC-RI-003" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Rhode Island statute on compulsory pooling or unitization of oil and gas interests was found, and no oil and gas conservation chapter appears in the titles surveyed.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Chapter indexes of Title 34 (Property), Title 42 (State Affairs and Government) and Title 46 (Waters and Navigation), archived December 2025, searched for mine, mining, mineral, oil, gas, petroleum and geology; only oil pollution, oil spill and petroleum allocation chapters matched. Other titles and full text were not searched.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify or compensate surface owners was found.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Same chapter index survey as for pooling.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute", "statement": "A title transaction includes title by will or descent. The chapter does not otherwise address heirs or devisees of a mineral owner.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P6" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "The chapter contains no publication step. Publication rules in general court procedure were not reviewed.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No receivership, trust, escrow or leasing mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners appears in the provisions read (chapter 34-13.1). A whole code search of the General Laws was not run because the official host was not available when AMR checked.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Interests depending on events before the root of title are void whether the claimant is under a disability or is within or outside the state.", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-4.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-4", "passage": "whether those interests, claims or charges are asserted by a person sui juris or under a disability, whether that a person is within or without the state, whether that person is natural or corporate is private or governmental, are hereby declared to be null and void.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Marketable Record Title Act, R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 34-13.1, which applies to interests of any kind in land; its exceptions in § 34-13.1-7 do not name mineral interests. A record title statute, not a nonuse statute. Statutory text only; no decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1.md", "source_id": "SRC-RI-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "No disability or lack of knowledge of anyone suspends the forty year period.", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-5.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-5(a)", "passage": "No disability or lack of knowledge of any kind on the part of anyone suspends the running of the forty (40) year period.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Marketable Record Title Act, R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 34-13.1, which applies to interests of any kind in land; its exceptions in § 34-13.1-7 do not name mineral interests. A record title statute, not a nonuse statute. Statutory text only; no decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 2, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1.md", "source_id": "SRC-RI-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Any person claiming an interest in land may preserve it by recording a verified notice of claim during the forty years after the effective date of the other person's root of title.", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-5.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-5(a)", "passage": "Any person claiming an interest of any kind in land may preserve and keep effective that interest by recording, during the forty (40) year period immediately following the effective date of the root title of the person whose record title would otherwise be marketable, a notice in writing, duly verified by oath, setting forth the nature of the claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Marketable Record Title Act, R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 34-13.1, which applies to interests of any kind in land; its exceptions in § 34-13.1-7 do not name mineral interests. A record title statute, not a nonuse statute. Statutory text only; no decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 2, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1.md", "source_id": "SRC-RI-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The notice of claim may be recorded by another person for a claimant under a disability, unable to assert the claim, or one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain.", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-5.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-5(a)", "passage": "any other person acting on behalf of any claimant who is: (1) Under a disability (2) unable to assert a claim on his or her own behalf or (3) one of a class, but whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain at the time of filing such notice of claim record.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Marketable Record Title Act, R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 34-13.1, which applies to interests of any kind in land; its exceptions in § 34-13.1-7 do not name mineral interests. A record title statute, not a nonuse statute. Statutory text only; no decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 2, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1.md", "source_id": "SRC-RI-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A title transaction includes title by will or descent.", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-1.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-1(f)", "passage": "“Title transaction” means any transaction affecting title to any interest in land, including, but not limited to, title by will or descent", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Marketable Record Title Act, R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 34-13.1, which applies to interests of any kind in land; its exceptions in § 34-13.1-7 do not name mineral interests. A record title statute, not a nonuse statute. Statutory text only; no decision applying it to a mineral interest was located. Relevant to whether a recorded transfer by will or descent appears in a chain of title.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 3, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1.md", "source_id": "SRC-RI-004", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A notice of claim is indexed under the record owners' names in the grantors' index and under the claimant's name in the grantees' index.", "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-6.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-6(b)", "passage": "The notice shall be indexed in the grantors’ index under the name or names of the owners of record as listed in the notice and in the grantees’ index under the name of the claimant appearing in the notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Marketable Record Title Act, R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 34-13.1, which applies to interests of any kind in land; its exceptions in § 34-13.1-7 do not name mineral interests. A record title statute, not a nonuse statute. Statutory text only; no decision applying it to a mineral interest was located. This governs the claimant's notice; the chapter contains no notice to the holder of the interest being barred.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1.md", "source_id": "SRC-RI-005", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read: R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 34-13.1-1 to 34-13.1-11 in full, from Internet Archive copies of the official section pages (snapshots April 1, 2025 to April 3, 2025); the official host timed out and no § 34-13.1-12 capture exists. CourtListener search, Rhode Island Supreme Court filter, for marketable record title or 34-13.1 listed eight decisions (including Fisher v. Applebaum, 2008; Bitting v. Gray, 2006; Hazard v. East Hills, 2012); none was opened or relied on and none is known to concern a mineral interest. Not reviewed: general quiet title, probate, partition, and a whole code search for unknown owner, receiver or escrow terms near mineral, oil or gas.", "open_questions": [ "Read the listed Rhode Island Supreme Court decisions citing chapter 34-13.1 to see whether any construes the notice of claim or the persons barred.", "Section 34-13.1-3(5) refers to interests of natural gas companies among the exceptions, while § 34-13.1-7 names public utility companies; confirm whether a gas company's mineral interest is excepted.", "Run a whole code search of the General Laws for unknown or missing owner, receiver and escrow provisions tied to minerals once the official host is reachable." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Rhode Island", "abbr": "RI", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 44, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Rhode Island. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "SC", "name": "South Carolina", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-south-carolina", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified", "summary": "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.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified in the Code of Laws as published on scstatehouse.gov on 1 Oct 2026.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for South Carolina.", "survey_scope": "Official South Carolina Code of Laws at scstatehouse.gov, every chapter page of Titles 27 (Property and Conveyances, 32 chapters), 10 (6), 12 (Taxation, 41), 15 (Civil Remedies and Procedures, 41), 30 (Public Records, 10) and 48 (Environmental Protection and Conservation, 45) downloaded on 1 Oct 2026 and searched in full text. Title 27 contains no use of the word mineral; no marketable title act, dormant mineral, severed mineral, statement of claim or unknown mineral owner provision found in any of the six titles. Related hits only: 10-9-10 (Public Service Authority mineral leases), 10-9-330 (geothermal rights in drilling leases), and the Mining Act and geological survey provisions in Title 48. The official site search was not run for this release.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "Titles outside 10, 12, 15, 27, 30 and 48 were not searched in full text.", "South Carolina case law on abandonment, adverse possession or presumption of extinguishment of severed mineral interests was not reviewed.", "The Code pages state no currency date; legislation from the 2026 session was not checked separately." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-SC-001" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "In the absence of voluntary integration, the department on application of any interested person shall order all tracts or interests in a spacing unit integrated for development and sharing of production, on just and reasonable terms (S.C. Code 48-43-340, 1977 Act No. 179). Section 48-43-350 also requires a unit operation order for a pool where it is reasonably necessary to increase ultimate recovery and the added recovery exceeds the added cost.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-SC-002", "SRC-SC-003" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No South Carolina statute was found requiring oil and gas operators to notify or compensate surface owners for surface damage. Chapter 48-43 allows claims for damage from unlawful pollutant discharges (48-43-600) and requires drilling permit bonds payable to the State, which are not surface damages provisions.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Full text of S.C. Code Title 48 (45 chapters, including chapter 43 on oil and gas) searched for surface owner and landowner, and chapter 43 for damage; Titles 10, 12, 15, 27 and 30 searched for mineral. No split estate or surface damages provision found.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read.", "unlocated": "Not addressed in the provisions read." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific search or diligence requirement was found.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific notice requirement to owners was found.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No mineral specific publication rule was found.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No preservation or response procedure for mineral owners was found, because no lapse mechanism exists in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [], "dates": { "status": "none", "note": "No period or deadline concerning owner status was found in the provisions read." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "Official South Carolina Code of Laws at scstatehouse.gov, 287 chapter pages of Titles 10, 12, 13, 15, 27, 30, 44, 48, 57 and 62 (Probate Code) downloaded on October 6, 2026 and searched section by section for unknown, unlocated, cannot be found or located, whereabouts, missing, absent, nonresident and heirs within 250 characters of mineral, oil, gas, royalty or lease. Only unrelated hits (12-8-540 royalty withholding for nonresidents, 12-16-520 estate tax situs of a nonresident decedent's mineral interests, 12-37-220, 27-2-105, 27-15-30, 27-32-355, 44-56-200). Chapter 27-18 contains no occurrence of mineral or royalty. Other titles were not searched; the site's search form was not used. Case law was not searched because no statute was found to interpret.", "open_questions": [ "Whether South Carolina case law on abandonment, adverse possession or presumed grant applies to severed mineral interests of absent owners; not reviewed.", "Whether integration orders under 48-43-340 have addressed unlocated owners in practice; no orders were read." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "South Carolina case law on abandonment and presumed grant of severed minerals was not reviewed.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: South Carolina case law on abandonment and presumed grant of severed minerals was not reviewed." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "South Carolina", "abbr": "SC", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 45, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in South Carolina. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "SD", "name": "South Dakota", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/south-dakota-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Abandoned mineral interest statute, 23 years of nonuse, surface owner notice with a 60 day cure", "summary": "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. To succeed to the interest the surface owner must publish a notice of lapse for three weeks and mail it to the record owner's address of record, and the record owner still saves the interest by recording a statement of claim within 60 days after publication is completed. The chapter reaches any interest in oil, gas, coal, clay, gravel, uranium and all other minerals owned by someone other than the surface owner, except interests owned by a governmental body. No court action is required by the statute, although the one reported case was a quiet title action brought after the notice (Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21).", "period_years": 23, "period_description": "A mineral interest is abandoned 'if it has not been used for a period of twenty-three years or more' (SDCL 43-30A-2). Any use listed in 43-30A-3 restarts the count; recorded instruments count only if recorded 'within the last twenty-three years' (43-30A-3(4)). A statement of claim recorded before the end of the 23 year period puts the interest in use on its recording date (43-30A-4). After 23 years have run, a statement of claim recorded within 60 days after completion of publication of the surface owner's notice of lapse still prevents abandonment (43-30A-5).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "SDCL 43-30A-2 says title vests on the date of abandonment, but 43-30A-6 requires notice 'in order to succeed to the ownership'. The surface owner publishes a notice of lapse once each week for three weeks in the official newspaper of the county and mails a copy by registered or certified mail to the record owner at the address of record no later than ten days after the last publication. The surface owner may rely on the address of record in the register of deeds office; a mineral owner who keeps no address of record waives mailed notice. The notice states the record owner's name, the legal description and the name of the person giving notice. Recording the notice with an affidavit of publication and mailing in the register of deeds office is prima facie evidence that notice was properly given. The interest is not abandoned if the record owner records a statement of claim within 60 days after publication is completed (43-30A-5). The chapter does not require a court order; Holsti v. Kimber was a quiet title action that followed a published notice.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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", "Not a use since 2016: payment of taxes and a pooling order were struck from the list by SL 2016 ch 215, section 2; only an agreement to pool or unitize remains" ], "preservation_filing": "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).", "interest_scope": "Any interest in minerals 'whether created by grant, assignment, exception, reservation, or otherwise, owned by a person other than the owner of the surface estate' (SDCL 43-30A-1). The text does not separate mineral fee, royalty or fractional interests, and it does not address leasehold or working interests expressly.", "mineral_scope": "Oil, gas, coal, clay, gravel, uranium, and all other minerals of any kind and nature (SDCL 43-30A-1).", "exceptions": [ "Mineral interests owned by any governmental body or agency (SDCL 43-30A-8)", "The chapter may not be waived until the 23 year period has expired (SDCL 43-30A-7)", "Water and water rights are not affected (SDCL 43-30A-10)" ], "effective": "Enacted by SL 1985, ch 338, and both prospective and retrospective in application (SDCL 43-30A-9). The 23 year period dates from the 1985 text. Amended by SL 1987 ch 318, SL 1995 ch 167, SL 2013 ch 222 and SL 2016 ch 215 (HB 1058, signed February 12, 2016). The 2016 act rewrote 43-30A-2 to 43-30A-6, removed tax payment and pooling orders as uses, tied uses to the record owner, made the 60 day cure run from completion of publication, and repealed 43-30A-6.1, 43-30A-11 and 43-30A-12. The 1985 session law was not read, so any original grace period for interests already dormant in 1985 is not confirmed.", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Read SDCL chapter 43-30A in full and SL 2016 ch 215 on sdlegislature.gov. Related statute checked: the Marketable Title Act, SDCL 43-30-1 to 43-30-17 (22 year marketable record title, notice of claim within 23 years of the deed), which has no mineral specific exception; 43-30A-3(7) cross refers to its 43-30-7 affidavit of possession.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "SL 1985 ch 338 was not read; whether it gave owners of interests already dormant in 1985 a grace period to record a statement of claim is not shown in the current code.", "Holsti v. Kimber (2014) read the pre 2016 text, under which heirs without a recorded deed could use the interest and recorded leases counted without a record owner link. Since 2016 uses must be by, with the permission of, or refer to the record owner. How the 2016 text treats unrecorded heirs and wild instruments has not been decided in any case found.", "Holsti left open whether one co owner's use preserves the shares of other tenants in common, and whether the surface owner must make inquiry beyond the address of record before relying on publication.", "Whether a recorded lease or other instrument executed by someone other than the record owner can count as a use under the 2016 wording of 43-30A-3(4).", "No reported decision applying the 2016 amendments was found; later South Dakota Supreme Court decisions were not checked." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-SD-001", "SRC-SD-002", "SRC-SD-003", "SRC-SD-004", "SRC-SD-005", "SRC-SD-006", "SRC-SD-007" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. In the absence of voluntary pooling, the Board of Minerals and Environment or the secretary, on application of any interested person, shall enter an order pooling all interests in a spacing unit after notice and opportunity for hearing, on just and reasonable terms (SDCL 45-9-31).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-SD-008" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. SDCL chapter 45-5A (1982) requires the mineral developer to give the surface owner written notice of surface disturbing activities at least 30 days before operations start (45-5A-5) and to pay damages for loss of agricultural production, lost land value and lost value of improvements caused by mineral development (45-5A-4), with treble damages possible for failure to negotiate in good faith (45-5A-4.1). Mineral development means exploration or drilling of an oil and gas well or mineral test hole commenced after June 30, 1982, and the ensuing oil and gas production operations (45-5A-3).", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-SD-009", "SRC-SD-010" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "Not addressed in 43-30A. Chapter 43-30B allows a court trust where the identity of the owner cannot be determined.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P15" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4", "P14" ] }, "search": { "status": "statute", "statement": "No search duty; the surface owner may rely on the record owner's last address of record.", "propositions": [ "P8" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P7", "P9", "P16" ] }, "publication": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Publication once a week for three weeks is always required; no condition precedent is stated.", "propositions": [ "P6" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Record owner records a statement of claim within sixty days after publication is completed.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P10", "P11", "P12", "P13" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A mineral interest unused for twenty three years is abandoned and title vests in the surface owner as of the date of abandonment.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-2", "passage": "A mineral interest is abandoned if it has not been used for a period of twenty-three years or more. Title to an abandoned mineral interest vests in the owner of the surface estate in the land in, or under, which the mineral interest is located on the date of abandonment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed mineral interests except those owned by a governmental body (43-30A-8). Silent on deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Production counts as use only if by or with the express permission of the record owner.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-3(1)", "passage": "(1) Minerals are produced by or with the express permission of the record owner of the mineral interest;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Current text after SL 2016, ch 215. Subdivisions (2) and (3) use the same record owner or record holder permission test.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Recording a probate distribution, transfer on death deed, termination affidavit or decree that specifically references the record owner's interest within twenty three years is a use.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-3(4)", "passage": "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 twenty-three years", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Transfers on death that are put of record. The provision does not say that a death or an unrecorded inheritance is itself a use.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A statement of claim is recorded for the record owner and must give the record owner's name and mailing address.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-4(1) and (2)", "passage": "(1) Be recorded for the record owner of the mineral interest prior to the end of the twenty-three-year period set forth in § 43-30A-2.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Statements of claim. Subdivision (2) requires the name and mailing address of the record owner. The chapter does not say how heirs not of record file.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The record owner saves the interest by recording a statement of claim within sixty days after publication of the notice of lapse is completed.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-5", "passage": "Failure to record the statement of claim within the time period provided in § 43-30A-4 does not cause a mineral interest to be abandoned if the record owner of the mineral interest records a statement of claim pursuant to § 43-30A-4 within sixty days after completion of the publication of the notice of lapse", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Record owner. The text does not mention heirs or other unrecorded successors.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The surface owner must publish the notice of lapse once a week for three weeks in every case.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-6", "passage": "The publication shall be made once each week for three weeks in the official newspaper of the county in which the mineral interest is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All notices of lapse; no precondition to publication is stated.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Notice must also be mailed by registered or certified mail to the record owner at the record owner's address of record.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-6", "passage": "Notice shall also be given by mailing a copy of the notice by registered or certified mail to the record owner of the mineral interest at the record owner's address of record no later than ten days after the last publication.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Record owner only. Heirs, devisees and unknown owners are not mentioned.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The surface owner may rely on the record owner's last address of record in the county register of deeds.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-6", "passage": "The surface owner may rely upon the record mineral owner's last address of record in the office of county register of deeds in which the mineral interest is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Current text after SL 2016, ch 215. No search or inquiry duty appears in the chapter.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A record owner who fails to maintain an address of record waives the mailing requirement.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-6", "passage": "Failure to maintain an address of record is a waiver by the record mineral owner of the requirement to mail a copy of the notice of lapse to the record mineral owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unlocated record owners and record owners with no address of record.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Any person holding an interest in the tract may petition the county court to declare a trust for a mineral owner whose location or identity cannot be determined.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30B-1", "passage": "Any person or entity who holds an interest in a particular tract of land may petition the court in the county where the land is located to declare a trust in favor of an owner of a mineral interest in the particular tract of land if the location or identity of the owner cannot be determined.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Covers both unlocated and unidentified owners, which includes unidentified heirs as the text reads.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30B.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The petitioner must show due diligence in trying to locate or identify the owner and that a trust is in the owner's best interest.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30B-2", "passage": "If the petitioner can demonstrate that the creation of a trust is in the best interest of the owner and that the petitioner cannot, after due diligence, locate or identify the owner, the court may create a trust", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trust petitions under chapter 43-30B. Due diligence is not defined.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30B.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The court appoints the county treasurer or another trustee with authority to sign leases, ratifications and division orders.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30B-3", "passage": "shall appoint the county treasurer or another person or entity as trustee of the trust, and shall authorize the trustee to execute and deliver a mineral lease, a ratification, a division order, or any other related document or instrument", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Trusts under chapter 43-30B; the trust lasts until a court order finds the owner has appeared and been identified (43-30B-5).", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30B.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Nothing done by the trustee, petitioner or court under the trust chapter counts as use under the abandonment chapter.", "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30B-6", "passage": "No act taken by or upon the permission of a trustee, petitioner, or court under this chapter shall be considered use of a mineral interest under chapter 43-30A.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "A lease by a 43-30B trustee does not stop the twenty three year clock under 43-30A.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30B.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P14", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Devisees became owners of the mineral interest at the testator's death.", "url": "https://ujs.sd.gov/media/vkubegdt/26821.pdf", "publisher": "South Dakota Supreme Court, Unified Judicial System", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, paragraph 15", "passage": "Here, the heirs became the owners of Kvalheim's mineral interest upon his passing and in accord with the devise in his will.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "South Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Applied the text of chapter 43-30A before SL 2016, ch 215, which inserted record owner language into 43-30A-3, -4 and -5 and rewrote 43-30A-6; whether this reasoning carries over to the current text is not decided. ", "saved_as": "sources/SD-holsti-v-kimber-2014SD21.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P15", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Under the earlier text, recorded leases by heirs who were not record owners were uses because that statute did not require the record owner.", "url": "https://ujs.sd.gov/media/vkubegdt/26821.pdf", "publisher": "South Dakota Supreme Court, Unified Judicial System", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, paragraph 16", "passage": "Yet the statute does not use the words \"record owner\" or \"original deed.\"", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "South Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Applied the text of chapter 43-30A before SL 2016, ch 215, which inserted record owner language into 43-30A-3, -4 and -5 and rewrote 43-30A-6; whether this reasoning carries over to the current text is not decided. The current 43-30A-3 does use record owner language.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-holsti-v-kimber-2014SD21.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P16", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The court did not decide whether a surface owner must give notice of lapse to the heirs of a deceased record owner.", "url": "https://ujs.sd.gov/media/vkubegdt/26821.pdf", "publisher": "South Dakota Supreme Court, Unified Judicial System", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, paragraph 20", "passage": "Because the mineral interests have not been abandoned under SDCL 43-30A-2, we need not address the heirs' second issue", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "South Dakota Supreme Court, controls statewide. Applied the text of chapter 43-30A before SL 2016, ch 215, which inserted record owner language into 43-30A-3, -4 and -5 and rewrote 43-30A-6; whether this reasoning carries over to the current text is not decided. The surface owners had mailed nothing because the record owner had died in 1969, and made no inquiry into his successors (paragraph 3). The trial court held no notice to heirs was required; that ruling was not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/SD-holsti-v-kimber-2014SD21.md", "source_id": "SRC-SD-020", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "Read in full: SDCL ch. 43-30A and ch. 43-30B (via sdlegislature.gov API renderings of chapter 43-30A and title 43). Title 43 and title 45 full text searched for unknown, unlocat, whereabouts, cannot be located, missing, absent, escrow, unclaimed. Opinions read: Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21 (ujs.sd.gov) and Tvedt v. Bork, 414 N.W.2d 11 (S.D. 1987, CAP; former chapter 43-30, not relevant to owner status). CourtListener search for '43-30A' returned only these two. Not reviewed: Uniform Unclaimed Property Act ch. 43-41B, probate, quiet title. SL 2016 ch 215 was not read directly; its effect is inferred from the source notes on the current sections and the text quoted in Holsti.", "open_questions": [ "Whether heirs of a deceased record owner are entitled to notice under the current 43-30A-6, and whether Holsti's reading that heirs' leases are uses survives the 2016 record owner language.", "Whether a recorded will or heirship affidavit that is not a 'probate distribution' qualifies under 43-30A-3(4).", "No Supreme Court decision on chapter 43-30B was found." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Whether heirs of a deceased record owner must receive notice under the 2016 text is open.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Whether heirs of a deceased record owner must receive notice under the 2016 text is open." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "South Dakota", "abbr": "SD", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "23 years", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 79, "rank": 13, "statute": "S.D.C.L. 43-30A", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "preservation": "Record a statement of claim, or use the interest within 23 years (S.D.C.L. 43-30A-3).", "note": "South Dakota's dormant minerals act runs on a 23 year nonuse period before a severed interest can lapse to the surface owner." } }, { "id": "TN", "name": "Tennessee", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/tennessee-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Dormant mineral statute, 20 years with no use and no taxes paid, lapse declared by chancery order", "summary": "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)). Lapse is completed through the chancery court: the surface owner files a verified complaint of claim of abandoned mineral interest, the clerk and master publishes and mails a 60 day notice, and if the mineral owner files no answer the chancellor declares the lapse and vests title in the surface owner. A statement of claim filed after 20 years without use did not save the interest in Currence v. Harrogate Energy (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015).", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Twenty years in which none of the uses defined in 66-5-108(b)(3) occurred (66-5-108(c)). The statement of claim must be filed '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' (66-5-108(d)(1)). A timely statement of claim is prima facie evidence that the interest was being used on its filing date (d)(4), so it starts a new 20 years. The Court of Appeals reads the statute to mean an interest expires unless a statement of claim is filed within 20 years of the last use or by July 1, 1990, whichever is later (Cunningham v. Gill, 2004), and measured the window backward from the date the owner's statement of claim was filed (Currence, 2015).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Subsection (c) says an unused interest 'shall' be extinguished, but the statute's own route to title is judicial. A person who will succeed to the interest 'may commence such lapse' by filing with the clerk and master of the county a verified complaint of claim of abandoned mineral interest in the statutory form, which recites inquiry with the property assessor about taxes and inquiry about use (66-5-108(e)(1), (e)(2)). The clerk and master publishes notice that the interest shall lapse in 60 days, once a week for three consecutive weeks, and sends a copy by certified mail within ten days after publication to the owner named in the complaint (e)(3). If the mineral owner files no answer alleging a claim within 60 days after publication, the clerk certifies that to the chancellor, who enters an order declaring the interest lapsed and vesting title in the surface owner (e)(4). For the judicially determined lapse to be effective as to subsequent interest holders, a certified copy of the final order must be recorded with the register of deeds (e)(7). If the owner answers, the case is litigated on whether a statutory use occurred, as in Cunningham v. Gill and Currence v. Harrogate Energy. No complaint could be filed before July 1, 1990 (e)(9). An action to contest a lapse is barred three years after the date the interest lapsed (66-5-108(j)). These procedural subsections were read only in an unofficial mirror.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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)).", "interest_scope": "'Mineral interest' means the interest created by an instrument transferring, by grant, assignment, reservation or otherwise, an interest of any kind in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals (66-5-108(b)(1)). The text does not distinguish mineral fee, royalty or leasehold interests.", "mineral_scope": "Coal, oil and gas, and other minerals (66-5-108(b)(1), (c)).", "exceptions": [ "No exemption for public owners: 66-5-108(h) states that the section applies in all ways to property owned by the state", "Cannot be waived before the 20 year period expires (66-5-108(g), (i))", "No complaint for claim of abandoned mineral interest could be accepted before July 1, 1990 (66-5-108(e)(9))", "Separate county specific recording rules for counties of 32,600 to 32,700 population (66-5-108(e)(6), (f)(2))" ], "effective": "Enacted by Acts 1987, chapter 282, effective July 1, 1987 (Cunningham v. Gill, 2004). Statements of claim for interests already unused for 20 years were due by July 1, 1990, and lapse complaints could not be filed before July 1, 1990. Subsections (j) to (l) (three year contest bar, bad faith attorney fees, parties of interest) appear in the 2021 code text; their enactment dates were not found. Amendments after the 2021 edition were not checked.", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Primary text: Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108 as reproduced in the Justia 2021 mirror (official LexisNexis code and capitol.tn.gov not available when AMR checked), checked against official Court of Appeals quotations of (b)(3), (c) and (d) in Currence v. Harrogate Energy (2015) and Cunningham v. Gill (2004). Related statutes found: 67-5-804 and 67-5-809 (registration and taxation of mineral interests, as quoted by the courts), 28-2-110 (20 year failure to pay taxes bars recovery of land, with (c) preserving actions to contest a mineral lapse), and 66-7-103 (ten year term for oil and gas leases and conveyances separating oil and gas rights unless there is commercial production).", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "The official Tennessee Code (LexisNexis) and the General Assembly site were not reachable; the full text, including the lapse procedure in 66-5-108(e) and the three year contest bar, was read only in the Justia 2021 mirror. The current official text and any amendment after 2021 are not confirmed.", "Subsection numbering conflict: Quarles (2010) quotes 28-2-110(c) as referring to 66-5-108(f), Begley Lumber v. Trammell (1999) cites 66-5-108(j) as the limitations period, and the 2021 mirror puts the three year contest bar at (j). Confirm the current cross reference.", "66-5-108(b)(3) counts taxes paid 'by the owner of the land' as a use; Cunningham treated the mineral owner's payments as use. Confirm the official wording and whom it covers.", "Whether a surface owner can establish a lapse without the (e) complaint procedure, for example as a defense in a quiet title suit, given that (c) reads as automatic and (j) runs from 'the date such interest lapsed'.", "What 'applies in all ways to property owned by the state' in 66-5-108(h) means for state owned mineral interests and state owned surface.", "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-7-103(a)(1), quoted in Lueking (2012), makes leases and 'any other conveyance of any kind' separating oil or gas rights from the land expire after ten years unless there is commercial production, with reversion after six months without production. Its scope, effective date, application to severed oil and gas fee interests and any constitutional limits (Layne v. Baggenstoss, 640 S.W.2d 1 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1982), not read) need specialist review before AMR describes Tennessee oil and gas severances.", "Tenn. Code Ann. 28-2-110 bars recovery of land on which no taxes were assessed and paid for more than 20 years; how it interacts with untaxed severed mineral interests outside the 66-5-108 procedure was not researched." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-TN-001", "SRC-TN-002", "SRC-TN-003", "SRC-TN-004", "SRC-TN-005", "SRC-TN-006", "SRC-TN-007", "SRC-TN-008", "SRC-TN-009", "SRC-TN-010" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes, as quoted by the courts. Tenn. Code Ann. 60-1-202(a)(4)(M) gives the oil and gas board authority to make rules, regulations and orders 'to provide for the forced integration of separately owned tracts and other property ownership into drilling and production units' (quoted in Lueking v. Cambridge Resources, 2012, from Freels v. Northrup, Tenn. 1984). The current statutory text and the board's present name were not read.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-TN-011", "SRC-TN-012" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "A surface owner compensation statute exists, but its text was not read. The Court of Appeals states that Tenn. Code Ann. 60-1-601 et seq. vests the oil and gas board with power to compensate landowners for damages caused by oil and gas operators (Lueking v. Cambridge Resources, 2012). Whether it requires notice before entry, how damages are set, and how claims are filed are unverified.", "confidence": "low", "survey_scope": "Official code and capitol.tn.gov unreachable; Justia mirror pages for title 60 was not available live and had no archive snapshot. Located through a CourtListener search for '60-1-601' and read in the official opinion.", "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-TN-013" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P12" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P3", "P10", "P11" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P9", "P13" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P7", "P8" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners was found, but the search was incomplete: the text of Title 60 chapter 1 (oil and gas, including forced integration in 60-1-202) and Title 66 chapter 29 (unclaimed property) could not be read; only the 2010 part headings of Title 60 chapter 1 were seen.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An interest in coal, oil and gas and other minerals unused for 20 years is extinguished and reverts to the surface owner unless a statement of claim is filed.", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(c)", "passage": "Any interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals shall, if unused for a period of twenty (20) years, be extinguished, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with subsection (d), and the ownership of the mineral interest shall revert to the owner of the surface.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests in coal, oil and gas and other minerals under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108. Read in an unofficial 2021 mirror; the official LexisNexis code was not read and amendments after 2021 were not checked.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-014", "official": false }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The statement of claim is to be filed by the owner of the mineral interest; the text names no heir, devisee or representative as a filer.", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(d)(1)", "passage": "The statement of claim provided in subsection (c) shall be filed by the owner of the mineral interest 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.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests in coal, oil and gas and other minerals under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108. Read in an unofficial 2021 mirror; the official LexisNexis code was not read and amendments after 2021 were not checked. Does not say who files for a deceased owner or for unidentified heirs.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-015", "official": false }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The only parties of interest under the section are an owner of the mineral interest and the person who will succeed to it on lapse; any third person claiming an interest must make a showing by verified complaint, affidavit or other evidence.", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(l)", "passage": "The only parties of interest pursuant to this section shall be an owner of the mineral interest and a person who shall succeed to the ownership of the mineral interest upon its lapse. Any third person claiming title or interest in any matter pursuant to this section shall prove by verified complaint, affidavit or other evidence", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests in coal, oil and gas and other minerals under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108. Read in an unofficial 2021 mirror; the official LexisNexis code was not read and amendments after 2021 were not checked. Does not define owner or say whether heirs of a deceased owner of record are owners for this purpose.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-016", "official": false }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The statutory complaint form has the surface owner swear to inquiry with the county property assessor about taxes and to reasonable inquiry about use, and gives the mineral owner's name and address only if known.", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(1), complaint form paragraphs 3 and 4", "passage": "After inquiring with the county property assessor, I am not aware of any tax being paid for the mineral estate which underlies my surface estate. ... The name of the mineral interest owner (if known) is and the address (if known) is . 4. Upon reasonable inquiry, I am not aware of any use being made of the mineral estate", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests in coal, oil and gas and other minerals under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108. Read in an unofficial 2021 mirror; the official LexisNexis code was not read and amendments after 2021 were not checked. The form says the complaint 'may be in the following or a similar form'. No search for heirs or for a current address is prescribed in the text.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-017", "official": false }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "On filing, the clerk and master publishes notice of lapse in 60 days once a week for three consecutive weeks and sends it by certified mail, within ten days after publication, to the owner identified by the plaintiff in the complaint.", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(3)", "passage": "shall lapse in sixty (60) days by publishing the same once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks ... and shall send by certified mail within ten (10) days after such publication a copy of such notice to the owner of such mineral interest identified by the plaintiff", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests in coal, oil and gas and other minerals under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108. Read in an unofficial 2021 mirror; the official LexisNexis code was not read and amendments after 2021 were not checked. The mailing goes to the owner the plaintiff identifies; the text does not mention heirs, devisees, personal representatives or returned mail.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-018", "official": false }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Every notice states the owner's name only if known as shown of record, a description of the land and the complainant's name.", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(5)", "passage": "All notices provided for in this section shall state the name of the owner of the mineral interest, if known, as shown of record, a description of the land and the name of the person filing the complaint of claim of abandoned mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests in coal, oil and gas and other minerals under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108. Read in an unofficial 2021 mirror; the official LexisNexis code was not read and amendments after 2021 were not checked.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-019", "official": false }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the mineral interest owner files no answer alleging a claim within 60 days after publication, the clerk certifies that to the chancellor, who enters an order declaring the lapse and vesting title.", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(4)", "passage": "If, within sixty (60) days after publication provided in subdivision (e)(3), the mineral interest owner does not file with the clerk and master an answer alleging a claim to the mineral interest, the clerk and master shall so certify to the chancellor who shall enter the following order declaring the mineral interest has lapsed and vesting title", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests in coal, oil and gas and other minerals under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108. Read in an unofficial 2021 mirror; the official LexisNexis code was not read and amendments after 2021 were not checked.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-005", "official": false }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "No action to contest a lapse may be brought more than three years after the date the interest lapsed.", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(j)", "passage": "No action shall be brought by any person to contest the lapse of a mineral interest pursuant to this section after three (3) years from the date such interest lapsed.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests in coal, oil and gas and other minerals under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108. Read in an unofficial 2021 mirror; the official LexisNexis code was not read and amendments after 2021 were not checked. Applies to any person, with no stated exception for heirs, unknown owners or owners who did not receive the mailed notice; whether the date of lapse is the 20 year mark or the court order is not stated.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-020", "official": false }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A statement of claim or complaint filed without reasonable inquiry, with no factual basis and for harassment may be found not filed in good faith.", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(k)(1)", "passage": "A court may find that a statement of claim or the complaint was not filed in good faith if such was filed without reasonable inquiry, with no factual basis, and for purposes of harassment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests in coal, oil and gas and other minerals under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108. Read in an unofficial 2021 mirror; the official LexisNexis code was not read and amendments after 2021 were not checked. This is a fee shifting rule, not a search standard for locating owners.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-021", "official": false }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "In Cunningham the owner answering the lapse complaint had inherited the interest from his father, who reserved it.", "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/043/Cunningh.pdf", "publisher": "Tennessee Court of Appeals", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Cunningham v. Gill, No. M2003-01374-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 20, 2004), slip op. 2", "passage": "Defendant inherited the mineral interests from his father, John Gill, Sr., in 1984. The elder Gill had expressly reserved the mineral interests in deeds dated February 16, 1942 and June 12, 1950.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Tennessee Court of Appeals, intermediate appellate court; whether the opinion was designated for publication was not confirmed, so its weight as authority beyond the parties requires review. Facts only; the heir here was identified and answered.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 17, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-cunningham-v-gill-2004.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-022", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The court counted identification information supplied by the heir or his predecessor toward the tax payment use that kept the interest alive.", "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/043/Cunningh.pdf", "publisher": "Tennessee Court of Appeals", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Cunningham v. Gill, slip op. 6", "passage": "What is apparent, however, is that Defendant and/or his predecessor directly or indirectly provided the statutorily required information to the Office of the Assessor of Property as required by the statute", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Same court and caveat as P10. Concerns use by tax payment under 66-5-108(b)(3) and 67-5-804; does not address notice to heirs, unknown heirs or unlocated owners.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 17, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-cunningham-v-gill-2004.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-023", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The Court of Appeals described the statute as aimed at unused, unregistered and generally undiscoverable mineral interests that hinder surface development.", "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/currencecharles.opn_.pdf", "publisher": "Tennessee Court of Appeals", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Currence v. Harrogate Energy, LLC, No. M2014-01263-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 11, 2015), slip op. 5", "passage": "The purpose of the enactment was to ensure that owners of real property were not “hindered in fully developing the surface of land” by unused, unregistered, and generally undiscoverable mineral interests in their property.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Tennessee Court of Appeals; publication status not confirmed. The owner was a company that answered; the decision says nothing about deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 28, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-currence-v-harrogate-2015.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-024", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A complaint is deemed filed in good faith if the court finds no record of taxes paid or statement of claim referencing the mineral estate by tax map and parcel number.", "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(k)(2)", "passage": "If the court finds no record of taxes paid or statement of claim filed for the lapsed mineral interests which references the mineral estate by tax map and parcel number, then a complaint for claim of abandoned mineral interest shall be deemed to have been filed in good faith.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All severed interests in coal, oil and gas and other minerals under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108. Read in an unofficial 2021 mirror; the official LexisNexis code was not read and amendments after 2021 were not checked. The safe harbor turns on the record, not on any effort to find the owner or heirs.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-TN-025", "official": false } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108 in full, read in the Justia 2021 mirror via an Internet Archive snapshot of April 1, 2024, because the official LexisNexis Tennessee Code requires accepting terms and Justia's live site served a bot check. Section headings of Title 66 chapter 5 part 1 (2021, snapshot April 22, 2026) and the part headings of Title 60 chapter 1 (2010, snapshot July 24, 2021). CourtListener searches for '66-5-108', 'abandoned mineral interest', 'dormant mineral' and 'mineral interest' with 'unknown heirs' in Tennessee courts returned only Cunningham v. Gill (2004), Begley Lumber v. Trammell (1999, procedural, appeal timing) and Quarles v. Smith (2010, 28-2-110); Currence v. Harrogate Energy (2015) was read from the court's PDF. One web search found no other decision on notice to heirs. General probate, heirship and quiet title law may apply and was not reviewed.", "open_questions": [ "The brief's note says the Tennessee procedure gives notice to heirs. The 2021 text read requires mailing only to 'the owner of such mineral interest identified by the plaintiff'. A specialist should confirm the current official text and whether any rule of civil procedure or decision requires naming or serving heirs or unknown heirs in a 66-5-108 complaint.", "Whether a default order entered after mailing to a deceased owner of record or a stale address is open to attack despite the three year bar in 66-5-108(j).", "Current official text of 66-5-108 and any amendment after 2021.", "Whether Title 60 chapter 1 or the unclaimed property act contains a mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners or their proceeds.", "Publication status and precedential weight of Cunningham v. Gill and Currence v. Harrogate Energy." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Tennessee", "abbr": "TN", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "20 years", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 84, "rank": 10, "statute": "Tenn. Code 66-5-108 (Acts 1987, ch. 282)", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "preservation": "Exercise ownership within 20 years by producing, leasing, or recording an instrument (Tenn. Code 66-5-108).", "note": "Tennessee has a 20 year dormant mineral act. After 20 years of nonuse a chancery court can declare a severed interest lapsed and vest it in the surface owner, unless a statement of claim is recorded. Tennessee also has a surface owner protection law." } }, { "id": "TX", "name": "Texas", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-texas", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified; court receivership for absent owners and unclaimed proceeds rules instead", "summary": "No Texas statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest because it went unused. Two statutes deal with owners who cannot be found without moving title: a district court or the business court may appoint a receiver to lease, assign or ratify on behalf of a nonresident or absent owner of an undivided mineral, leasehold or royalty interest who has not paid or rendered taxes on it for five years, with the money held in the court registry for as long as the owner fails to appear (Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091, 64.093); and mineral proceeds unclaimed for more than three years, together with the owner's underlying right to receive them, are presumed abandoned and handled as unclaimed property (Prop. Code 75.101). Neither statute gives the mineral title to the surface owner.", "period_years": null, "period_description": "No lapse period. Related periods only: the receivership defendant must not have paid or rendered taxes on the interest during the five years before suit (64.091(b-1), 64.093(b)), and unclaimed mineral proceeds are presumed abandoned after more than three years (75.101(a)).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "No procedure ends a mineral interest. Receivership: a co-owner of an undivided mineral or leasehold interest files a verified petition naming the last known or record owner, proves a diligent but unsuccessful search and that it will suffer substantial damage without a receiver, and serves by publication; the court may appoint the county judge or another county resident as receiver, without bond; the receiver signs leases, assignments or Railroad Commission approved unitization agreements (64.091) or ratifies leases and pooling agreements (64.093); payments go into the court registry for the absent owner, and the receivership lasts while the owner fails to appear.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "Not applicable: no lapse statute identified" ], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable to lapse. The receivership statutes reach undivided mineral interests, leasehold interests (including overriding royalties, production payments and working interests) and royalty interests of nonresidents or owners whose residence or identity is unknown; Property Code chapter 75 reaches mineral proceeds and the owner's underlying right to receive them.", "mineral_scope": "Receivership: oil, gas or other minerals. Property Code chapter 75: oil, gas, uranium, sulphur, lignite, coal and any other substance ordinarily and naturally considered a mineral.", "exceptions": [], "effective": "Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091 from 1985 (amended 1989, 1991, 2009 and 2025); 64.093 added 1999; 2025 amendments added the business court (HB 40, effective September 1, 2025) and repealed subsection (k) of each section (HB 16, 2nd called session, effective December 4, 2025). Property Code chapter 75 from 1985; 75.101 amended 1987.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Official text read through Internet Archive copies of statutes.capitol.texas.gov (the host was not available when AMR checked): Natural Resources Code chapter 91 (every subchapter heading; full text searched for dormant, abandoned mineral, unknown owner and missing), chapters 92 and 102; Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 64 (64.091 to 64.093); Property Code chapter 75. No dormant mineral, abandoned mineral or marketable title statute was found in these chapters; a full search of the Property Code was not possible. Search results show bills on reporting severed mineral interests and vesting abandoned mineral interests (HB 2756 and HB 3016 of 1995, HB 834 of 2009, HB 5103 of 2025); their text and fate could not be read because Texas Legislature Online was not available when AMR checked.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "statutes.capitol.texas.gov and capitol.texas.gov were not available when AMR checked; text was read from Internet Archive copies dated November and December 2025. Changes after those dates were not checked.", "The fate of the dormant or abandoned mineral bills found in search results (HB 2756 and HB 3016 of 1995, HB 834 of 2009, HB 5103 of 2025) was not verified on Texas Legislature Online.", "Texas common law on whether a fee mineral interest can be abandoned, and adverse possession of severed minerals (Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 16.021 to 16.034), were not reviewed.", "Tax foreclosure of separately assessed mineral interests (Tax Code) and the surface owner's agency role on Relinquishment Act lands (Natural Resources Code chapter 52) were not reviewed.", "What happens to receivership funds held long term in the court registry was not researched." ], "category": "none_found", "answer": "No Texas statute was found that ends or transfers a severed mineral interest because it went unused.", "evidence": "none_found" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-TX-001", "SRC-TX-002", "SRC-TX-003" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Narrow. Under the Mineral Interest Pooling Act (Natural Resources Code chapter 102, 1977) the Railroad Commission, on application by an eligible owner, must form a unit and pool all interests when separately owned tracts lie in a common reservoir with commission set proration units, the owners have not agreed to pool, and a well has been drilled or proposed; the applicant must first have made a fair and reasonable voluntary pooling offer or the application is dismissed. It covers oil and gas only, excludes reservoirs discovered and produced before March 8, 1961 and land in which the State has an interest unless the General Land Office consents, caps units at 160 acres (oil) or 640 acres (gas) plus 10 percent, and limits the risk charge to 100 percent of drilling and completion costs.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-TX-004", "SRC-TX-005", "SRC-TX-006" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Texas statute was found that requires oil and gas operators to compensate surface owners for surface damage. Since 2007 an operator must give the surface owner written notice within 15 business days after the Railroad Commission issues a permit for a new well or a reentry (Natural Resources Code 91.753), but that subchapter states it does not affect the rule that the mineral estate is dominant (91.755).", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Natural Resources Code chapter 91 (subchapter list and Subchapter Q) and chapter 92 (qualified subdivisions with designated operations sites, a surface accommodation scheme, not compensation) read via Internet Archive copies of the official site. Search results describing a surface damages chapter with compensation offers refer to introduced bills (for example 2013 HB 3600); those were not read and no such chapter was found. Relinquishment Act lands (chapter 52) were not reviewed.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-TX-007", "SRC-TX-008" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "succession": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P9", "P13" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P11" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P12", "P14" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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).", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P6", "P7", "P8", "P10", "P15", "P13" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A district court or the business court may appoint a receiver for a mineral interest or mineral leasehold interest owned by a nonresident or absent defendant, in an action brought by a co-owner of an undivided interest.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(b)", "passage": "In the following actions, a district court or the business court may appoint a receiver for the mineral interest or leasehold interest under a mineral lease owned by a nonresident or absent defendant:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Undivided mineral interests and undivided leasehold interests under a mineral lease of Texas land, in an action by a co-owner; applies only where the statutory conditions are pleaded and proved. Does not transfer title.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The defendant must be a person whose residence or identity is unknown, or a nonresident, who has not paid or rendered taxes on the interest for the five years before the action was filed.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(b-1)", "passage": "(1) be a person whose residence or identity is unknown or a nonresident; and (2) have not paid taxes on the interest or rendered it for taxes during the five-year period immediately preceding the filing of the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Covers owners whose identity is unknown and owners whose residence is unknown in the same words; the section does not separately mention death.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The plaintiff must allege in a verified petition and prove a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the defendant, and substantial damage or injury without a receiver.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(c)", "passage": "The plaintiff in the action must allege by verified petition and prove that he: (1) has made a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the defendant; and (2) will suffer substantial damage or injury unless the receiver is appointed.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Section 64.091 actions. The statute does not list the sources that a diligent search must cover.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In a co-owner action the plaintiff must name the last known owner or last record owner as defendant and serve notice by publication under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(d)(1) and (2)", "passage": "(1) the plaintiff, in the verified petition, must name the last known owner or the last record owner of the interest as defendant; (2) the plaintiff must serve notice on the defendant by publication as provided by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Actions under 64.091(b)(1). The Texas Rules of Civil Procedure on citation by publication were not read for this record.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The receivership continues as long as the defendant or the defendant's heirs, assigns or personal representatives fail to appear in court in person or by agent or attorney to claim the interest.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(e)", "passage": "A receivership created under this subchapter continues as long as the defendant or his heirs, assigns, or personal representatives fail to appear in court in person or by agent or attorney to claim the defendant's interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Receiverships under Subchapter F. The section does not say how a receivership is dissolved once a claimant appears.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "As ordered by the court, the receiver executes mineral leases or assignments on the outstanding undivided interests and may enter a unitization agreement authorized by the Railroad Commission.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(f)", "passage": "As ordered by the court, the receiver shall immediately: (1) execute and deliver to a lessee or successive lessees mineral leases on the outstanding undivided mineral interests;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Undivided mineral interests and undivided leasehold interests under a mineral lease of Texas land, in an action by a co-owner; applies only where the statutory conditions are pleaded and proved. Does not transfer title.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Lease money is paid to the court clerk, applied to costs, and the balance and later payments are held in the court registry for the owner.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(h)", "passage": "Payments made at a later time under the lease, assignment, or unitization agreement shall be paid into the registry of the court and impounded for the use and benefit of the owner of the mineral or leasehold interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Money from instruments executed by a 64.091 receiver.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A parallel receivership exists for an undivided royalty interest owned by a nonresident or absent defendant, under which the receiver ratifies leases or pooling agreements.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.093(a) and (f)", "passage": "A district court or the business court may appoint a receiver for the royalty interest owned by a nonresident or absent defendant in an action that:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Undivided royalty interests. Section 64.093(b) to (e) repeat the unknown residence or identity, five year tax, diligent search, publication and heirs wording of 64.091.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In a royalty receivership the receivership likewise continues while the defendant or the defendant's heirs, assigns or personal representatives fail to appear to claim the interest.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.093(e)", "passage": "A receivership created under this section continues as long as the defendant or the defendant's heirs, assigns, or personal representatives fail to appear in court in person or by agent or attorney to claim the defendant's interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Royalty receiverships under 64.093.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Mineral proceeds unclaimed for longer than three years after they became payable, together with the owner's underlying right to receive them, are presumed abandoned.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.75.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Prop. Code 75.101(a)", "passage": "All mineral proceeds that are held or owing by the holder and that have remained unclaimed by the owner for longer than three years after they became payable or distributable and the owner's underlying right to receive those mineral proceeds are presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Payments owed on Texas minerals; handled under the unclaimed property procedures of Prop. Code chapter 74, which were not read. Says nothing about title to the mineral interest itself.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-prop-75-unclaimed-mineral-proceeds.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The Supreme Court of Texas treated a three day posting of the petition in a mineral receivership as analogous to citation by publication.", "url": "https://static.case.law/sw2d/710/cases/0566-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Supreme Court of Texas opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gray v. PHI Resources, Ltd., 710 S.W.2d 566 (Tex. 1986) (per curiam)", "passage": "Nonetheless, the three-day posting of the petition is analogous to citation by publication, Tex.R.Civ.P. 109, or other substituted service, Tex.R.Civ.P. 109a.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Texas, controlling statewide. Decided under former art. 2320b, before the 2009 amendment that now requires publication; it does not settle what notice satisfies today's 64.091(d).", "saved_as": "sources/TX-gray-v-phi-1986.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "Successors of a record owner whose interest was placed in a receivership on posted notice could move for a new trial within two years after the judgment was signed.", "url": "https://static.case.law/sw2d/710/cases/0566-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Supreme Court of Texas opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gray v. PHI Resources, Ltd., 710 S.W.2d 566 (Tex. 1986) (per curiam)", "passage": "Thus, the successors to R.L. Robbins’ interest were entitled to bring their motion for new trial within two years from the date the judgment was signed. Tex.R.Civ.P. 329.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Supreme Court of Texas, controlling statewide. Concerns heirs and successors of a named owner; the case was remanded and the opinion does not decide the merits of their claim.", "saved_as": "sources/TX-gray-v-phi-1986.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "succession", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "A claim of heirship communicated outside the judicial process did not by itself end a 64.091 receivership or invalidate a lease the receiver later signed.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/08/14/clay_exploration_inc._v._santa_rosa_operating_llc_1.pdf", "publisher": "CourtListener (Fourteenth Court of Appeals of Texas opinion, 442 S.W.3d 795)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Clay Exploration, Inc. v. Santa Rosa Operating, LLC, 442 S.W.3d 795 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2014), slip op. at 7", "passage": "We conclude that Santa Rosa is incorrect, however, and hold that a claim of heirship communicated outside the judicial process did not alone invalidate either the receivership or the lease.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Intermediate appellate court; binding on trial courts in its district and persuasive elsewhere; later petition history not checked. Receivership for unknown heirs of a record owner.", "saved_as": "sources/TX-clay-exploration-2014.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P14", "topic": "response", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The court read 64.091(e) as continuing the receivership at least until the heirs appear in court, and found nothing making an appearance dissolve it retroactively.", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/08/14/clay_exploration_inc._v._santa_rosa_operating_llc_1.pdf", "publisher": "CourtListener (Fourteenth Court of Appeals of Texas opinion, 442 S.W.3d 795)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "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", "passage": "nothing in the statute indicates that such an appearance would dissolve the receivership retroactively.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Same court and limits as P13. The court did not decide whether a petition in intervention alleging that the heirs were found was an appearance.", "saved_as": "sources/TX-clay-exploration-2014.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P15", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Separately, a family law or probate court may appoint a receiver for the estate of a missing person when the estate is in danger of loss and needs a representative.", "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.001(d)", "passage": "appoint a receiver for the missing person if: (1) it appears that the estate of the missing person is in danger of injury, loss, or waste; and (2) the estate of the missing person is in need of a representative.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "General, not mineral specific: missing person as defined in Code of Criminal Procedure art. 63.001; terms of six months under 64.102(e). Not reviewed further.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "source_id": "SRC-TX-019", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read in full: Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code chapter 64 (all subchapters, including 64.001(d) and Subchapters F and G) from the official statutes site through an Internet Archive snapshot of December 9, 2025, the latest snapshot holding statute text; Tex. Prop. Code 75.001 to 75.102 through a November 14, 2025 snapshot. Earlier October reads of Natural Resources Code chapters 91, 92 and 102 were searched for unknown, absent, nonresident and missing with no further owner status provision. Cases: CourtListener search for 64.091 (17 hits; Clay Exploration, Gray v. PHI Resources read in full; Amoco Production v. Wood and Barnes v. Coffman listed but not read). Not reviewed: Texas Rules of Civil Procedure 109 to 117a on citation by publication, Prop. Code chapter 74 claim procedures, Estates Code heirship and general trespass to try title.", "open_questions": [ "What diligence and affidavit Tex. R. Civ. P. 109 requires before publication in a 64.091 or 64.093 case, and whether a 64.091 receivership can be dissolved after heirs appear.", "Whether the 2025 amendments adding the business court (H.B. 40, H.B. 16) changed any practice beyond the forum, and whether any 2026 special session touched chapter 64.", "Amoco Production Co. v. Wood (Tex. App. Texarkana 2003) and Barnes v. Coffman (Tex. App. Houston 1988) were not read and may address receiver leases or notice.", "Whether Clay Exploration was reviewed by the Supreme Court of Texas." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "The diligence required before publication under Tex. R. Civ. P. 109 and two appellate decisions on receiver leases were not read.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: The diligence required before publication under Tex. R. Civ. P. 109 and two appellate decisions on receiver leases were not read." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Texas", "abbr": "TX", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "limited", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 46, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "Texas has no dormant mineral statute. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse, one reason Texas minerals trade so actively. Forced pooling is deliberately restrictive under the Mineral Interest Pooling Act." } }, { "id": "UT", "name": "Utah", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-utah", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified; the marketable record title act excludes minerals", "summary": "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. A separate rule covers minerals of a person who dies intestate with no taker: they pass to the state, the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration administers them and may sue to quiet title (75-2-105 as amended by S.B. 78, 2019). That is escheat on death without heirs, not a nonuse rule.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable. The marketable record title exclusion covers any right, title, estate, or interest in minerals and related development, mining and production rights and easements.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable. The exclusion names minerals generally.", "exceptions": [ "Utah Code 57-9-6(5): the Marketable Record Title Act may not be applied to extinguish any right, title, estate, or interest in minerals or related rights and easements" ], "effective": "No dormancy statute identified. 57-9-6 last amended by Chapter 423, 2011 General Session; the chapter text read reflects amendments through Chapter 365, 2024 General Session. 75-2-105 amended by S.B. 78, 2019 General Session.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Utah.", "survey_scope": "le.utah.gov and the Utah courts statute mirror was not available when AMR checked, so the Utah Code could not be full text searched. Read through Internet Archive snapshots of official le.utah.gov files: Title 57, Chapter 9 Marketable Record Title (chapter PDF, snapshot January 20, 2026); 40-6-6.5, 40-6-20 and 40-6-21 (snapshots 2024-07); 2019 S.B. 78 enrolled (75-2-105). Reviewed the archive index of Title 40, Chapter 6 section files (40-6-1 to 40-6-24). Web searches for a Utah dormant or abandoned mineral interest statute found none. Related: 75-2-105 (minerals of an intestate decedent with no taker pass to the state; operators and payors must report such minerals to the Trust Lands Administration within 180 days). Utah's unclaimed property rules for mineral proceeds (Title 67, chapter 4a) were not read.", "confidence": "medium", "open_questions": [ "The official Utah Code could not be searched in full; that no dormant or abandoned mineral statute exists is not yet confirmed.", "Amendments to Title 57, Chapter 9 after the January 20, 2026 snapshot (2026 General Session) were not checked.", "The current codified text of 75-2-105 was not read; only the 2019 enrolled bill.", "Whether Utah assesses and sells nonproducing severed mineral interests for unpaid property tax was not researched." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-UT-001", "SRC-UT-002" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. Under Utah Code 40-6-6.5(2) the Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining may, absent a written pooling agreement, order all interests in a drilling unit pooled on just and reasonable terms. Nonconsenting owners bear a cost recovery charge of 150 to 400 percent of drilling costs set by the board, and an unleased nonconsenting owner receives a royalty (the area weighted average landowner royalty, or 16 2/3 percent) until costs are recovered.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-UT-003" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes, in limited form. Utah Code 40-6-20 (2012) requires an owner or operator, except as reasonably necessary for operations, to mitigate access effects, minimize interference and compensate the surface land owner for unreasonable crop loss, loss of value to existing improvements and permanent damage; 40-6-21 offers non binding mediation on the amount. A lease or surface use agreement controls where one exists. No statutory notice requirement was found in the sections read.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "partial", "source_ids": [ "SRC-UT-004" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No nonuse or dormancy mechanism found; the Marketable Record Title Act may not be applied to extinguish mineral interests.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Intestate estates with no taker pass to the state; minerals and proceeds are administered by the Trust Lands Administration.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P3" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P6", "P7" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "75-2-105(5)(a) incorporates the notice manner of 75-1-401, which may include publication, but that section was not read.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "statute", "statement": "An interested person defeats the state's claim by appearing and demonstrating entitlement; no default judgment against unknown defendants.", "propositions": [ "P6", "P8" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P5", "P9" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Utah's Marketable Record Title Act may not be applied to extinguish mineral interests.", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title57/Chapter9/C57-9_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 57-9-6(5)", "passage": "extinguish any right, title, estate, or interest in and to minerals, and any development, mining, production or other rights or easements related to the minerals or exercisable in connection with the minerals;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Lead in words: \"This chapter may not be applied to\". Covers all mineral interests under chapter 57-9.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/UT-57-9-6-mrta.md", "source_id": "SRC-UT-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If an intestate decedent has no taker, the intestate estate passes to the state for the permanent state school fund.", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 75-2-105(2)", "passage": "If there is no taker under this chapter, the intestate estate passes upon the decedent's death to the state for the benefit of the permanent state school fund.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Intestate estates with no taker. Version amended by Chapter 158, 2024 General Session; later amendments not checked.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-2024.md", "source_id": "SRC-UT-006", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Minerals or mineral proceeds passing to the state are administered by the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, which may decline property of insufficient value.", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 75-2-105(3)", "passage": "When minerals or mineral proceeds pass to the state pursuant to Subsection (2), the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration shall administer the interests in the minerals or mineral proceeds for the support of the common schools", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Same as P2.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-2024.md", "source_id": "SRC-UT-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An operator, owner or payor that finds minerals or proceeds in an intestate estate and has not located an heir must report to the Trust Lands Administration, including the results of a good faith search for heirs.", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 75-2-105(6)(a)", "passage": "If an operator, owner, or payor determines that minerals or mineral proceeds form part of a decedent's intestate estate, and has not located an heir of the decedent, the operator, owner, or payor shall submit to the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration the information in the operator's, owner's, or payor's possession", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Intestate decedents whose heirs have not been located. 75-2-105(6)(b) sets a 180 day deadline. Testate decedents are not covered by this subsection.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-2024.md", "source_id": "SRC-UT-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If no probate or other proceeding has adjudicated the state's rights, the state or the Trust Lands Administration may sue to quiet title to the minerals or proceeds.", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 75-2-105(4)(a)", "passage": "If a probate or other proceeding has not adjudicated the state's rights under Subsection (2), the state, and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration with respect to any minerals or mineral proceeds referenced in Subsection (3), may bring an action in a court with jurisdiction", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Same as P2. 75-2-105(4)(b) fixes venue in the county where the property is if brought in district court.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-2024.md", "source_id": "SRC-UT-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Title is quieted in the state only if no interested person appears and shows entitlement after notice under 78B-6-1303 and in the manner of 75-1-401.", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 75-2-105(5)(a)", "passage": "no interested person appears in the action and demonstrates entitlement to the minerals, mineral proceeds, or property after notice has been given pursuant to Section 78B-6-1303 and in the manner described in Section 75-1-401; and", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Actions under 75-2-105(4). Section 75-1-401 was not read, so the permitted methods of notice are not stated here.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-2024.md", "source_id": "SRC-UT-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Section 78B-6-1303 provides for filing and recording a notice of pendency of action, which gives constructive notice.", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter6/C78B-6-P13_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 78B-6-1303(3)", "passage": "From the time of filing the notice, a purchaser, an encumbrancer of the property, or any other party in interest that may be affected by the action is considered to have constructive notice of pendency of action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Read only as the cross reference in 75-2-105(5)(a). General quiet title law otherwise not reviewed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/UT-78B-6-1303-1315.md", "source_id": "SRC-UT-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In the quiet title action, the court may not enter default judgment against unknown defendants and must hear evidence.", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter6/C78B-6-P13_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 78B-6-1315(3)", "passage": "The court may not enter any judgment by default against unknown defendants, but in all cases shall require evidence of plaintiff's title and possession and hear the evidence offered respecting the claims and title of any of the defendants.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Required for a 75-2-105 judgment by 75-2-105(5)(b).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/UT-78B-6-1303-1315.md", "source_id": "SRC-UT-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Oil and gas proceeds that cannot be paid on time must be deposited in an interest bearing escrow account until a final legal determination of entitlement.", "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title40/Chapter6/C40-6_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 40-6-9(3)(b)(i)", "passage": "If accrued payments cannot be made within the time limits specified in Subsection (1) or (2), the payor shall deposit all oil and gas proceeds credited to the eventual oil and gas proceeds owner to an escrow account in a federally insured bank or savings and loan institution using a standard escrow document form.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All oil and gas proceeds in Utah that cannot be paid on time, for any reason; the section does not mention unlocated owners expressly. Version amended 2010; later amendments after June 2025 not checked.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/UT-40-6-9-proceeds-escrow.md", "source_id": "SRC-UT-013", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "Utah Code, official PDFs read from Internet Archive snapshots because the official host timed out: chapter 40-6 (June 17, 2025) searched in full for unknown, unlocat, cannot be located, unable to locate, whereabouts, missing, escrow, nonresident, heirs, with escrow hits only in 40-6-9; 75-2-105 (December 9, 2024); 57-9-6 (January 20, 2026); 78B-6-1303 and 78B-6-1315 (August 9, 2025), read only as cross references. Not read: 75-1-401, 75-2-103, 67-4a (unclaimed property), general quiet title and probate. Case law: CourtListener was rate limited, so no Utah decision on 75-2-105 was searched.", "open_questions": [ "Read 75-1-401 to state the permitted notice and publication methods in a 75-2-105 action.", "Check for amendments to 75-2-105 and 40-6-9 after the archive dates.", "Does 75-2-105 reach minerals of a testate decedent whose devisees cannot be found? The text addresses intestate estates.", "Search for Utah appellate decisions applying 75-2-105 to minerals." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: notice by publication.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Utah", "abbr": "UT", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 47, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Utah. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "VT", "name": "Vermont", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/vermont-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Oil and gas abandonment statute, 10 years of nonuse (29 V.S.A. § 563); a 40 year marketable record title act also applies", "summary": "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. Interests kept by the owner who originally severed the minerals are exempt, and other minerals are covered only if created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest. The surface owner may publish, mail and record a notice with an affidavit, which makes the interest presumed abandoned unless a court finds otherwise. Separately, the Marketable Record Title Act (27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606) bars pre root interests after 40 years unless a notice of claim is recorded, and it has no exception for mineral interests.", "period_years": 10, "period_description": "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 (§ 563(b)). Any qualifying use under § 563(e) starts a new 10 year period; a recorded statement of interest prevents abandonment for the five years after it is filed.", "self_executing": "yes", "procedure": "Nothing is required for the interest to be deemed abandoned and to revert (§ 563(a) and (b)). To clear the record, the surface owner may publish a notice of abandonment in a newspaper of general circulation in the town, mail a copy by certified or registered mail within 10 days to the owner's address if shown of record (§ 563(g)), and record a copy of the notice with an affidavit that the § 563(b) criteria are met and notice was given; the interest is then presumed abandoned unless a court finds to the contrary (§ 563(h)).", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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).", "interest_scope": "All interests in oil and gas, except an interest retained by the owner who originally severed the mineral estate from the surface (§ 563(c) and (d)). The MRTA reaches any interest in real estate not excepted by 27 V.S.A. § 604, which excepts lessor and lessee interests under leases but not severed mineral interests.", "mineral_scope": "Oil and gas; other minerals only if created inclusively in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest. Mineral interests that do not expressly include oil and gas are outside § 563 but within the MRTA.", "exceptions": [ "Interest retained by the owner who originally severed the mineral estate (§ 563(c))", "Mineral interests that do not expressly include an oil and gas interest or were intended to be separate from one (§ 563(d))", "MRTA: lessor and lessee interests under leases, certain mortgages, unrecorded adverse possession, remainders and reverters, visible or recorded easements, conservation rights, and interests of the United States, the State and its subdivisions (27 V.S.A. § 604)" ], "effective": "Former § 563 added by 1981, No. 240 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 28, 1982, amended 2017, No. 24, § 2, eff. May 4, 2017; repealed with chapter 14 subchapters 1 to 7 by 2023, No. 53, § 135, eff. June 8, 2023; added again in the same terms by 2024, No. 161, § 36, effective on passage (signed June 6, 2024). MRTA added by 1969, No. 235 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; § 604 last amended 2023, No. 6, § 341.", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Read the whole of 29 V.S.A. chapter 14 as captured in 2025 and in 2020, 27 V.S.A. chapter 5 (including the MRTA subchapter), the 2023 and 2024 session laws, and the chapter lists of Titles 10, 27 and 29. No other Vermont statute on lapse of mineral interests was found in those titles.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Acts of the 2025 and 2026 sessions were not checked; the newest archived chapter page includes only the 2024 session.", "Effect of the June 8, 2023 repeal on interests already deemed abandoned under the former section, and whether the 2024 re-enactment, which has no retroactivity clause for § 36, counts nonuse during the gap.", "§ 563(b)(2) refers to a statement of interest under subsection (e), but the statement is in subsection (f); the cross reference error was carried into the 2024 text.", "Use (5) refers to a drilling permit under chapter 14, whose permit provisions were repealed in 2023.", "No Vermont decision applying § 563, or applying the MRTA to severed minerals such as talc, slate or granite, was located; case law was not searched for this release." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-VT-001", "SRC-VT-002", "SRC-VT-003", "SRC-VT-004" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "Vermont had compulsory pooling: former 29 V.S.A. § 523 let the Natural Gas and Oil Resources Board pool all tracts and interests in a drilling unit. It was repealed with the rest of chapter 14 subchapters 1 to 7 effective June 8, 2023, and no current pooling statute was found. Hydraulic fracturing is prohibited by 29 V.S.A. § 571.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": "Current 29 V.S.A. chapter 14 (archived May 12, 2025) and chapter 13, and the chapter lists of Titles 10, 27 and 29 (archived 2026-04), searched for oil, gas, mineral, mining, pool and unit. Only §§ 561, 563 and 571 remain in force in chapter 14.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-VT-005", "SRC-VT-006" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute requiring oil and gas operators to compensate surface owners was found. Former 29 V.S.A. § 541(e) required 15 days' written notice by certified mail to the surface landowner before drilling, without any compensation duty, and was repealed effective June 8, 2023.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Current and 2020 text of 29 V.S.A. chapter 14 searched for surface, landowner and damage; chapter lists of Titles 10, 27 and 29 reviewed. No full text search of the whole V.S.A. was possible.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-VT-007" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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).", "unknown": "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).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2", "P7", "P8" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P9" ] }, "search": { "status": "statute", "statement": "No search is required by § 563. Mailing is required only to an address of the owner shown on record.", "propositions": [ "P6" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5", "P6" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P6" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P4", "P10" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No receivership, trust, escrow or leasing mechanism for unknown or unlocated mineral owners appears in the provisions read (29 V.S.A. chapter 14 as captured, 27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606). A whole code search of the Vermont Statutes was not run because the official host was not available when AMR checked.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An abandoned oil and gas interest reverts to and merges with the surface estate from which it was severed.", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(a)", "passage": "An abandoned interest in oil and gas shall revert to and merge with the surface estate from which it was severed.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "source_id": "SRC-VT-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The interest is deemed abandoned when unused for a continuous ten years after July 1, 1973 and no statement of interest has been filed within the preceding five years.", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(b)", "passage": "(1) it has been unused for a continuous period of 10 years after July 1, 1973; and (2) no statement of interest under subsection (e) of this section has been filed at any time within the preceding five years.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located. The cross reference reads subsection (e), while the statement of interest is described in subsection (f).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "source_id": "SRC-VT-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The abandonment rule does not apply to an interest retained by the owner who originally severed the mineral estate.", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(c)", "passage": "The provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to any interest in oil or gas that has been retained by the owner who originally severed the mineral estate from the surface estate", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located. The text does not say whether the exemption continues after that owner dies or passes the interest to heirs or devisees.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "source_id": "SRC-VT-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The owner of an oil or gas interest may file a statement of interest in the land records, stating the land, the interest and the recording of the original grant.", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(f)", "passage": "The owner of an interest in oil or gas may file a statement of interest in the land records of any municipality in which the land affected is located. The statement shall include a description of the land affected, the nature of the interest claimed, the book and page of recording of the original grant", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located. The subsection names only the owner as filer; it does not provide for filing on behalf of another person. The statement must also give the claimant's name and address.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "source_id": "SRC-VT-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The surface owner's notice of abandonment names the record owner of the interest and states that the interest is presumed abandoned.", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(g)", "passage": "Notice shall contain the name of the record owner of the interest; a description of the land and the nature of the interest; the book and page of filing of the interest, if it is filed; the name and address of the person giving notice; and a statement that the interest is presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "source_id": "SRC-VT-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The notice is published in a local newspaper, and a copy is mailed by certified or registered mail only if the owner's address is shown on record.", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(g)", "passage": "published in a newspaper of general circulation in the town or towns where the land affected is located. If the address of the owner of the oil and gas interest is shown on record, a copy of the notice shall be mailed to that address by certified or registered mail within 10 days after the date of publication.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "source_id": "SRC-VT-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Once the notice and an affidavit are filed in the land records, the interest is presumed abandoned unless a court finds otherwise.", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(h)", "passage": "After the notice and affidavit have been filed, unless a court finds to the contrary, the oil and gas interest shall be presumed abandoned, and the interest of the surface owner shall be presumed for all purposes free of encumbrance from that interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "source_id": "SRC-VT-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Under the Marketable Record Title Act, no absence, incapacity, disability or lack of knowledge suspends the 40 year period.", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "27 V.S.A. § 602(b)", "passage": "No absence, incapacity, disability, or lack of knowledge of any kind on the part of any person shall suspend the running of the 40-year period.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Marketable Record Title Act, 27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606, which applies to any interest in real estate and has no exception for mineral interests in § 604. Not a nonuse statute. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/VT-27-601-606.md", "source_id": "SRC-VT-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For the Marketable Record Title Act, a conveyance includes a transfer of an interest by inheritance or descent occasioned by death.", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "27 V.S.A. § 602(c)", "passage": "also includes the transfer of an interest in real estate by inheritance or descent occasioned by death.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Marketable Record Title Act, 27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606, which applies to any interest in real estate and has no exception for mineral interests in § 604. Not a nonuse statute. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/VT-27-601-606.md", "source_id": "SRC-VT-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A notice of claim under the Marketable Record Title Act may be filed by a claimant or by a person acting for a claimant under a disability, unable to act, or of a class whose identity is uncertain.", "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "27 V.S.A. § 605(b)", "passage": "may be filed by a claimant or any person acting on behalf of a claimant if such claimant is: (1) under a disability; (2) unable to assert a claim on his or her own behalf; or (3) one of a class whose identity is uncertain.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Marketable Record Title Act, 27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606, which applies to any interest in real estate and has no exception for mineral interests in § 604. Not a nonuse statute. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/VT-27-601-606.md", "source_id": "SRC-VT-016", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read: 29 V.S.A. §§ 561 to 563 (chapter 14 as captured May 12, 2025 through the Internet Archive; the official host timed out) and 27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606 (captured March 14, 2026). CourtListener search, Vermont Supreme Court filter, for oil and gas with abandoned or statement of interest returned no decision. Not reviewed: probate law, quiet title procedure, and a whole code search for unknown owner, receiver or escrow terms near mineral, oil or gas. The October dormancy review records that the former oil and gas conservation chapter was repealed in 2023; that was not re-read here.", "open_questions": [ "Whether the original severing owner exemption in § 563(c) passes to that owner's heirs or devisees; the text does not say.", "Section 563(b)(2) refers to a statement of interest under subsection (e), but the statement is described in subsection (f); confirm against the current official text and any revisor note.", "The May 12, 2025 capture is the most recent read; confirm § 563 has not been amended since.", "Whether a statement of interest under § 563(f) may be filed by someone acting for an heir of uncertain identity; § 563 names only the owner." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Vermont", "abbr": "VT", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 48, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Vermont. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "VA", "name": "Virginia", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/virginia-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Court action to extinguish old, unused, untaxed mineral claims, 35 years, lands east of the Blue Ridge only", "summary": "Where a claim to coal, minerals, ore, oil or subsurface substances, or a right to enter and mine, comes from a writing 35 or more years old, and for 35 years the right has not been exercised, the claimant was never taxed on it, the surface holder paid all taxes and no deed of the claim was recorded, the law presumes no minerals exist (Va. Code 45.2-400). The landowner may sue to extinguish the claim; after at least six months for the defendant to explore, the court extinguishes it unless commercial minerals are proven (45.2-401). The rule does not reach lands west of the Blue Ridge Mountains and is never automatic.", "period_years": 35, "period_description": "The claim must derive from a writing made 35 years or more before the action is filed, and for 35 years or more the right to explore or mine must not have been exercised, with no taxes ever charged to the claimant, all land taxes charged to and paid by the landholder, and no recorded deed of bargain and sale of the claim. Alternatively, the right was exercised, the minerals were exhausted, and mining or boring was abandoned for 35 years or more.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "The landowner brings a circuit court action naming the person who derived or reserved the claim, or successors, by name or as unknown defendants (venue under Va. Code 8.01-261(3)). The court allows at least six months from docketing for the defendant to explore. Absent satisfactory evidence of commercial minerals, the court declares the claim a cloud on title and extinguishes it; if commercial minerals are proven, the court orders them charged with taxes instead.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": null, "interest_scope": "A claim to coal, minerals, ore, oil or subsurface substances, or a right to enter the land to explore, mine, bore and sink shafts for them, derived or reserved by a writing. Royalty interests and leases are not addressed by name.", "mineral_scope": "Coal, minerals, ore, oil and subsurface substances. Natural gas and coalbed methane are not named separately.", "exceptions": [ "Lands lying west of the Blue Ridge Mountains", "Claims on which the claimant has been charged with taxes", "Claims conveyed by a deed of bargain and sale recorded in the county clerk's office", "Claims where the defendant proves commercial minerals exist, which are then charged with taxes rather than extinguished" ], "effective": "Enacted 1924 (Acts 1924, pp. 719 and 720), amended 1930 and 1944; Code 1950 sections 55-154 and 55-155, with 55-154 amended repeatedly from 1956 to 1984 and 55-155 in 1977; recodified 2019 (c. 712) as 45.1-161.311:9 and :11 and in 2021 (Sp. Sess. I, c. 387) as 45.2-400 and 45.2-401. Text read on LIS pages dated 10/1/2026.", "date_model": "explain_only", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Official Code of Virginia at law.lis.virginia.gov. Full text of Title 55.1 (Property and Conveyances) and Title 45.2 (Mines, Minerals, and Energy) downloaded as vacodefull pages and searched for mineral, coal, oil, gas, lapse, extinguish, abandon, unknown and missing. Full text of Title 8.01 searched for mineral (only 8.01-81, partition of mineral rights). Title 58.1 chapter 32 headings read (58.1-3286 separate assessment of mineral lands; 58.1-3288 assessment in the name of unknown owner). No marketable title act and no statement of claim lapse statute found. Former 55-154 and 55-155 are now 45.2-400 and 45.2-401.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "No case law applying 45.2-400 and 45.2-401 or former 55-154 and 55-155 was reviewed.", "Earlier versions (amended 1956 to 1984) may have used different periods or geographic exclusions; history not checked.", "Whether 'oil, or subsurface substances' reaches natural gas and coalbed methane, and whether a royalty is a 'claim' under 45.2-400, is not settled by the text.", "Which counties or parts of counties a court treats as lying west of the Blue Ridge was not checked." ], "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.", "category": "lapse_statute", "evidence": "primary" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-VA-001", "SRC-VA-002", "SRC-VA-003", "SRC-VA-004" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "On application of any gas or oil owner, the Virginia Gas and Oil Board shall enter an order pooling all interests in a drilling unit where owners have not agreed (Va. Code 45.2-1620); unknown owners are deemed to lease at a Board set rate and their proceeds are escrowed and treated as unclaimed property. Section 45.2-1622 adds compulsory pooling with escrow where coal and gas claimants dispute coalbed methane ownership; 45.2-1617 covers voluntary pooling only.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-VA-005", "SRC-VA-006", "SRC-VA-007" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No statute was found requiring oil and gas operators to compensate surface owners for surface damage. The Gas and Oil Act requires notice of permit applications to every surface owner on the tract (45.2-1632), allows surface owners limited permit objections (45.2-1637), and requires replacement of a domestic water supply harmed by a gas well within 1,320 feet (45.2-1649).", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Full text of Code of Virginia Title 45.2 (law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title45.2/) searched for 'surface owner' together with 'damage' or 'compensat', no match; chapter 16 (Gas and Oil Act, 45.2-1600 to 45.2-1649) section bodies read for surface owner provisions. Full text of Title 55.1 searched for mineral, no surface damages provision.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-VA-008", "SRC-VA-009" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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)).", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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)).", "unknown": "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)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute", "statement": "The original claimant or his successors in title must be defendants, named so far as known or sued as unknown defendants.", "propositions": [ "P3" ] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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).", "propositions": [ "P7" ] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [ "P12" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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).", "propositions": [ "P8" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P4", "P5", "P9" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P6", "P10", "P11" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Where the claim comes from a writing 35 or more years old and the statutory conditions are met, the law presumes no minerals exist, except west of the Blue Ridge.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-400(A)", "passage": "it shall be prima facie presumed that no coal, minerals, ore, oil, or subsurface substances exist in, on, or under such lands, except lands lying west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-400 and 45.2-401 (recodified 2021 from former 55-154 and 55-155). Applies to claims to coal, minerals, ore, oil or subsurface substances derived or reserved by a writing 35 or more years old, except lands west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-400-401.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The presumption applies only if, for 35 years or more, the right was not exercised, the claimant was never taxed on it, the surface holder paid all taxes and no deed of the claim was recorded, or if the minerals were exhausted and mining abandoned for 35 years.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-400(B)", "passage": "The provisions of subsection A shall apply only if (i) for a period of 35 years or more, such right to explore or mine has not been exercised, the person having such claim or right has never been charged with taxes thereon,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-400 and 45.2-401 (recodified 2021 from former 55-154 and 55-155). Applies to claims to coal, minerals, ore, oil or subsurface substances derived or reserved by a writing 35 or more years old, except lands west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-400-401.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The original grantor or reserver of the claim, or his successors in title, must be made defendants by name so far as known, or as unknown defendants if the successors are unknown.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-401(A)", "passage": "The person by whom such claim by such writing was derived or reserved, or his successors in title, shall be made a defendant by name so far as known or as defendants unknown if such successors in title are unknown.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-400 and 45.2-401 (recodified 2021 from former 55-154 and 55-155). Applies to claims to coal, minerals, ore, oil or subsurface substances derived or reserved by a writing 35 or more years old, except lands west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The section does not say how unknown defendants are served; Virginia's general order of publication statutes were not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-400-401.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The court must allow at least six months from docketing for the defendant to explore, and the claim is extinguished unless the defendant proves commercial minerals exist.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-401(B)", "passage": "The court shall allow a period of not less than six months from the time the cause is docketed and set for hearing to elapse. During such time, the defendant may explore and discover any commercial coal, mineral, ore, oil, or subsurface substance.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-400 and 45.2-401 (recodified 2021 from former 55-154 and 55-155). Applies to claims to coal, minerals, ore, oil or subsurface substances derived or reserved by a writing 35 or more years old, except lands west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-400-401.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the defendant proves commercial minerals exist, the court requires them to be taxed instead of extinguishing the claim.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-401(C)", "passage": "However, if the defendant or defendants prove that a commercial coal, mineral, ore, oil, or subsurface substance exists in or on the land, the court shall require such coal, mineral, ore, oil, or subsurface substance to be charged with taxes according to law.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-400 and 45.2-401 (recodified 2021 from former 55-154 and 55-155). Applies to claims to coal, minerals, ore, oil or subsurface substances derived or reserved by a writing 35 or more years old, except lands west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-400-401.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A coal owner or lessee holding more than half the coal in a tract may petition the circuit court to establish a trust over the interests of unknown or missing coal owners.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-602/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-602(A)", "passage": "Any coal owner or lessee who (i) has more than a 50 percent interest in the coal on a particular tract and (ii) seeks to impress a trust upon unknown or missing owners of such tract of coal may petition the circuit court", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-602 to 45.2-606 (enacted 2003, recodified 2021) apply to coal only, on petition of a coal owner or lessee holding more than a 50 percent interest in the tract of coal.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-602-607.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The coal trust petitioner must list all known, missing and unknown owners, describe its efforts to find them and satisfy the court that a diligent effort was made.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-602/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-602(C)", "passage": "The petitioner shall establish to the satisfaction of the court that a diligent effort has been made to identify and locate the present owners of such interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-602 to 45.2-606 (enacted 2003, recodified 2021) apply to coal only, on petition of a coal owner or lessee holding more than a 50 percent interest in the tract of coal. The statute does not define unknown or missing owner or list records to search.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-602-607.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "On filing a coal trust petition, the petitioner must advertise notice in a local newspaper once a week for two consecutive weeks.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-603/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-603", "passage": "Such notice shall appear in a local newspaper of general circulation at least once a week for two consecutive weeks.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-602 to 45.2-606 (enacted 2003, recodified 2021) apply to coal only, on petition of a coal owner or lessee holding more than a 50 percent interest in the tract of coal.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-602-607.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "No trustee lease may cover a coal owner whose identity and location are known or can be found, and such an owner may intervene before judgment.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-604/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-604(C)", "passage": "The court shall not authorize a trustee's lease upon the coal interests of any owner whose identity and location are known, can be ascertained, or are discovered as a result of the action brought under this article.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-602 to 45.2-606 (enacted 2003, recodified 2021) apply to coal only, on petition of a coal owner or lessee holding more than a 50 percent interest in the tract of coal.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-602-607.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Five years after first commercial production, coal trust proceeds are disposed of under the Virginia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-605/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-605(B)", "passage": "Five years after the date of first commercial production of the coal interests, the proceeds in the trust shall be disposed of pursuant to the Virginia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-602 to 45.2-606 (enacted 2003, recodified 2021) apply to coal only, on petition of a coal owner or lessee holding more than a 50 percent interest in the tract of coal. The provisions read do not convey the coal itself to anyone.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-602-607.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A gas or oil owner still unknown at the close of a pooling hearing is deemed to have leased to the operator; the unknown owner's share goes into a Board escrow and is treated as unclaimed property.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1620/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-1620(D)", "passage": "Any gas or oil owner whose identity and location remain unknown at the conclusion of a hearing concerning the establishment of a pooling order for which public notice was given shall be deemed to have elected to lease his interest to the gas or oil operator at a rate to be established by the Board.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-1618 and 45.2-1620, Virginia Gas and Oil Act; apply to gas and oil pooling before the Virginia Gas and Oil Board.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-1618-1620.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-020", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A pooling hearing applicant must give notice by certified mail or commercial delivery with return receipt to each owner, and must tell the Board if an owner's identity or location is unknown.", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1618/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-1618(A)", "passage": "Whenever a hearing applicant is unable to provide such written notice because the identity or location of a person to whom notice is required to be given is unknown, the hearing applicant shall promptly notify the Board of such inability.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Va. Code 45.2-1618 and 45.2-1620, Virginia Gas and Oil Act; apply to gas and oil pooling before the Virginia Gas and Oil Board. This notice rule is for Board pooling hearings, not for the 45.2-401 extinguishment action.", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-1618-1620.md", "source_id": "SRC-VA-021", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read in full at law.lis.virginia.gov: Va. Code 45.2-400, 45.2-401, 45.2-602 to 45.2-607, 45.2-1618 and 45.2-1620; chapter 6 and chapter 16 tables of contents scanned for unknown, missing and escrow terms. Not read: 45.2-1622 to 45.2-1624 in full (coalbed methane conflicting claims escrow, scanned only), Va. Code 8.01-261, Virginia order of publication statutes (Title 8.01), the Virginia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, probate, partition and quiet title. Case law: one web search for Supreme Court of Virginia decisions on former 55-154 returned code pages and an unverified secondary listing (Bailey v. Spangler) that was not read; the CourtListener search API was blocked by a rate limit.", "open_questions": [ "How unknown defendants are served in a 45.2-401 action; the section incorporates no service rule and Title 8.01 was not reviewed.", "Whether any Supreme Court of Virginia decision interprets 45.2-400 or former 55-154 on successors, heirs or notice; one web search found none that was read (Bailey v. Spangler appeared in a secondary listing and was not read).", "Whether the coal trust's missing owner standard has been construed by any court." ], "confidence": "high", "coverage_reason": "How unknown defendants are served in a 45.2-401 action was not reviewed, and the case search was not exhaustive.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: How unknown defendants are served in a 45.2-401 action was not reviewed, and the case search was not exhaustive." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Virginia", "abbr": "VA", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 49, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Virginia. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "WA", "name": "Washington", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/washington-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Dormant mineral interest statute, 20 years unused, surface owner notice and claim of abandonment", "summary": "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. After the 20 years have run (and not before June 7, 1986), the surface owner gives 60 days notice of intent to file a claim of abandonment and extinguishment, then files the claim with the notice and an affidavit, and the interest is conclusively presumed extinguished unless the owner filed a statement of claim within the 60 days. Use is defined broadly and includes payment of taxes, rents or royalties, pooled or unitized use, and recorded transfers or leases. Interests retained or owned by any public entity, or resulting from land exchanges between public and private owners, are exempt.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Any mineral interest 'if unused for a period of twenty years' may be extinguished (RCW 78.22.010). Each use listed in 78.22.030 restarts the period. A statement of claim, and a recorded sale, lease, mortgage or other transfer, count if filed or recorded before the end of the 20 year period or within two years after June 7, 1984, whichever is later (78.22.030(8), 78.22.040). The surface owner may start the procedure only after the later of the 20 year period or two years after June 7, 1984 (78.22.050(1)).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "The surface owner serves the current mineral owner with 60 days notice of intention to file a claim of abandonment and extinguishment, by personal service or registered mail to the last known address; the county treasurer must supply the owner's name and address from the property tax records free of charge. If the owner is unknown to the treasurer and cannot be found with due diligence, notice is published once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county (RCW 78.22.050(1)). The notice must identify the record holder, the instrument that created the interest and where it is recorded, the land, the person giving notice, the first publication date, and state that a claim of abandonment will be filed 60 days after the last publication or completed service unless the owner files a statement of claim (78.22.050(2)). A copy of the notice and an affidavit of publication or service go to the county auditor within 15 days after the last publication or service (78.22.050(3), (4)). When the surface owner then files the claim of abandonment and extinguishment with the notice and affidavit and pays the fees, the interest is 'conclusively presumed to be extinguished' (78.22.060). No court action is required by the chapter.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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", "78.22.030(9): a statement of claim filed under 78.22.040 or 78.22.060", "78.22.050(2)(f), 78.22.060: a statement of claim filed by the current owner within the 60 day notice period defeats the claim of abandonment" ], "preservation_filing": "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).", "interest_scope": "'The interest which is created by an instrument transferring, either by grant, assignment, or reservation, or otherwise an interest, of any kind, in any subsurface mineral' (RCW 78.22.020). The chapter does not separate mineral fee, royalty or leasehold interests.", "mineral_scope": "Any subsurface mineral (RCW 78.22.020). The chapter does not define mineral; its list of uses covers oil and gas type operations (injection, storage, pooling) and coal or other solid minerals (78.22.030).", "exceptions": [ "Mineral interests retained or owned by any public entity (RCW 78.22.080)", "Mineral interests resulting from land exchanges between public and private owners (RCW 78.22.080)", "The chapter may not be waived before the 20 year period expires (RCW 78.22.090)" ], "effective": "Enacted by Laws 1984, ch. 252, sections 1 to 9; every section still carries only the 1984 history note. The statute uses June 7, 1984 as its reference date and gives a two year grace period: statements of claim and recorded transfers count if made by June 7, 1986, and no surface owner notice could start before then.", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Read chapter 78.22 RCW in full on app.leg.wa.gov. No amendment after 1984 appears in the history notes.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "No Washington appellate decision applying chapter 78.22 RCW was found in a brief search; case law, including any constitutional challenge, was not checked.", "78.22.030(6) counts taxes 'paid on such mineral interest' without saying by whom; whether payment by the surface owner, or general land taxes with no separate mineral assessment, counts is unresolved.", "Whether a mineral interest that has been unused for 20 years can be revived by a later use or recorded transfer before the surface owner serves notice; the text measures recorded transfers only against the 20 year period.", "Whether 'any subsurface mineral' includes oil and gas is not stated expressly, though the listed uses assume it." ], "category": "lapse_statute", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-WA-001", "SRC-WA-002", "SRC-WA-003", "SRC-WA-004", "SRC-WA-005" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. In the absence of voluntary pooling, the department (Department of Natural Resources under chapter 78.52 RCW), on application of any interested person, shall enter an order after notice and hearing pooling all interests, including royalty interests, in a development unit; the applicant must prove reasonable efforts to reach agreement (RCW 78.52.240). Separately, RCW 78.52.560 (2019) prohibits hydraulic fracturing for the exploration and production of oil and natural gas.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-WA-006" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No general statute was found that requires oil and gas operators on private split estates to compensate the surface owner. RCW 78.52.120 only requires a drilling permit applicant to give the surface landowner, tenant and other surface users a copy of the application, with 15 days to send objections or comments to the department. Compensation duties exist only for state owned or state reserved minerals under chapter 79.14 RCW (79.14.040 for state oil and gas leases, 79.14.340 and 79.14.500 for state mineral reservations).", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Read chapter 78.52 RCW (Oil and Gas Conservation) in full and searched it for surface owner, landowner and damage provisions; read chapter 79.14 RCW (state mineral leases) surface compensation sections; checked chapters 78.04 and 78.60 RCW for surface owner compensation (none). Did not run a full text search of the whole RCW.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-WA-007", "SRC-WA-008" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "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)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "succession": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P6" ] }, "notice": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Personal service or registered mail to the current owner's last known address, 60 days before the claim is filed.", "propositions": [ "P4" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P5" ] }, "response": { "status": "statute", "statement": "The current owner files a statement of claim within 60 days after last publication or perfected service.", "propositions": [ "P7", "P8" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A mineral interest unused for 20 years may be extinguished by the surface owner.", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.010", "passage": "Any mineral interest, if unused for a period of twenty years, may be extinguished by the surface owner as set forth in RCW 78.22.050 and 78.22.060.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All mineral interests except those retained or owned by a public entity or resulting from public and private land exchanges (78.22.080). The chapter does not mention death of the owner.", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "source_id": "SRC-WA-009", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The statement of claim is filed by the current owner and names the original holder.", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.040", "passage": "The statement of claim referred to in RCW 78.22.030(9) shall be filed by the current owner of the mineral interest prior to the end of the twenty-year period set forth in RCW 78.22.010 or within two years after June 7, 1984, whichever is later.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All owners. \"Current owner\" is not defined, and the chapter does not mention heirs or devisees.", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "source_id": "SRC-WA-010", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The county treasurer supplies the current owner's name and address from the tax records.", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.050(1)", "passage": "The county treasurer shall supply the name and address of the current mineral interest owner as they appear on the county property tax records to the surface owner without charge.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All extinguishments under the chapter.", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "source_id": "SRC-WA-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Notice is served on the current owner by personal service or by registered mail to the last known address.", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.050(1)", "passage": "Notice shall be served by personal service or by mailing the notice by registered mail to the last known address of the current mineral interest owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "The text does not address a current owner who has died, or whether mail to a deceased owner's last known address is sufficient.", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "source_id": "SRC-WA-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Publication is allowed only if the current owner is unknown to the county treasurer and cannot be determined after due diligence.", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.050(1)", "passage": "If the current mineral interest owner is unknown to the county treasurer, and the current mineral interest owner cannot be determined after due diligence, the surface owner may serve the notice upon the current mineral interest owner by publishing the notice at least once each week for three consecutive weeks", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "The condition is that the owner's identity cannot be determined. The text does not separately address an owner who is identified but whose address cannot be found.", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "source_id": "SRC-WA-011", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If notice was not mailed, the affidavit must describe in detail, with dates, the due diligence efforts to find the current owner's address.", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.050(4)(b)", "passage": "If a copy of the notice was not mailed, a detailed description, including dates, of the efforts made to determine with due diligence the address of the current owner of the mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Notices served by publication.", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "source_id": "SRC-WA-012", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The interest is conclusively presumed extinguished on filing, unless the current owner files a statement of claim within the 60 day period.", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.060", "passage": "If a statement of claim of mineral interest is filed by the current mineral interest owner within the sixty-day period provided in RCW 78.22.050, together with payment of fees provided in RCW 36.18.010, the county auditor shall record, index, and make special notation in the index of the filing.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All owners. The 60 days run from the last publication or perfected service (78.22.050(2)(f)).", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "source_id": "SRC-WA-013", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The notice must warn that a claim of abandonment will be filed 60 days after last publication or perfected service unless a statement of claim is filed.", "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.050(2)(f)", "passage": "A statement that a claim of abandonment and extinguishment of the mineral interest will be filed upon the expiration of a period of sixty days after the date of the last publication or the date service was perfected by personal service or registered mail on the current mineral interest owner", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Notice content.", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "source_id": "SRC-WA-014", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Revised Code of Washington, official site: chapter 78.22 read in full; chapters 78.52, 78.44 and 78.08 searched for: unknown, unlocat, cannot be found or located, whereabouts, missing, escrow, co-owner, heirs, nonresident; only a mining claim \"heirs and assigns\" phrase appeared. Case law: a CourtListener search was cut off by rate limits and one web search found no Washington appellate decision applying chapter 78.22; the case law search is incomplete. Not reviewed: probate, general quiet title, chapter 63.30 RCW unclaimed property.", "open_questions": [ "Is registered mail to a deceased owner's last known address valid notice under 78.22.050(1)?", "May publication be used for an identified owner whose address cannot be found, given that the text conditions it on the owner being unknown?", "Complete a citator search for Washington appellate decisions on chapter 78.22 RCW.", "Does chapter 63.30 RCW (unclaimed property) cover oil and gas proceeds? Not reviewed." ], "confidence": "medium", "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.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Washington", "abbr": "WA", "category": "lapse", "unused_minerals": "Can lapse / revert", "lapse_period": "20 years", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 84, "rank": 11, "statute": "Wash. Rev. Code 78.22.010 et seq.", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22", "preservation": "Record a statement of claim, or use the interest within 20 years (Wash. Rev. Code 78.22.030).", "note": "Washington allows a surface owner to extinguish a mineral interest unused for 20 years through a 60 day notice and recording procedure. Enacted 1984." } }, { "id": "WV", "name": "West Virginia", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-west-virginia", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "missing_owner_procedure", "mechanism_label": "Court lease, then conveyance to the surface owner, of minerals held by missing, unknown or abandoning owners (7 years after the court lease)", "summary": "West Virginia has no statute that ends a mineral interest for nonuse. Under W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986) a surface owner, a fee owner of the minerals, or that owner's lessee may ask the circuit court to appoint a special commissioner to lease minerals owned by someone who cannot be identified or located, or by an \"abandoning owner\" proved to have given up the interest with an expressed intention to end ownership; if that owner stays unknown or missing, or does not disavow the abandonment, for 7 years from the date of the special commissioner's lease, the court orders the interest deeded to the surface owner subject to the lease, and since July 1, 2020 the accrued money goes to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund. Later statutes add parallel surface owner routes for oil and gas developed with 75 percent cotenant consent (37B-1-4(g)), for oil and gas in horizontal well units (22C-9-7a(o)), and from June 12, 2026 for coal developed with 75 percent cotenant consent (37B-3-4(g)).", "period_years": 7, "period_description": "Not a nonuse period. Under 55-12A the 7 years run from the date of the special commissioner's lease (55-12A-6(g), 55-12A-7(a)(1), 55-12A-9); within them the owner may reopen the action and recover title and the funds held. Under 37B-1-4(g) (oil and gas) and 37B-3-4(g) (coal, from June 12, 2026) the 7 years run from the date of the first report of reserved amounts to the State Treasurer. Under 22C-9-7a(o)(6) a deed may issue 5 years after first production reported to the state or 1 year after first publication of the surface owner's petition, whichever is later.", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "55-12A route: verified petition in the circuit court of the county where the minerals or most of them lie, joining the record owners and their unknown heirs, with certified copies of the title instruments; Class III legal advertisement, lis pendens, certified mail to last known addresses, and a guardian ad litem. No lease order sooner than six months after filing. The court must find a diligent search and that development would benefit the defendants and further state policy; it appoints a bonded special commissioner who sells a lease, and proceeds go to a special receiver (up to 10 percent may fund a search). If after 7 years from the lease the owner is still unknown, missing or has not disavowed abandonment, the receiver reports, the court joins the surface owners, and on proof of fee surface ownership orders the special commissioner to deed the mineral interest to them, subject to the lease; accrued funds, after fees, go to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund (22-6-29). The 37B routes use a quiet title action that follows 55-12A as far as practical.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": null, "interest_scope": "55-12A: any interest, real or personal, in coal, oil, gas or any other mineral whose property taxes are not delinquent on the petition date, vested in an unknown or missing owner (identity or location not determinable from the county clerk, sheriff, assessor and circuit clerk records or by diligent inquiry near the last known residence, including heirs not known to be alive) or in an abandoning owner (55-12A-2). The 37B and 22C-9-7a routes reach oil and gas, and from 2026 coal, interests of unknown or unlocatable owners in cotenancy or horizontal unit development.", "mineral_scope": "All minerals under 55-12A (coal, oil, gas and other minerals). Oil and gas only under 37B-1-4(g) and 22C-9-7a(o). Coal only under 37B-3-4(g), from June 12, 2026.", "exceptions": [ "Interests on which property taxes are delinquent when the petition is filed are outside 55-12A (55-12A-2(3))", "Known or locatable owners are excluded unless proved to be abandoning owners who fail to answer (55-12A-6(d))", "Accrued funds under 55-12A go to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund, not the surface owner, for funds unclaimed 7 years or more, from July 1, 2020 (55-12A-7(a)(1), (e)); under 37B-1-4(g) the surface owner receives only future proceeds; under the 2026 coal act (37B-3-4(g)(2)) the surface owner also receives its share of funds already remitted to the Treasurer", "Under 22C-9-7a(o)(13), if no surface owner petitions within six years after notice to the surface taxpayers, the unknown owners' unit payments go to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund" ], "effective": "55-12A enacted by 1986 HB 1529; 55-12A-2 amended 1994 (HB 4065); 55-12A-7 amended 2020 (HB 4088), fund transfers effective July 1, 2020. 37B-1 and 37B-2 enacted 2018 (HB 4268; 37B-2 effective July 1, 2018); 37B-1-4 amended 2022 (SB 650). 22C-9-7a added 2022 (SB 694). 37B-3 and 37B-4 (coal) enacted by 2026 SB 686, passed March 14, 2026, in effect June 12, 2026.", "date_model": "court_determination", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": "Dormancy survey: read W. Va. Code 55-12A-1 to 55-12A-9, 37B-1-3, 37B-1-4, 37B-2-2 to 37B-2-5 and 37B-2-9, 22C-9-7a, and 2026 SB 686 (37B-3, 37B-4). No West Virginia statute terminating a mineral interest for nonuse was identified. 2021 HB 2205 (introduced and referred to committee) would have replaced 55-12A with an abandoned mineral notice and affidavit procedure; the 2025 to 2026 code still contains the 1986 sections it would have repealed. Tax delinquency and tax sale of separately assessed mineral interests (W. Va. Code chapter 11A) were not reviewed, though 55-12A excludes tax delinquent interests.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "code.wvlegislature.gov was not available when AMR checked; sections 55-12A-2 to 55-12A-9 were read from Internet Archive snapshots dated September 2025 to January 2026 (55-12A-1 from July 2026). 2026 SB 686 does not list 55-12A among the sections it amends, but other 2026 bills affecting 55-12A, 37B-1 or 22C-9-7a were not checked.", "55-12A-6(a) requires compliance with \"the evidentiary requirements of section five-b and the notice requirements of section five-c\", but the article lists no sections 5b or 5c; the 1986 enrolled bill was not checked.", "Whether 37B-1-4(g) reaches unknown owners whose royalties were reported under 37B-2-4 outside a 75 percent cotenancy development is not clear from the text.", "Case law on proving an \"abandoning owner\" and on the 2020 transfer of accrued funds to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund was not reviewed." ], "category": "missing_owner", "answer": "West Virginia has no statute that ends a mineral interest for nonuse.", "evidence": "primary" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-WV-001", "SRC-WV-002", "SRC-WV-003", "SRC-WV-004", "SRC-WV-005", "SRC-WV-006", "SRC-WV-007", "SRC-WV-008" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes, for deep wells and horizontal wells. For deep wells (drilled below the top of the uppermost member of the Onondaga Group) the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, on an operator's application and after notice and hearing, must pool all tracts and interests in a drilling unit on just and reasonable terms, though drilling may not start on an unleased owner's tract without written consent (22C-9-7). Since 2022, for shallow and deep horizontal wells, the commission unitizes a horizontal well unit when the applicant holds consent from royalty owners with 75 percent or more of the net acreage in the target formation plus a 55 percent operator side threshold and has made good faith offers to the rest; unleased unknown and unlocatable owners are deemed to lease (22C-9-7a). Conventional shallow vertical wells are outside the article.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-WV-009", "SRC-WV-010", "SRC-WV-011" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. The Oil and Gas Production Damage Compensation article (W. Va. Code 22-7) obliges the oil and gas developer, for drilling operations commenced after June 9, 1983, to compensate the surface owner for lost use of occupied land, destroyed crops, damage to a water supply in use, repair of personal property, and diminution in value of the surface. The surface owner must notify the developer of the damages within two years after the developer files notice that reclamation is commencing, and the compensation cannot be reduced by a deed, lease or contract made after June 9, 1983.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-WV-012", "SRC-WV-013" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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).", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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)).", "unknown": "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)).", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P2" ] }, "succession": { "status": "statute", "statement": "Unknown or missing owners include heirs, successors and assigns not known to be alive, who must be joined as defendants.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4" ] }, "search": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P5", "P14", "P17" ] }, "notice": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P6", "P8" ] }, "publication": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P7" ] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P9", "P10" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P11", "P12", "P13", "P15", "P16" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An unknown or missing owner is one whose identity or location cannot be determined from four named county offices or by diligent inquiry near the last residence, and includes heirs, successors and assigns not known to be alive.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-2/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-2(5)", "passage": "\"Unknown or missing owner\" means any person, vested with title to any interest in minerals, whose present identity or location cannot be determined from the records of the clerk of the county commission, the sheriff, the assessor and the clerk of the circuit court in the county in which the interest is located or by diligent inquiry", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 11, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "An abandoning owner is one proved to have relinquished the interest with an expressed intention of ending ownership.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-2/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-2(1)", "passage": "\"Abandoning owner\" means any person, vested with title to any interest in minerals, who is proved to have abandoned the interest, that is, to have relinquished any right to possess or enjoy the interest with the expressed intention of terminating ownership of the interest, but without vesting the ownership in any other person.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)). Nonuse alone is not described as abandonment in this definition.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 11, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-001", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The definition of unknown or missing owner extends to the owner's heirs, successors and assigns not known to be alive.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-2/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-2(5)", "passage": "in the vicinity of the owner's last known place of residence, and shall include such owner's heirs, successors and assigns not known to be alive.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 11, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-014", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The petitioner must join all unknown, missing or abandoning record owners and the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of those not known to be alive.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(a)", "passage": "The person filing a petition under this article shall join as defendants to the action all unknown or missing owners or abandoning owners having record title to the particular minerals sought to be developed, and the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of all such owners not known to be alive.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-015", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Before appointing a special commissioner the court must find that a diligent effort was made to identify and locate the owners, and may order further efforts; no order may issue sooner than six months after filing.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-6/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-6(a)", "passage": "(2) a diligent effort has been made to identify and locate the present unknown or missing owners and abandoning owners,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Personal service is required where possible, and certified mail, return receipt requested, must go to the last known address of all named defendants.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(c)", "passage": "In addition, the petitioner shall send notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address, if there be such, of all named defendants.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)). The first sentence of 55-12A-5(c) requires personal service under the Rules of Civil Procedure if personal service is possible.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "publication", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Immediately on filing, the petitioner must publish a Class III legal advertisement and record a lis pendens; the court may order more advertisement.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(c)", "passage": "immediately upon the filing of the petition, the petitioner shall (1) publish a Class III legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and (2) no later than the first day of publication, file a lis pendens notice", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)). Publication is required in every case, not only after a failed search. Chapter 59, article 3 was not reviewed.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "notice", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The court must appoint a guardian ad litem for unknown, missing or abandoning owners and their unknown heirs.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(d)", "passage": "The circuit court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for any unknown or missing owner or abandoning owner and their unknown heirs, successors and assigns not known to be alive.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A claimed owner or heir may appear as of right before the lease is confirmed; if the claim is established, the action is dismissed as to that interest.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-6/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-6(e)", "passage": "Any person purporting to be the unknown or missing owner or an abandoning owner, or any heir, successor or assign of an unknown or missing owner or abandoning owner, may appear as a matter of right at any time prior to the entry of judgment confirming the special commissioner's lease,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P10", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Within seven years after the special commissioner's lease, a missing or abandoning owner may move to reopen and prove identity and title.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-6/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-6(g)", "passage": "Within seven years after the date of the special commissioner's lease, any unknown or missing owner or abandoning owner of a mineral interest leased hereunder may file a motion with the court to reopen the action,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-020", "official": true }, { "id": "P11", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The circuit court may appoint a special commissioner to lease minerals whose title is vested in an unknown, missing or abandoning owner.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-4/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-4(a)", "passage": "If the title to any mineral interest is vested in an unknown or missing owner or an abandoning owner and it is proved that the development of the minerals would be advantageous to a prudent owner,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 4, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-002", "official": true }, { "id": "P12", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "If the owner stays unknown or missing, or does not disavow abandonment, for seven years from the lease, the court orders the interest conveyed to the proven surface owner and the accrued funds paid to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-7/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-7(a)(1)", "passage": "If an owner of any mineral interest leased under section six of this article remains unknown or missing, or does not disavow the abandonment, for a period of seven years from the date of the special commissioner's lease,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "W. Va. Code 55-12A (1986, section 7 amended 2020) applies to interests in coal, oil, gas and other minerals for which property taxes are not delinquent when the petition is filed (55-12A-2(3)). The transfer of accrued funds to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund took effect July 1, 2020 (55-12A-7(e)).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 10, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-003", "official": true }, { "id": "P13", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For oil and gas developed by cotenants owning three fourths, amounts for unknown or unlocatable owners are reserved and remitted quarterly to the State Treasurer as unclaimed property administrator.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37B-1-4/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 37B-1-4(d)", "passage": "Unknown or unlocatable interest owners are deemed to have made the election provided by subdivision (1), subsection (b) of this section and are only entitled to receive the amount provided by that subdivision.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to oil and gas cotenancies developed under W. Va. Code 37B-1. The rest of 37B-1-4(d) requires reports and remittances to the State Treasurer.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-37B-1-3-4.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-021", "official": true }, { "id": "P14", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For the cotenancy statute, an unknown or unlocatable owner is one not found after reasonable review of four county offices, inquiry near the last residence, diligent inquiry of known owners in the tract and review of internet resources commonly used by the industry.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37B-1-3/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 37B-1-3, \"Unknown or unlocatable interest owner\"", "passage": "(B) A reasonable inquiry in the vicinity of the owner's last known place of residence; (C) A diligent inquiry into known interest owners in the same tract; and (D) A reasonable review of available Internet resources commonly utilized by the industry.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to W. Va. Code 37B-1. Its clause (A) says the term \"includes unknown heirs, successors and assigns known to be alive\", unlike the \"not known to be alive\" wording of 55-12A-2(5); the source text is quoted as read.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-37B-1-3-4.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-022", "official": true }, { "id": "P15", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Seven years after the first report to the Treasurer, a bona fide surface owner may sue to quiet title to the interests of unknown and unlocatable cotenants, following 55-12A where practical.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37B-1-4/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 37B-1-4(g)", "passage": "After seven years from the date of the first report to the treasurer, a bona fide surface owner may file an action to quiet title to the interests of all unknown and unlocatable interest owners of the oil and natural gas estate underlying the surface tract.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to oil and gas cotenancies developed under W. Va. Code 37B-1.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-37B-1-3-4.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-005", "official": true }, { "id": "P16", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "In a horizontal well unit, moneys payable to unknown and unlocatable owners go into an interest bearing escrow account under the commission's order.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22C-9-7A/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 22C-9-7a(f)(16)", "passage": "the horizontal well unit operator shall deposit the moneys payable to unknown and unlocatable interest owners into an escrow account bearing a market rate of interest to be held, administered, and disbursed in accordance with an order of the commission and this section.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to oil and gas in horizontal well units under 22C-9-7a. Subsection (o) gives surface owners a separate court route to acquire these interests; if no petition within six years of notice to the surface owner, amounts go to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund ((o)(13)).", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-22C-9-7a.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-023", "official": true }, { "id": "P17", "topic": "search", "kind": "statute", "statement": "For horizontal well units, the search standard adds a reasonable internet inquiry and a mailing to the last known address shown by the sheriff or assessor, and the term includes unknown heirs.", "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22C-9-7A/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 22C-9-7a(b)(10)(D) and (E)", "passage": "(D) A reasonable inquiry utilizing available internet resources that could reasonably lead to the identification of the person; and (E) A mailing to the last known address, if available, of the person as reflected in the records of the sheriff's or assessor's office, and includes the unknown heirs, representatives, successors, and assigns of the person.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Applies only to horizontal well unitization under 22C-9-7a.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-22C-9-7a.md", "source_id": "SRC-WV-024", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read from Internet Archive copies of code.wvlegislature.gov (direct host returned a Cloudflare challenge): W. Va. Code 55-12A-1 to 55-12A-8, 37B-1-3, 37B-1-4 and 22C-9-7a. Not read: 55-12A-5a, 5b and 5c (referenced in 55-12A-6(a); no capture found), 2026 SB 686 and new 37B-3-4 (signed bill PDF not retrievable), 22-6-29, chapter 59 article 3, chapter 36 article 8 unclaimed property, tax sale law, probate and quiet title. Case law: one web search for Supreme Court of Appeals decisions on 55-12A returned only code and bill pages; the CourtListener search API was blocked by a rate limit, so the case law search is not exhaustive.", "open_questions": [ "Whether sections 55-12A-5a, 5b and 5c exist and what evidentiary and notice requirements they add; 55-12A-6(a) refers to them.", "Text and effective date of 37B-3-4(g) (2026 SB 686) for coal cotenancies.", "Whether any Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia decision interprets 55-12A or the abandoning owner definition; one web search found none, but the search was not exhaustive.", "Whether 22C-9-7a was amended after the December 2025 capture read." ], "confidence": "high", "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.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: 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." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "West Virginia", "abbr": "WV", "category": "special", "unused_minerals": "Special mechanism", "lapse_period": "see note", "surface_damages_act": "yes", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 45, "rank": 20, "statute": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-1 et seq.", "source_status": "Sourced", "source_url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-1/", "preservation": "Special statutory mechanism rather than a simple nonuse lapse; see statute.", "note": "West Virginia has no traditional dormant minerals act. It uses an oil and gas abandonment and lease cancellation mechanism, and has a surface owner protection law." } }, { "id": "WI", "name": "Wisconsin", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/wisconsin-dormant-mineral-act", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "dormant_mineral_act", "mechanism_label": "Dormant mineral interest statute, 20 years, curable until the surface owner records a claim", "summary": "A severed fee simple interest in minerals lapses if it was not used during the previous 20 years. Use means mining, recording a conveyance of the interest, the mineral owner paying property tax on it, or recording a statement of claim. Lapse does not move title by itself: the mineral owner can cure it by recording a statement of claim until the surface owner records a claim, and title reverts to the surface owner only on a court judgment or 3 years after the surface owner's claim if no action is brought. The section does not apply where one person owns both the surface fee and the minerals, and it cannot be waived.", "period_years": 20, "period_description": "Rolling 20 years: the interest lapses if it was not used during the previous 20 years (sub. (3)(a)), so each use listed in sub. (2) starts a new 20 years. The court applied this as the day after the 20th anniversary of the last use (last use January 12, 1987, lapse January 13, 2007, Lakeland para. 43). Transition: an interest not used during the 20 years before July 1, 1984, or used during the period from 17 to 20 years before that date, did not lapse if used by July 1, 1987 (sub. (3)(b) and (c)); after such a use it is again subject to the 20 year rule (Lakeland para. 38).", "self_executing": "no", "procedure": "Lapse arises under sub. (3) without any filing, but it moves no title. The surface owner must record a statement of claim with the county register of deeds giving the surface owner's name and address and a description of the land (sub. (6)(a)). A surface owner claim recorded before lapse takes effect when the interest lapses and is void if no lapse occurs within 6 years of recording (sub. (6)(b)). Until the surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect, whichever is later, the mineral owner can cure the lapse by recording a statement of claim (sub. (5)). The mineral owner may then sue for a declaratory judgment in the circuit court of the county within 3 years after the surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect, whichever is later (sub. (9)(a)). Title reverts to the surface owner and merges with the surface on a judgment affirming the claim or, if no action is brought, at the end of that 3 year period (sub. (9)(c)). The section does not require the surface owner to give the mineral owner notice.", "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [ "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_filing": "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)).", "interest_scope": "An interest in minerals as defined in s. 706.01(7m): a fee simple interest in minerals beneath the surface that is separate from the fee simple interest in the surface and was created by an instrument transferring, granting, assigning or reserving the minerals. Excluded where the same person owns the surface fee and the interest in minerals (sub. (1)). The text does not say whether a royalty, a term interest or a lease is a fee simple interest in minerals.", "mineral_scope": "All minerals as defined in s. 706.01(8m): a naturally occurring substance recognized by standard authorities as mineral, whether metalliferous or nonmetalliferous. The definition does not name oil, gas, sand or gravel.", "exceptions": [ "Does not apply to an interest in minerals owned by the same person who owns the fee simple interest in the surface above it (sub. (1))", "Interests outside the s. 706.01(7m) definition (not a fee simple interest in minerals, not separate from the surface fee, or not created by an instrument) are not reached", "No person may waive or agree to waive the section; any waiver or agreement is void (sub. (10))" ], "effective": "Created by 1983 Wis. Act 455 (enacted May 10, 1984, published May 17, 1984), effective July 1, 1984 (Act 455 s. 7). The same act created s. 706.01(7m) and (8m) and repealed former s. 700.30, the mineral registration statute held unconstitutional in Chicago and North Western Transportation Co. v. Pedersen, 80 Wis. 2d 566 (1977). Grace period July 1, 1984 to July 1, 1987 (sub. (3)(b) and (c)). Amended by 1985 Wis. Act 29 and 1995 Wis. Act 201: compared with the 1983 text, the current subs. (5), (6) and (9) add the surface owner claim recorded before lapse and the whichever is later timing, and the fee cross reference moved from s. 59.57 to s. 59.43(2). Current text checked as in effect October 1, 2026 (through 2025 Wis. Act 247); no pending change is flagged.", "date_model": "illustrative_anniversary", "date_model_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.", "survey_scope": null, "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Does 'mineral' in s. 706.01(8m) include oil and gas, and sand and gravel? No Wisconsin decision on the definition was found in this review; Lakeland applied the section to separate subsurface mineral rights under a parcel bought for a gravel mine without discussing it.", "Does a severed royalty or other nonpossessory interest count as a 'fee simple interest in minerals' under s. 706.01(7m)?", "How often are severed mineral interests separately assessed and taxed in Wisconsin, so that the tax payment use in sub. (2)(d) can occur?", "Effect of Wis. Stat. s. 893.33 (limitation on actions founded on recorded instruments over 30 years old) on severed mineral titles was not checked.", "The amending text of 1985 Wis. Act 29 and 1995 Wis. Act 201 was not read; the changes stated in 'effective' are inferred by comparing the 1983 act with the current text.", "Search results indicate the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied review in Lakeland in 2021; not confirmed from the court docket.", "Subsection (8) is absent from both the 1983 act as printed and the current text; no significance is assumed." ], "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.", "category": "lapse_statute", "evidence": "primary" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-WI-001", "SRC-WI-002", "SRC-WI-003", "SRC-WI-004", "SRC-WI-005", "SRC-WI-006", "SRC-WI-007", "SRC-WI-008", "SRC-WI-009", "SRC-WI-010", "SRC-WI-011", "SRC-WI-012", "SRC-WI-013" ], "pooling": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Wisconsin statute was found that lets a regulator force pool or compulsorily integrate separately owned oil and gas interests. The oil and gas subchapter (Wis. Stat. ss. 295.31 to 295.37) requires a Department of Natural Resources license for exploration and production and authorizes rules on waste, including spacing of wells and allocation of allowable production in a field or pool, but it contains no pooling or integration order power.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Read Wis. Stat. ch. 295 subch. II (ss. 295.31 to 295.37, created by 1991 Wis. Act 262) in full from the official PDF current through 2025 Wis. Act 103, and searched all of ch. 295 for pool, spacing, unitiz, integrat and correlative; also read ch. 706 provisions on mineral conveyances. A full text search of all Wisconsin statutes and of the DNR administrative code was not possible because docs.legis.wisconsin.gov was not available when AMR checked; Wisconsin has negligible oil and gas production.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-WI-014" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "none_identified", "summary": "No Wisconsin statute was found that requires oil and gas operators to notify surface owners or compensate them for surface damage. The oil and gas subchapter covers licensing, bonding, waste, environmental rules and reclamation only.", "confidence": "medium", "survey_scope": "Read Wis. Stat. ch. 295 subch. II (ss. 295.31 to 295.37) in full and searched all of ch. 295 for surface owner, landowner and damage. The hits concern nonmetallic mining reclamation (subch. I) and ferrous mining (subch. III, for example the private water supply damage claims in s. 295.61(8)), not oil and gas. Ch. 706 (s. 706.057 included) has no surface damage rule. Full text search of all statutes was not possible.", "evidence": "none_found", "source_ids": [ "SRC-WI-015" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "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.", "unknown": "Not addressed in the provisions read; the section applies to every severed owner alike.", "unlocated": "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": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute_and_case_law", "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.", "propositions": [ "P1", "P5", "P7", "P9" ] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [ "P2" ] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No search for the mineral owner is required before lapse, before the surface claim, or before reversion.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "case_law", "statement": "The section provides no notice to the mineral owner. Lakeland held the lapse does not violate due process for lack of notice.", "propositions": [ "P8" ] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No publication provision appears in 706.057.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P3", "P4", "P6" ] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "not_yet_verified", "statement": "No Wisconsin court, receivership, trust or escrow procedure for unknown or unlocated mineral owners was found in 706.057, but docs.legis.wisconsin.gov timed out and the code could not be searched. Statutes on tax deeds, quiet title, oil and gas pooling and unclaimed property were not read.", "propositions": [] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A severed interest in minerals lapses if it was not used during the previous 20 years.", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(3)(a)", "passage": "Except as provided in par. (b) or (c), an interest in minerals lapses if the interest in minerals was not used during the previous 20 years.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Interests in minerals not owned by the surface fee owner (706.057(1)). The section does not mention death, heirs, or unknown or unlocated owners.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "source_id": "SRC-WI-016", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "succession", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Use includes a recorded conveyance by which the interest is created, aliened, reserved, mortgaged or assigned.", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(2)(c)", "passage": "Any other conveyance evidencing a transaction by which the interest in minerals is created, aliened, reserved, mortgaged or assigned is recorded under this chapter.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All interests under the section. Whether a probate, heirship or death record is such a \"conveyance\" is not stated in the section.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "source_id": "SRC-WI-017", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Use also includes property taxes paid by the owner and a statement of claim recorded by the owner.", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(2)(d), (e)", "passage": "Property taxes are paid on the interest in minerals by the owner of the interest in minerals. ... The owner of the interest in minerals records a statement of claim under sub. (4) or (5) concerning the interest in minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All interests under the section. \"Owner\" is not defined in the section.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "source_id": "SRC-WI-018", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A lapse is cured if the owner records a compliant statement of claim before the surface owner records a claim, or before a prerecorded surface claim takes effect.", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(5)", "passage": "The lapse ... is cured if the owner of the interest in minerals records a statement of claim complying with all of the requirements of sub. (4) before the surface owner records a statement of claim under sub. (6) (a) or before a statement of claim takes effect under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All lapsed interests. Silent on who may record for a deceased owner.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "source_id": "SRC-WI-019", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The surface owner claims a lapsed interest by recording a statement of claim with the register of deeds.", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(6)(a)", "passage": "The owner of the land under which an interest in minerals exists may claim that portion of a lapsed interest in minerals which lies beneath the owner’s land by recording a statement of claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Recording only; the section requires no service or mailing of the claim to the mineral owner.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "source_id": "SRC-WI-020", "official": true }, { "id": "P6", "topic": "response", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Within 3 years after the surface claim is recorded or takes effect, the mineral owner may sue for a declaration of ownership.", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(9)(a)", "passage": "The owner of an interest in minerals which is the subject of a claim under sub. (6) (a), within 3 years after the claim is recorded ... or within 3 years after the claim takes effect as provided under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later, may bring an action for a declaratory judgment", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All interests subject to a surface owner claim. Does not say how the period runs for an owner who has died or cannot be found.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "source_id": "SRC-WI-021", "official": true }, { "id": "P7", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Ownership reverts to the surface owner on a judgment affirming the surface claim, or 3 years after the surface claim if no action is brought.", "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(9)(c)", "passage": "if no action is brought under par. (a), at the end of the 3-year period after the surface owner’s claim is recorded or at the end of the 3-year period after the claim takes effect as provided under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later, the ownership of the interest in minerals reverts to the owner of the land", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "All lapsed interests. Reversion occurs without any notice step stated in the section.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "source_id": "SRC-WI-022", "official": true }, { "id": "P8", "topic": "notice", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The court held the 20 year lapse does not violate due process for lack of notice, following Texaco v. Short.", "url": "https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=338851", "publisher": "Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass'n, U.A. v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, 396 Wis. 2d 622", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "2021 WI App 19, ¶59", "passage": "The Court’s conclusions in Texaco compel a conclusion in this case that § 706.057(3) does not result in an unconstitutional taking of ... Lakeland’s property without just compensation, nor does the statute violate due process for lack of notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Published Court of Appeals opinion, which binds Wisconsin courts statewide unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise; the slip opinion notes a petition for review was filed and its outcome was not checked. It did not address deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 27, 2025 of the official slip opinion PDF", "saved_as": "sources/WI-lakeland-v-oneida-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-WI-023", "official": true }, { "id": "P9", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "case_law", "statement": "The court read 706.057 as not causing automatic reversion, because it provides a cure, a surface owner claim and a court process to determine ownership.", "url": "https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=338851", "publisher": "Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass'n, U.A. v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, 396 Wis. 2d 622", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "2021 WI App 19, ¶52", "passage": "Thus, the automatic reversion of mineral rights to the surface owner that occurred under § 700.30—and which motivated the supreme court’s decision in Chicago & North Western—does not occur under § 706.057.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Published Court of Appeals opinion, which binds Wisconsin courts statewide unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise; the slip opinion notes a petition for review was filed and its outcome was not checked. It did not address deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 27, 2025 of the official slip opinion PDF", "saved_as": "sources/WI-lakeland-v-oneida-2021.md", "source_id": "SRC-WI-024", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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?" ], "survey_scope": "Read Wis. Stat. 706.057 with its LRB annotations from an Internet Archive snapshot (March 14, 2026) of docs.legis.wisconsin.gov, which was not available when AMR checked. Read Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass'n v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, from an archived copy of the official slip opinion. The official code could not be searched for \"unknown\", \"missing\", \"heirs\" or \"unlocated\" near \"mineral\". CourtListener was rate limited; no other Wisconsin decision was read.", "open_questions": [ "Whether heirs or a personal representative are \"the owner of the interest in minerals\" for paying taxes or recording a statement of claim under 706.057(2)(d), (e) and (5).", "Outcome of the petition for review in Lakeland (2021 WI App 19).", "Search Wisconsin statutes for any unknown or missing mineral owner procedure, and check pooling and unclaimed property treatment of unlocated owners.", "Whether the attorney general opinion annotated to 706.057 (74 Op. Att'y Gen. 59, notice of tax deed applications to recorded mineral owners) remains followed; it is not a controlling decision." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.", "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Wisconsin", "abbr": "WI", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "verify", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 50, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Wisconsin. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } }, { "id": "WY", "name": "Wyoming", "page_url": "https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-wyoming", "reviewed": true, "reviewed_on": "2026-10-01", "dormancy": { "mechanism": "none_identified", "mechanism_label": "No dormant mineral statute identified; the marketable title act excludes minerals", "summary": "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. A 2003 bill that would have created an abandoned mineral interest procedure at W.S. 34-10-201 to 34-10-210 failed in the House and is not in the current code.", "period_years": null, "period_description": null, "self_executing": null, "procedure": null, "qualifying_uses_or_savings": [], "preservation_filing": null, "interest_scope": "Not applicable. The marketable title act exclusion covers any title, estate or interest in minerals and related development, mining and production rights and easements.", "mineral_scope": "Not applicable. The exclusion names minerals generally, including oil, gas and other hydrocarbons, and timber.", "exceptions": [ "W.S. 34-10-108(a)(iv): the Marketable Title Act shall not be applied to bar or extinguish any title, estate or interest in minerals or related rights and easements", "W.S. 34-10-104(a)(v): marketable record title is subject to the exceptions in 34-10-108(a), including mineral interests" ], "effective": "No dormancy statute. 2003 HB0176 (Termination of mineral interest) failed in Committee of the Whole and was indefinitely postponed on 1/30/2003. The enactment date of the Marketable Title Act is not shown in the official title PDF.", "date_model": "not_applicable", "date_model_note": "No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Wyoming.", "survey_scope": "Downloaded all 42 title PDFs of the Wyoming Statutes from wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/ (created May 9, 2026) and searched the full text for: dormant mineral, abandoned mineral, severed mineral, mineral interest, mineral estate, unknown owner, abandon. Title 30 (Mines and Minerals) and Title 34 (Property) read for structure. Found: Marketable Title Act 34-10-101 to 34-10-109 with a mineral exclusion; 34-2-135 (tax deed curative act does not apply to tax deeds covering only severed minerals); 34-24-117 (Uniform Unclaimed Property Act: mineral proceeds unclaimed for more than three years, and the owner's underlying right to receive them, are deemed abandoned and become subject to state custody; custody of proceeds, not a transfer of the mineral interest). Checked the 2003 bill HB0176 on wyoleg.gov (failed). Case law was not reviewed.", "confidence": "high", "open_questions": [ "Wyoming case law on abandonment of severed mineral interests and on adverse possession of minerals was not reviewed.", "Whether the unclaimed property transfer of the 'underlying right to receive' mineral proceeds has any effect on title was not researched; the text reads as custody of proceeds." ], "category": "none_found", "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" }, "dormancy_source_ids": [ "SRC-WY-001", "SRC-WY-002", "SRC-WY-003" ], "pooling": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. W.S. 30-5-109(f) lets the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, in the absence of voluntary pooling and after notice and hearing, enter an order pooling all interests in a drilling unit on the application of any interested person, on just and reasonable terms. A pooling order expires after 12 months if operations have not commenced.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-WY-004" ] }, "surface_damages": { "status": "statute_found", "summary": "Yes. W.S. 30-5-401 to 30-5-410 (entry to conduct oil and gas operations) require notice to surface owners, condition entry on consent, a surface use agreement, a waiver or a bond, and require the operator to pay the surface owner for loss of production and income, loss of land value and loss of value of improvements. A surface owner gives notice of damages within two years of discovery and may sue if no acceptable offer is made.", "confidence": "high", "survey_scope": null, "evidence": "primary", "source_ids": [ "SRC-WY-005", "SRC-WY-006" ] }, "owner_status": { "coverage": "partial", "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.", "owner_kinds": { "deceased": "Not addressed in the provisions read; probate and quiet title may apply and were not reviewed.", "unknown": "Not named; production proceeds that cannot be paid for any reason are escrowed (30-5-302).", "unlocated": "Not named; proceeds escrowed (30-5-302), then unclaimed property after three years undeliverable (30-5-302, 34-24-117)." }, "topics": { "mechanism": { "status": "statute", "statement": "No nonuse mechanism found; the Marketable Title Act shall not be applied to extinguish mineral interests.", "propositions": [ "P1" ] }, "succession": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "The provisions read do not address heirs, devisees or successors.", "propositions": [] }, "search": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No search requirement appears in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "notice": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No notice to mineral owners is required by the provisions read, since none ends a mineral interest.", "propositions": [] }, "publication": { "status": "not_addressed_in_provisions_read", "statement": "No publication provision in the provisions read.", "propositions": [] }, "response": { "status": "not_addressed_in_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.", "propositions": [] }, "special_mechanism": { "status": "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.", "propositions": [ "P2", "P3", "P4", "P5" ] } }, "propositions": [ { "id": "P1", "topic": "mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "The Wyoming Marketable Title Act may not be applied to bar or extinguish interests in minerals, including oil and gas.", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title34.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes title PDFs)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 34-10-108(a)(iv)", "passage": "To bar or extinguish any title, estate or interest in and to any timber or any minerals (including without limiting the generality of that term, oil, gas and other hydrocarbons)", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Introduced by 34-10-108(a): the act shall not be applied, notwithstanding a failure to file a notice of claim. Applies to all mineral owners regardless of status.", "saved_as": "sources/WY-34-10-108-34-24-117.md", "source_id": "SRC-WY-007", "official": true }, { "id": "P2", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "A delay in identifying a person entitled to production proceeds does not delay payment to everyone else.", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes title PDFs)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 30-5-302", "passage": "Any delay in determining any person legally entitled to an interest in the proceeds from production shall not affect payments to all other persons entitled to payment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Oil and gas production proceeds payable by a lessee, operator, purchaser or other responsible party.", "saved_as": "sources/WY-30-5-301-303.md", "source_id": "SRC-WY-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P3", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Proceeds that cannot be paid on time for any reason must be deposited in an interest bearing escrow account at a Wyoming insured institution.", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes title PDFs)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 30-5-302", "passage": "In instances where payment cannot be made for any reason within the time limits specified in W.S. 30-5-301(a), the lessee or operator, purchaser or other party legally responsible for payment shall deposit all proceeds credited to the eventual interest owner to an escrow account in a federally insured bank or savings and loan institution in Wyoming", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Covers proceeds of owners who cannot be paid for any reason, which as the text reads includes deceased, unknown and unlocated owners; the statute does not name those categories.", "saved_as": "sources/WY-30-5-301-303.md", "source_id": "SRC-WY-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P4", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Escrowed proceeds the escrow agent cannot deliver within three years become unclaimed property.", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes title PDFs)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 30-5-302", "passage": "If the escrow agent is unable to deliver the payment to the legally entitled person 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, the payment shall be considered unclaimed for purposes of W.S. 34-24-101 through 34-24-139.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Escrowed production proceeds. Concerns the money, not title to the mineral interest.", "saved_as": "sources/WY-30-5-301-303.md", "source_id": "SRC-WY-008", "official": true }, { "id": "P5", "topic": "special_mechanism", "kind": "statute", "statement": "Mineral proceeds unclaimed for more than three years, and the owner's right to receive them, are deemed abandoned for unclaimed property purposes.", "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title34.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes title PDFs)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 34-24-117(a)", "passage": "Any sum payable as mineral proceeds that has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than three (3) years after it became payable or distributable and the owner's underlying right to receive those mineral proceeds are deemed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "scope": "Unclaimed property act custody of mineral proceeds, subject to the conditions in 34-24-117(b). The provisions read do not say this transfers title to the mineral interest itself; the rest of the unclaimed property act was not reviewed.", "saved_as": "sources/WY-34-10-108-34-24-117.md", "source_id": "SRC-WY-003", "official": true } ], "dates": { "status": "explain_only", "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." }, "title_review_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)?" ], "survey_scope": "Read: W.S. 34-10-108 (title34.pdf), 30-5-301 to 30-5-303 (title30.pdf), 34-24-117 (title34.pdf). Full text of titles 1, 30 and 34 (2026 title PDFs) searched for unknown, unlocat, whereabouts, cannot be located, missing, together with owner, interest, heir or mineral; only a unitization application provision and unclaimed property provisions matched. The October 2026 review's finding that 2003 HB0176 (abandoned mineral interests) failed was not re-read. Not searched: title 2 (probate and trusts). No Wyoming case law searched for, since no owner status mechanism was found.", "open_questions": [ "Whether any Wyoming statute outside titles 1, 30 and 34, for example in title 2, provides a court trust or receiver for missing mineral owners.", "How unclaimed property custody under 34-24-117 interacts with later leasing of a missing owner's interest." ], "confidence": "medium", "coverage_reason": "Titles outside 1, 30 and 34 were not searched for a court trust or receiver.", "review": { "by": "lead reviewer", "date": "2026-10-06", "changes": [ "Coverage set to partial: Titles outside 1, 30 and 34 were not searched for a court trust or receiver." ] }, "reviewed": true, "researched_at": "2026-10-06" }, "june_2026": { "state": "Wyoming", "abbr": "WY", "category": "none", "unused_minerals": "Does not lapse", "lapse_period": "none", "surface_damages_act": "no", "forced_pooling": "yes", "risk_score": 0, "rank": 51, "statute": "n/a", "source_status": "No dormant act (surveyed)", "source_url": "", "preservation": "No dormant mineral act; a severed interest does not lapse through nonuse.", "note": "No dormant mineral act in Wyoming. A severed mineral interest does not lapse through nonuse. Based on national statutory surveys; confirm against the current state code." } } ], "sources": [ { "id": "SRC-AL-001", "jurisdiction": "AL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-19-9", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 35-19-9(d), the only code hit for the phrase 'dormant mineral'", "excerpt": "An environmental covenant may not be extinguished, limited, or impaired by application of any law relating to marketable title or dormant mineral interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AL-survey-code-searches.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AL-002", "jurisdiction": "AL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=40-20-35", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 40-20-35", "excerpt": "all nonproducing interests in such oil, gas and other minerals, including royalty interests therein, hereafter conveyed to a grantee or purchaser or excepted or reserved to a grantor separately and apart from the surface shall be exempt from all ad valorem taxes", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AL-survey-code-searches.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AL-003", "jurisdiction": "AL", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=9-17-13", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 9-17-13(a)", "excerpt": "Where, however, the owners have not agreed to so integrate or pool the interests, the board shall, for the prevention of waste or to avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells, require the persons owning such interests to do so and to develop their interests and the associated lands as a drilling or production unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AL-9-17-13-integration.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AL-004", "jurisdiction": "AL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=9-17-33", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 9-17-33(c)", "excerpt": "The payment shall be made to persons legally entitled thereto by the first purchasers of the production by tender to the person’s designated agents or at their last known address.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AL-code-survey-and-sections.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AL-005", "jurisdiction": "AL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-12-71", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 35-12-71(12)", "excerpt": "MINERAL PROCEEDS. Amounts payable for the extraction, production, or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable thereafter.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AL-code-survey-and-sections.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AL-006", "jurisdiction": "AL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=35-12-72", "publisher": "Alabama Legislature (ALISON, Code of Alabama 1975)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Ala. Code 35-12-72(b)", "excerpt": "At the time that an interest is presumed abandoned under subsection (a), any other property right accrued or accruing to the owner as a result of the interest, and not previously presumed abandoned, is also presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AL-code-survey-and-sections.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AK-001", "jurisdiction": "AK", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.01.005&secEnd=34.99.999", "publisher": "Alaska State Legislature, Alaska Statutes (akleg.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Survey of AS Titles 09, 27, 31, 34, 38 (full text); excerpt AS 34.45.760(13)", "excerpt": "“mineral proceeds” means amounts payable for the extraction, production, or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable after the abandonment;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AK-survey-titles.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AK-002", "jurisdiction": "AK", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=31.01.005&secEnd=31.99.999", "publisher": "Alaska State Legislature, Alaska Statutes (akleg.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "AS 31.05.100(c)", "excerpt": "If the persons do not agree to pool their interests, the commission may enter an order pooling and integrating their interests for the development of their lands as a drilling unit for the prevention of waste, for the protection of correlative rights, or to avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AK-31-05-100-110-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AK-003", "jurisdiction": "AK", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=31.01.005&secEnd=31.99.999", "publisher": "Alaska State Legislature, Alaska Statutes (akleg.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "AS 31.05.110(a)", "excerpt": "Where, however, they have not agreed to integrate their interests, the commission, upon proper petition, after notice and hearing, has jurisdiction, power and authority, and it is its duty to make and enforce orders", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AK-31-05-100-110-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AK-004", "jurisdiction": "AK", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=38.01.005&secEnd=38.99.999", "publisher": "Alaska State Legislature, Alaska Statutes (akleg.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "AS 38.05.130", "excerpt": "Rights may not be exercised by the state, its lessees, successors, or assigns under the reservation as set out in AS 38.05.125 until the state, its lessees, successors, or assigns make provision to pay the owner of the land full payment for all damages sustained by the owner, by reason of entering onto the land.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AK-38-05-125-130-surface-damages.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AK-005", "jurisdiction": "AK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.01.005&secEnd=34.99.999", "publisher": "Alaska State Legislature, Alaska Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "AS 34.45.760(11)(A)(vii)", "excerpt": "(vii) amounts due and payable as mineral proceeds;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AK-owner-status-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AK-006", "jurisdiction": "AK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.01.005&secEnd=34.99.999", "publisher": "Alaska State Legislature, Alaska Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "AS 34.45.110(a)", "excerpt": "all intangible property, including income or increment derived from the property, less lawful charges, that is held, issued, or owing in the ordinary course of a holder's business and has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after becoming payable or distributable is presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AK-owner-status-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AZ-001", "jurisdiction": "AZ", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=27", "publisher": "Arizona State Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Survey of ARS section headings, Titles 12, 27, 33, 37, 42, 44", "excerpt": "Attachment of lien to real and personal property, improvements and severed mineral rights", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AZ-survey-headings.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AZ-002", "jurisdiction": "AZ", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/27/00505.htm", "publisher": "Arizona State Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ARS § 27-505(A)", "excerpt": "If the persons do not agree to pool their interests, the commissioner may, for prevention of waste, for protection of correlative rights, or to avoid drilling of unnecessary wells, enter an order pooling and integrating their interests for the development of their lands as a drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AZ-27-505-531-532-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AZ-003", "jurisdiction": "AZ", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/27/00531.htm", "publisher": "Arizona State Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ARS § 27-531(B)", "excerpt": "The commission shall make an order providing for the unitized operation of a pool or part thereof if, after proper petition and notice and hearing it finds that:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AZ-27-505-531-532-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AZ-004", "jurisdiction": "AZ", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/27/00560.htm", "publisher": "Arizona State Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ARS § 27-560", "excerpt": "The lessee shall be liable for damage caused by it to the state's interest in the surface or to the interest of the surface lessee, if any, and may be required by the department at any time to execute a bond", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AZ-27-560-state-lease-surface.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AZ-005", "jurisdiction": "AZ", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/44/00301.htm", "publisher": "Arizona State Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "A.R.S. 44-301(13)", "excerpt": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means the amounts payable for the extraction, production or sale of minerals or, if those amounts are abandoned, all payments that become payable after the abandonment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AZ-27-221-222-12-1212-44-301.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-001", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://cosl.org/Home/Faq", "publisher": "Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Commissioner of State Lands, Frequently Asked Questions", "excerpt": "Tax delinquent mineral interests may be redeemed at any time. In some limited situations, the mineral rights may be purchased from the Commissioner of State Lands.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-cosl-tax-delinquent-minerals.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-002", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://coslstorage.blob.core.windows.net/web-resources/rules-and-regs.pdf", "publisher": "Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands (Rules 2023 Edition)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Commissioner of State Lands Rules, Subtitle L, Fees (2)", "excerpt": "the fees charged for the redemption of severed mineral interests shall not include the twenty-five-dollar collection fee.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-cosl-tax-delinquent-minerals.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-003", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/courtofappeals/en/512533/1/document.do", "publisher": "Arkansas Judiciary, Arkansas Court of Appeals (opinions.arcourts.gov)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "SWN Production Co. (Arkansas), LLC v. Stobaugh, 2021 Ark. App. 324, quoting Ark. Code Ann. 26-26-1110(c)(4)", "excerpt": "When a nonproducing mineral right begins producing minerals, the mineral right shall be assessed for tax purposes in accordance with rules established by the Assessment Coordination Division.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-court-opinions-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-004", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/courtofappeals/en/298441/1/document.do", "publisher": "Arkansas Judiciary, Arkansas Court of Appeals (opinions.arcourts.gov)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "SEECO, Inc. v. Holden, 2015 Ark. App. 555, quoting Ark. Code Ann. 18-61-106(a)", "excerpt": "No action for the recovery of any lands or for the possession thereof against any person or persons, their heirs and assigns, who may hold such lands by virtue of a purchase thereof at a sale by the collector, or the Commissioner of State Lands, for the nonpayment of taxes", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-court-opinions-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-005", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/courtofappeals/en/522211/1/document.do", "publisher": "Arkansas Judiciary, Arkansas Court of Appeals (opinions.arcourts.gov)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Flywheel Energy Production, LLC v. Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, 2023 Ark. App. 483, quoting Ark. Code Ann. 15-72-303", "excerpt": "order integrating all tracts and interests in the drilling unit for the development or operation of the drilling unit and the sharing of production from the drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-15-72-303-304-flywheel-2023.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-006", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/courtofappeals/en/522211/1/document.do", "publisher": "Arkansas Judiciary, Arkansas Court of Appeals (opinions.arcourts.gov)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "2023 Ark. App. 483, quoting Ark. Code Ann. 15-72-304(d)", "excerpt": "the owner thereof shall be regarded as the owner of a royalty interest to the extent of a one-eighth interest in and to the unleased mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-15-72-303-304-flywheel-2023.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-007", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/courtofappeals/en/521558/1/document.do", "publisher": "Arkansas Judiciary, Arkansas Court of Appeals (opinions.arcourts.gov)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Taylor Family Limited Partnership B v. XTO Energy, Inc., 2022 Ark. App. 521", "excerpt": "Taylor first contends that the circuit court erred when it determined that the scope of XTO's implied duty to restore the surfaces of the FLB and EY Hill tracts was governed by AOGC General Rule B-9(e) or the reasonably prudent operator standard established in Arkansas Code Annotated section 15-73-207(b)", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-court-opinions-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-008", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/supremecourt/en/266440/1/document.do", "publisher": "Arkansas Judiciary, Arkansas Supreme Court (opinions.arcourts.gov)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "El Paso Production Co. v. Blanchard, 371 Ark. 634 (2007), separate opinion quoting Commission Rule B-42", "excerpt": "No entry shall be made by any person or entity upon the lands upon which such seismic operations are to be conducted without the person or entity having first given notice as provided in Ark. Code Ann. (1987) § 15-72-203 to the surface owner", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-court-opinions-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-009", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://auditor.ar.gov/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Holder-Seminar-2026-Session-5-UPDATED_3.pdf", "publisher": "Arkansas Auditor of State, Unclaimed Property Division", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Ark. Code Ann. 18-28-403, as summarized by the Auditor of State", "excerpt": "A.C.A. §18-28-403 provides that companies must establish an escrow account for mineral proceeds if the entitled person is unknown or has not been located within one (1) year after the funds became payable or distributable.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-auditor-mineral-proceeds-2026.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-010", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://auditor.ar.gov/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Holder-Seminar-2026-Session-5-UPDATED_3.pdf", "publisher": "Arkansas Auditor of State, Unclaimed Property Division", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Arkansas mineral proceeds provisions (Ark. Code Ann. 18-28-401 et seq.), as summarized by the Auditor of State", "excerpt": "Mineral proceeds held or owing and unclaimed longer than three years after", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-auditor-mineral-proceeds-2026.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-011", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Arkansas Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201, 482 S.W.2d 785 (1972)", "excerpt": "On the 22nd day of July, 1969, the chancery court appointed William McGill receiver to lease the entire unleased mineral interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-davis-v-schimmel-1972.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-012", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Arkansas Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972), discussing Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-203", "excerpt": "persons whose whereabouts are stated in the petition to be unknown to the plaintiff are to be constructively summoned as provided in Ark. Stat. Ann §§ 27-354, 27-357 and 27-359 (Repl. 1962).", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-davis-v-schimmel-1972.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-013", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Arkansas Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972)", "excerpt": "The affidavit for warning order must show that the plaintiff has made diligent inquiry and that it is his information and belief that the defendant is a nonresident. It must strictly comply with the statute.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-davis-v-schimmel-1972.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-AR-014", "jurisdiction": "AR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/ark/252/cases/1201-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Arkansas Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Davis v. Schimmel, 252 Ark. 1201 (1972), discussing Ark. Stat. Ann. 52-205", "excerpt": "If we construe the words “direct appeal,” however, to mean “direct attack” in the manner provided by law, then the statute would not violate constitutional due process.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/AR-davis-v-schimmel-1972.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-001", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.210", "excerpt": "The owner of real property subject to a mineral right may bring an action to terminate the mineral right pursuant to this article if the mineral right is dormant.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-002", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.220", "excerpt": "a mineral right is dormant if all of the following conditions are satisfied for a period of 20 years immediately preceding commencement of the action to terminate the mineral right: (a) There is no production of the minerals and no exploration, drilling, mining, development, or other operations that affect the minerals", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-003", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.230(c)(1)", "excerpt": "A mineral right is not dormant for the purpose of this article if: (1) A notice of intent to preserve the mineral right is recorded within 20 years immediately preceding commencement of the action to terminate the mineral right.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-004", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.240(b)", "excerpt": "The action shall be brought in the same manner and shall be subject to the same procedure as an action to quiet title pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 760.010) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to the extent applicable.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-005", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.250", "excerpt": "the court shall permit the owner of the mineral right to record a late notice of intent to preserve the mineral right as a condition of dismissal of the action, upon payment into court for the benefit of the owner of the real property the litigation expenses", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-006", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.260", "excerpt": "A mineral right terminated pursuant to this article is unenforceable and is deemed to have expired. A court order terminating a mineral right pursuant to this article is equivalent for all purposes to a conveyance of the mineral right to the owner of the real property.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-007", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=1.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.110", "excerpt": "“mineral right” means an interest in minerals, regardless of character, whether fugacious or nonfugacious, organic or inorganic, that is created by grant or reservation, regardless of form, whether a fee or lesser interest, mineral, royalty, or leasehold, absolute or fractional", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-008", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=1.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.120", "excerpt": "This chapter does not apply to a mineral right of the state or a local public entity, or of any other person, to the extent provided in Section 880.240.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-009", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 883.270", "excerpt": "Subject to Section 880.370 (grace period for recording notice), this article applies to all mineral rights, whether executed or recorded before, on, or after January 1, 1985.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-010", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=880.370", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 880.370", "excerpt": "If the period prescribed by statute during which a notice of intent to preserve an interest in real property must be recorded expires before, on, or within five years after the operative date of the statute, the period is extended until five years after the operative date of the statute.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-880-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-011", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=880.330", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 880.330(a)", "excerpt": "A notice of intent to preserve an interest in real property shall be in writing and signed and verified by or on behalf of the claimant.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-880-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-012", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=PRC&division=3.&title=&part=&chapter=3.&article=", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 3608", "excerpt": "said land shall, for oil and gas development purposes and to prevent waste and to protect the oil and gas rights of landowners, be deemed included in said oil and gas lease on said other lands, and shall be subject to all the terms and provisions thereof", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-prc-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-013", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=PRC&division=3.&title=&part=&chapter=3.&article=", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 3609", "excerpt": "Such plan may include a requirement that, as a prerequisite to approval to drill or redrill a well, all or certain specified parcels of land shall be included in a pooling or unit agreement. The supervisor may provide in the rules and regulations for mandatory pooling agreements in connection with the well-spacing order.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-prc-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-014", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=PRC&division=3.&title=&part=&chapter=3.5.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 3642", "excerpt": "consented to by persons who own title to working interests which aggregate at least an undivided three-fourths of the total working interests in the area proposed to be unitized, and by persons who own title to the royalty interest which aggregates at least an undivided three-fourths of the total royalty interest", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-prc-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-015", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=PRC&division=3.&title=&part=&chapter=3.5.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 3645", "excerpt": "requiring that the interests of all persons in the unit area be thereafter subject to the unit agreement the same as if all such persons had expressly consented to the unit agreement.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-prc-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-016", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=PRC&division=3.&title=&part=&chapter=1.&article=5.5.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 3322.1", "excerpt": "No order of the supervisor creating a unit and prescribing the plan of unitization applicable thereto shall become effective unless and until the plan of unitization has been signed, or in writing ratified or approved, by working interest owners who are entitled to 65 percent of the proceeds of production", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-prc-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-017", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=848", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code § 848(a)", "excerpt": "the owner of mineral rights, as defined by Section 883.110, in real property shall give a written notice prior to the first entry to the owner of the real property who is listed as the assessee on the current local assessment roll", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-848.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-018", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.210", "excerpt": "The owner of real property subject to a mineral right may bring an action to terminate the mineral right pursuant to this article if the mineral right is dormant.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-019", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.220", "excerpt": "a mineral right is dormant if all of the following conditions are satisfied for a period of 20 years immediately preceding commencement of the action to terminate the mineral right:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-020", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.240(b)", "excerpt": "The action shall be brought in the same manner and shall be subject to the same procedure as an action to quiet title pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 760.010) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to the extent applicable.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-021", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=1.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 880.320(b)", "excerpt": "Another person acting on behalf of a claimant if the person is authorized to act on behalf of the claimant or if the claimant is one of a class whose identity cannot be established or is uncertain at the time of recording the notice of intent to preserve the interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-880-310-370.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-022", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.030(a)", "excerpt": "If a person required to be named as a defendant is dead and the plaintiff knows of a personal representative, the plaintiff shall join the personal representative as a defendant.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-023", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.030(b)(2)", "excerpt": "Where it is stated in the affidvit that such person is dead, the plaintiff may join as defendants \"the testate and intestate successors of ____ (naming the deceased person), deceased, and all persons claiming by, through, or under such decedent,\" naming them in that manner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-024", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.020(a)", "excerpt": "If the name of a person required to be named as a defendant is not known to the plaintiff, the plaintiff shall so state in the complaint and shall name as parties all persons unknown in the manner provided in Section 762.060.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-025", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=3.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 762.060(b)", "excerpt": "In an action under this section, the plaintiff shall name as defendants the persons having adverse claims that are of record or known to the plaintiff or reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-026", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=4.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 763.010(a)", "excerpt": "The form, content, and manner of the service of summons shall be the same as in civil actions generally.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-027", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=4.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 763.010(b)", "excerpt": "If upon affidavit it appears to the satisfaction of the court that the plaintiff has used reasonable diligence to ascertain the identity and residence of and to serve summons on the persons named as unknown defendants and persons joined as testate or intestate successors of a person known or believed to be dead, the court shall order service by publication", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-028", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=4.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 763.020(a), (b)", "excerpt": "The plaintiff shall post, not later than 10 days after the date the order is made, a copy of the summons and complaint in a conspicuous place on the real property that is the subject of the action. (b) The plaintiff shall record, if not already recorded, a notice of the pendency of the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-029", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.250", "excerpt": "the court shall permit the owner of the mineral right to record a late notice of intent to preserve the mineral right as a condition of dismissal of the action, upon payment into court for the benefit of the owner of the real property the litigation expenses attributable to the mineral right", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-030", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=2.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=3.&article=2.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Civ. Code 883.230(a), (c)(1)", "excerpt": "(a) An owner of a mineral right may at any time record a notice of intent to preserve the mineral right.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-civ-883.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-031", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=5.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 764.010", "excerpt": "The court shall not enter judgment by default but shall in all cases require evidence of plaintiff's title and hear such evidence as may be offered respecting the claims of any of the defendants, other than claims the validity of which is admitted by the plaintiff in the complaint.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CA-032", "jurisdiction": "CA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=4.&article=5.", "publisher": "California Legislative Information (Legislative Counsel of California)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 764.030(a)", "excerpt": "All persons known and unknown who were parties to the action and who have any claim to the property, whether present or future, vested or contingent, legal or equitable, several or undivided.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CA-ccp-762-764.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-001", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11-150", "excerpt": "where the surface estate ownership is coterminous with the severed mineral interest, the owner of the surface estate shall have the right of first refusal to purchase the tax lien on the severed mineral interest", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-1-104-5-39-11-150-tax-lien.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-002", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-1-104.5", "excerpt": "Any owner of the surface estate from which a mineral interest has been severed, on behalf of himself and any other owners of such interest in the surface, may require the assessor of the county wherein such real estate is situate to place such severed mineral interest, without regard to value, on the tax roll of the county", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-1-104-5-39-11-150-tax-lien.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-003", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11-120(1)", "excerpt": "Before July 1, 2024, any time after the expiration of the term of three years from the date of the sale of any tax lien on any land, or interest therein or improvements thereon, for delinquent taxes", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-1-104-5-39-11-150-tax-lien.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-004", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-38.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. title 38, article 42 (38-42-101 to 38-42-106), survey", "excerpt": "When any oil, gas, or other mineral lease given on land situated in any county of Colorado and recorded therein becomes forfeited or expires by its own terms, it is the duty of the lessee", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 26, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-title-38-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-005", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-24.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 24-65.5-103(3)", "excerpt": "A mineral estate owner who requests or desires to obtain notice under this article or the mineral estate owner's agent may file in the office of the county clerk and recorder of the county in which the real property is located a request for notification form", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-24-65-5-surface-development-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-006", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-044", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "SB26-044, 2026 Regular Session, bill record (not enacted, Lost 03/24/2026)", "excerpt": "The bill authorizes a board of county commissioners to cancel any taxes that have been levied on a severed mineral account 5 years after the date the taxes become delinquent.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/CO-SB26-044-lost-bill.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-007", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-34.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 34-60-116(6)(b)(I)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary pooling, the commission, upon the application of a person that owns, or has secured the consent of the owners of, more than forty-five percent of the mineral interests to be pooled, may enter an order pooling all interests in the drilling unit for the development and operation of the drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-34-60-116-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-008", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-34.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 34-60-106(3.5)", "excerpt": "in instances in which the owner of the surface of lands so leased was not a party to such lease, to protect such owner from unreasonable crop losses or land damage from the use of the premises by said lessee", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-34-60-106-127-surface-owner.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-009", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-34.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 34-60-106(14)", "excerpt": "Before an operator commences operations for the drilling of any oil or gas well, such operator shall evidence its intention to conduct such operations by giving the surface owner written notice describing the expected date of commencement, the location of the well, and any associated roads and production facilities.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-34-60-106-127-surface-owner.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-010", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-34.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 34-60-127(2)", "excerpt": "An operator's failure to meet the requirements set forth in this section shall give rise to a cause of action by the surface owner. Upon a determination by the trier of fact that such failure has occurred, a surface owner may seek compensatory damages", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-34-60-106-127-surface-owner.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-011", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11-153", "excerpt": "on or after July 1, 2024, a purchaser, lawful holder, or treasurer shall follow the procedures established in article 11.5 of this title 39 and shall not follow the procedures established in this article 11 concerning the issuance of a deed.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-012", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-104(2)", "excerpt": "the treasurer shall create a mailing list, mail a known interested party notice to the persons on the mailing list, and add the first and last publication dates, if not already specified in the known interested party notice, on the treasurer's office website.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-013", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-104(6)", "excerpt": "if the valuation for assessment of the property that is the subject of the public auction is five hundred dollars or more, the treasurer shall commence publication of the known interested party notice for three weeks", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-014", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-104(7)", "excerpt": "If any notice sent pursuant to this section is returned as undeliverable, the county treasurer shall conduct a reasonable search to locate and notify the property owner of record.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-015", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 39-11.5-106(4)", "excerpt": "If the tax lien is redeemed prior to the public auction, the treasurer shall: (a) Cancel the public auction;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-39-tax-lien-severed-minerals.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-016", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-34.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 34-60-116(6)(b)(I.7)", "excerpt": "Mineral interests that are owned by a person that cannot be located through reasonable diligence are excluded from the calculation described in subsection (6)(b)(I) of this section.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-34-60-116-118-5.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CO-017", "jurisdiction": "CO", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-34.pdf", "publisher": "Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "C.R.S. 34-60-118.5(3)(a)(II)", "excerpt": "(II) A reasonable doubt by the payer as to the payee's identity, whereabouts, or clear title to an interest in proceeds; or", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CO-34-60-116-118-5.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-001", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)", "excerpt": "A mineral interest is dormant for the purpose of sections 47-33m to 47-33t, inclusive, if the interest is unused within the meaning of subsection (c) of this section for a period of twenty years immediately preceding commencement of the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-002", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(b)", "excerpt": "the court, upon application of any person alleging to be an owner of a mineral interest in the land described in the complaint shall permit such person to record a late notice of intent to preserve such mineral interest in accordance with section 47-33r upon payment to the plaintiff of such litigation expenses as the court may award.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-003", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(c)(1)", "excerpt": "Production, geophysical exploration, exploratory or developmental drilling, mining, exploitation, development or other active mineral operations on or below the surface of real property which is subject to a mineral interest. Injection of substances for purposes of disposal or storage is not an active mineral operation within the meaning of this subdivision.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-004", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(a)", "excerpt": "Any person claiming any kind of mineral interest may preserve and keep effective that interest by recording a notice of intent to preserve the mineral interest or a part thereof. The mineral interest is preserved in each town in which the notice is recorded.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-005", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33s", "excerpt": "A court order or decree terminating a mineral interest, when recorded, merges the terminated mineral interest, including express and implied appurtenant surface rights and obligations, with the surface estate in shares proportionate to the ownership of the surface estate, subject to existing tax liens or assessments.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-006", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33o(1)", "excerpt": "“Mineral interest” means an interest in a mineral estate, however created and regardless of form, whether absolute or fractional, divided or undivided, corporeal or incorporeal, including a fee simple or any lesser interest or any kind of royalty, production payment, executive right, nonexecutive right, leasehold or security interest in minerals", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-007", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33t(b)", "excerpt": "An action may not be maintained to terminate a mineral interest pursuant to sections 47-33m to 47-33t, inclusive, until two years after October 1, 1987.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-008", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(c)(3)", "excerpt": "including an instrument that evidences a transfer of the title to such mineral interest, such as a probate certificate of distribution or devise.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-009", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(b)", "excerpt": "The notice may be executed by or on behalf of a co-owner for the benefit of any or all co-owners or on behalf of the owner for the benefit of any or all persons claiming under the owner or persons under whom the owner claims.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-010", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(b)", "excerpt": "but the persons cannot be located or are unknown to the plaintiff, or both, and describes the actual or possible estate or interest of such person or persons, and how derived, so far as may be known to him from a reasonable search of the available land records or otherwise", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-31-and-47-33.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-011", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(c)", "excerpt": "sets forth the efforts which were made to ascertain the names and addresses as well as the interest or estates of the unknown persons, the court to which the action is brought or a judge thereof may make such order relative to the notice which shall be given in such cause as the court or judge deems reasonable.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-31-and-47-33.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-012", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33(a)", "excerpt": "can be found in the land records of the town in which the real estate is situated, it shall be presumed for the purpose of the action, if brought pursuant to the provisions of section 52-69, that there is no such executor or administrator unless it appears in the affidavit", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-31-and-47-33.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-013", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33(b)", "excerpt": "The term “heirs”, as used in designating defendants pursuant to section 52-69, includes the heirs at law, legatees and devisees of the deceased, and all persons who might claim under them", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-31-and-47-33.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-014", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_896.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-69", "excerpt": "an affidavit stating that the plaintiff does not know who the widow, widower or heirs, or some of them, are, or where they or any of them reside, and, in the process to the action, describes as parties defendant “the widow and heirs”, “the widower and heirs” or “the heirs”, as the case may be, of the deceased person", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-52-68-and-52-69.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-015", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_896.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-68(a)", "excerpt": "when the adverse party, or any persons so interested therein that they ought to be made parties thereto, reside out of the state, or when the names or residences of any such persons in interest are unknown to the party instituting the proceeding.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-52-68-and-52-69.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-CT-016", "jurisdiction": "CT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://cga.ct.gov/Current/pub/chap_821.htm", "publisher": "Connecticut General Assembly, Legislative Commissioners' Office", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33t(c)", "excerpt": "Sections 47-33m to 47-33t, inclusive, do not limit or affect any other procedure provided by law for extinguishing an abandoned or dormant mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/CT-cgs-47-33m-to-47-33t.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-DE-001", "jurisdiction": "DE", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/index.html", "publisher": "Delaware General Assembly, Delaware Code Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Del. Code tit. 25 (Property), all chapters searched", "excerpt": "", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-DE-002", "jurisdiction": "DE", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title7/index.html", "publisher": "Delaware General Assembly, Delaware Code Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Del. Code tit. 7 (Conservation), all chapters searched", "excerpt": "", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-DE-003", "jurisdiction": "DE", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title7/c061/index.html", "publisher": "State of Delaware, Delaware Code Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "7 Del. C. § 6134", "excerpt": "lessees under this chapter and their representatives may unite with each other jointly or separately, or jointly or separately with others owning or operating lands not belonging to the State, in collectively adopting and operating under a cooperative or unit plan of development or operation of the pool or field", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/DE-title7-title25-search.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-DE-004", "jurisdiction": "DE", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title7/c061/index.html", "publisher": "State of Delaware, Delaware Code Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "7 Del. C. § 6115", "excerpt": "Sufficient bonding or insurance requirements, as determined by the Secretary shall be specified to secure to the State performance and the faithful compliance by the lessee with the terms of the lease, and further to secure adjacent landowners and the public generally as to all proper claims for damages arising from operations thereunder.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/DE-title7-title25-search.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-DE-005", "jurisdiction": "DE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/Title25.pdf", "publisher": "Delaware Legislative Council, Delaware Code Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "25 Del. C. 723", "excerpt": "then the petition may describe such unknown heirs as the heirs of the person who, if living, would be a proper party, and the petition, in cases under this section, shall pray that notice of the substance and object thereof may be given by publication", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/DE-code-survey-t25-t7-t10.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-DE-006", "jurisdiction": "DE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://delcode.delaware.gov/title7/Title7.pdf", "publisher": "Delaware Legislative Council, Delaware Code Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "7 Del. C. 6102(a)", "excerpt": "The Secretary and the Governor have exclusive jurisdiction to lease for mineral exploration and exploitation all ungranted submerged", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/DE-code-survey-t25-t7-t10.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-DC-001", "jurisdiction": "DC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/47-1384", "publisher": "Council of the District of Columbia, D.C. Law Library", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "D.C. Code § 47-1384 (only marketable title hit)", "excerpt": "the provision shall be liberally construed as remedial legislation to encourage the foreclosure of the right of redemption by suits in the Superior Court and for the decreeing of marketable titles to real property sold by the Mayor.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "the D.C. Council’s official code, publication of September 30, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/DC-code-fulltext-search.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-DC-002", "jurisdiction": "DC", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/41-151.02", "publisher": "Council of the District of Columbia, D.C. Law Library", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "D.C. Code 41-151.02(18)", "excerpt": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means an amount payable for extraction, production, or sale of minerals, or, on the abandonment of the amount, an amount that becomes payable after abandonment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/DC-owner-status-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-001", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.04", "publisher": "The Florida Senate", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.04 (2025)", "excerpt": "Subject to s. 712.03, a marketable record title is free and clear of all estates, interests, claims, covenants, restrictions, or charges, the existence of which depends upon any act, title transaction, event, zoning requirement, building or development permit, or omission that occurred before the effective date of the root of title.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-002", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.02", "publisher": "The Florida Senate", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.02 (2025)", "excerpt": "Any person having the legal capacity to own land in this state, who, alone or together with her or his predecessors in title, has been vested with any estate in land of record for 30 years or more, shall have a marketable record title to such estate in said land", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-003", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.05", "publisher": "The Florida Senate", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.05(1) (2025)", "excerpt": "may preserve and protect such interest or right from extinguishment by the operation of this chapter by filing for record, at any time during the 30-year period immediately following the effective date of the root of title, a written notice in accordance with s. 712.06.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-004", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.03", "publisher": "The Florida Senate", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.03(1) (2025)", "excerpt": "those estates, interests, easements, or use restrictions created before the root of title are preserved by identification in the legal description of the property by specific reference to the official records book and page number, instrument number, or plat name", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-005", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/704.05", "publisher": "The Florida Senate", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 704.05(1) (2025)", "excerpt": "shall include rights of entry or of an easement, given or reserved in any conveyance or devise of realty, when given or reserved for the purpose of mining, drilling, exploring, or developing for oil, gas, minerals, or fissionable materials", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-704-05.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-006", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/193.481", "publisher": "The Florida Senate", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 193.481(1) (2025)", "excerpt": "Such mineral, oil, gas, and other subsurface rights, when separated from the fee or other interest in the fee, shall be subject to separate taxation.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-193-481.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-007", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.lowndes-law.com/newsroom/insights/buying-or-selling-in-florida-beware-of-mineral-rights", "publisher": "Lowndes (law firm)", "type": "secondary", "pinpoint": "Buying or Selling in Florida? Beware of Mineral Rights", "excerpt": "Florida’s Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA) may operate to extinguish a private right of entry for exploration, mining, drilling, etc., pursuant to F.S. 704.05 , even if the mineral reservations themselves remain.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-lowndes-mineral-rights-secondary.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-FL-008", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.27", "publisher": "The Florida Senate", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.27(1) (2025)", "excerpt": "Where, however, such owners have not agreed to integrate their interests, the division shall, for the prevention of waste and to avoid the risks involved in the drilling of unnecessary wells, require such owners to do so and to develop their lands as a drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-009", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.2411", "publisher": "The Florida Senate", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.2411(2)(a), (b) (2025)", "excerpt": "All notified owners who fail to respond in writing to the applicant’s notice within 30 days after receipt of said notice shall be deemed to be a carried leasehold working interest owner or “carried owner.” (b) A carried owner shall receive no revenue until the applicant and its joint working interest owners have been paid from the sale of production", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-010", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.244", "publisher": "The Florida Senate", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.244(1)(b) (2025)", "excerpt": "The applicant shall post a good and sufficient surety bond with the division in such amount as the division may determine is adequate to afford full and complete protection for the owner of the surface rights of the lands described in the application, conditioned upon the full and complete restoration", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-surface-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-011", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.02", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.02", "excerpt": "Any person having the legal capacity to own land in this state, who, alone or together with her or his predecessors in title, has been vested with any estate in land of record for 30 years or more, shall have a marketable record title to such estate in said land, which shall be free and clear of all claims", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-012", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.04", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.04", "excerpt": "all such estates, interests, claims, covenants, restrictions, or charges, however denominated, whether they are or appear to be held or asserted by a person sui juris or under a disability, whether such person is within or without the state, natural or corporate, or private or governmental, are declared to be null and void.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-013", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/704.05", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 704.05(1)", "excerpt": "The rights and interests in land which are subject to being extinguished by marketable record title pursuant to the provisions of s. 712.04 shall include rights of entry or of an easement, given or reserved in any conveyance or devise of realty, when given or reserved for the purpose of mining, drilling, exploring, or developing for oil, gas, minerals", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-014", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.05", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.05(3)", "excerpt": "A person’s disability or lack of knowledge of any kind may not delay the commencement of or suspend the running of the 30-year period.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-015", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.05", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.05(1)", "excerpt": "may preserve and protect such interest or right from extinguishment by the operation of this chapter by filing for record, at any time during the 30-year period immediately following the effective date of the root of title, a written notice in accordance with s. 712.06.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-016", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.06", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.06(3)(a)", "excerpt": "Cause the clerk of the circuit court to mail by registered or certified mail to the purported owner of said property, as stated in such notice, a copy thereof and shall enter on the original, before recording the same, a certificate showing such mailing.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-017", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.06", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.06(3)(b)", "excerpt": "Publish once a week, for 2 consecutive weeks, the notice referred to in s. 712.05, with the official record book and page number in which such notice was recorded, in a newspaper as defined in chapter 50 in the county in which the property is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-018", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/712.06", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 712.06(4)", "excerpt": "Failure of any purported owner to receive the mailed notice shall not affect the validity of the notice or vitiate the effect of the filing of such notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-712-mrta-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-019", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(1)", "excerpt": "In the event that the operator of a well cannot locate the owner of a minority mineral interest within a drilling unit or the identity of the minority mineral interest owner remains unknown to the operator after reasonable and diligent attempts to locate said owner, the operator may request that the department act in a receivership capacity for these rights.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-020", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(1)(a), (b)", "excerpt": "The oil and gas administrator has been provided a legal description and a current title opinion for the mineral rights or interests at issue. ... For purposes of this subsection, a diligent attempt to notify shall be an attempt to contact the owner by registered mail at the owner’s last known address.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-021", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(3)", "excerpt": "Annually, the oil and gas administrator shall cause to have published at the expense of the operator a notice of the value of pro rata shares on deposit in the Minerals Trust Fund for all unknown or unlocated mineral owners in a newspaper of record for the county in which the producing unit is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-022", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(4)", "excerpt": "Should a previously unidentified or unknown person come forward to claim a pro rata share, the department shall disburse the amount of principal and interest on account after verification of the authenticity of the claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-023", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.247", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.247(6); see 717.113", "excerpt": "If the funds on deposit remain unclaimed, after a period of 5 years from the date of first production from the well, the funds are presumed abandoned and shall be disposed of pursuant to chapter 717.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-FL-024", "jurisdiction": "FL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/377.2411", "publisher": "The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes (2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Fla. Stat. 377.2411(1)(a), (2)(a)", "excerpt": "give written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, of a proposal to drill a well to those mineral owners who would be deemed “notified owners” ... All notified owners who fail to respond in writing to the applicant’s notice within 30 days after receipt of said notice shall be deemed to be a carried leasehold working interest owner", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/FL-377-247-unknown-unlocated-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-001", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode", "publisher": "Official Code of Georgia Annotated, public access site of the Georgia Code Revision Commission on behalf of the General Assembly, maintained by LexisNexis", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168(a), version [Effective July 1, 2026] (identical wording in the version effective until July 1, 2026)", "excerpt": "the owner of the real property in fee simple or his heirs or assigns may gain title to such mineral rights by adverse possession if the owner of the mineral rights or his heirs or assigns have neither worked nor attempted to work the mineral rights nor paid any taxes due on them for a period of seven years", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-ocga-official.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-002", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode", "publisher": "Official Code of Georgia Annotated, public access site of the Georgia Code Revision Commission on behalf of the General Assembly, maintained by LexisNexis", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168(b)(2) and (b)(3)", "excerpt": "the court shall issue a judgment and decree declaring that the mineral rights involved have been lost and that the plaintiff has gained absolute title to such mineral rights; and (3) Service shall be perfected in the same manner as service on defendants in an in rem proceeding, including service by publication.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-ocga-official.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-003", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode", "publisher": "Official Code of Georgia Annotated, public access site of the Georgia Code Revision Commission on behalf of the General Assembly, maintained by LexisNexis", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168(f), version [Effective July 1, 2026]", "excerpt": "(f) Nothing in this Code section shall apply to a lease for a specific number of years nor to an owner of mineral rights who has leased the mineral rights in writing to a mining operator as defined in Code Section 12-4-72", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-ocga-official.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-004", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode", "publisher": "Official Code of Georgia Annotated, public access site of the Georgia Code Revision Commission on behalf of the General Assembly, maintained by LexisNexis", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168, history line of the version [Effective July 1, 2026]", "excerpt": "Code 1933, § 85-407.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 725, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 44; Ga. L. 2026, p. 1069, § 44(16)/HB 1268 , effective July ...", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-ocga-official.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-005", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/246941", "publisher": "Georgia General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "HB 1268 (Act 723), LC 39 4848/AP as passed House and Senate, Section 44, paragraph (16), lines 987 to 990", "excerpt": "(16) Code Section 44-5-168, relating to adverse possession of mineral rights under certain conditions and procedure to obtain title, by substituting \"mining operator as defined in Code Section 12-4-72.\" for \"licensed mining operator as defined in Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 12.\" in subsection (f).", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-HB1268-2026.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-006", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73061", "publisher": "Georgia General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "HB 1268 status history, 2025 to 2026 Regular Session", "excerpt": "07/01/2026 Effective Date; 05/12/2026 Act 723; 05/12/2026 House Date Signed by Governor", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-HB1268-2026.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-007", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/legislative-counsel-document-library/sumdoc2026-edit.pdf", "publisher": "Office of Legislative Counsel, Georgia General Assembly", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Summary of General Statutes Enacted, 2026, Act 723; HB 1268, and index entry for Code Section 44-5-168", "excerpt": "This Act makes extensive editorial amendments to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated to correct typographical, stylistic, capitalization, punctuation, and other errors and omissions and reenacts the statutory portion of the Code as so amended. Effective July 1, 2026.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-sumdoc2026-legislative-counsel.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-008", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/202211375.pdf", "publisher": "United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "P.D. Miller Farms, LLC v. BASF Catalysts, LLC, No. 22-11375 (11th Cir. Jan. 5, 2023) (unpublished)", "excerpt": "when the mineral rights are separately held from the surface rights, \"the owner of the mineral rights loses them by nonuse plus nonpayment of taxes.\" Fisch v. Randall Mill Corp., 262 Ga. 861, 862 (1993)", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-ca11-pd-miller-farms-2023.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-009", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "onecle", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. § 44-5-168, text before the 2026 amendment (page last modified October 14, 2016)", "excerpt": "(e) In order to maintain the status quo pending the adjudication of the questions or to preserve equitable rights, the court may grant injunctions and other interlocutory extraordinary relief.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-GA-010", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode", "publisher": "Official Code of Georgia Annotated, public access site of the Georgia Code Revision Commission on behalf of the General Assembly, maintained by LexisNexis", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. § 12-4-45(a)(1)", "excerpt": "such owners have not agreed to integrate their interests, the board may, for the prevention of waste or to avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells, after ... require such owners to do so and to develop their lands as a drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-12-4-45-pooling-and-surface-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-011", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "Onecle (unofficial mirror of O.C.G.A.)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(a)", "excerpt": "the owner of the real property in fee simple or his heirs or assigns may gain title to such mineral rights by adverse possession if the owner of the mineral rights or his heirs or assigns have neither worked nor attempted to work the mineral rights nor paid any taxes due on them for a period of seven years", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-GA-012", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "Onecle (unofficial mirror of O.C.G.A.)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(1)(B)", "excerpt": "Shall contain the name and last known address of the grantor of the property reserving the mineral rights and the names and last known addresses of his heirs or assigns or any other person known by the plaintiff to have an interest in the mineral rights;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-GA-013", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "Onecle (unofficial mirror of O.C.G.A.)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(3)", "excerpt": "Service shall be perfected in the same manner as service on defendants in an in rem proceeding, including service by publication.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-GA-014", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "Onecle (unofficial mirror of O.C.G.A.)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(b)(2)", "excerpt": "Upon a finding in the plaintiff's favor, the court shall issue a judgment and decree declaring that the mineral rights involved have been lost and that the plaintiff has gained absolute title to such mineral rights;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-GA-015", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.onecle.com/georgia/title-44/44-5-168.html", "publisher": "Onecle (unofficial mirror of O.C.G.A.)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "O.C.G.A. 44-5-168(d)", "excerpt": "Any person named in the petition or any person having an interest in the mineral rights shall have the right to intervene in a case brought under this Code section.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-44-5-168-onecle-unofficial.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-GA-016", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/ga/251/cases/0580-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Supreme Court of Georgia opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Hayes v. Howell, 251 Ga. 580 (1983), Division 2(a)", "excerpt": "The preservation of the mineral owner’s claim under OCGA § 44-5-168 (Code Ann. § 85-407.1) depended only upon his use of the minerals or upon returning them for taxes.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-hayes-v-howell-1983.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-017", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/ga/251/cases/0580-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Supreme Court of Georgia opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Hayes v. Howell, 251 Ga. 580 (1983), Division 3", "excerpt": "As we read OCGA § 44-5-168 (Code Ann. § 85-407.1), it contemplates payment of taxes upon the mineral rights, as such, by the holder of the mineral rights who is not the owner of real property in fee simple.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-hayes-v-howell-1983.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-018", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/ga/251/cases/0580-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Supreme Court of Georgia opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Hayes v. Howell, 251 Ga. 580 (1983), Division 2(b)", "excerpt": "By the same token, the statute itself does not divest the mineral owner of his rights; it conditions the retention of those rights upon the requirements of either using them or paying taxes upon them for the public benefit.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-hayes-v-howell-1983.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-GA-019", "jurisdiction": "GA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/202211375.pdf", "publisher": "United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "P.D. Miller Farms, LLC v. BASF Catalysts, LLC, No. 22-11375 (11th Cir. Jan. 5, 2023) (unpublished), slip op. at 7", "excerpt": "Put another way, when the mineral rights are separately held from the surface rights, “the owner of the mineral rights loses them by nonuse plus nonpayment of taxes.”", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/GA-ca11-pd-miller-farms-2023.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-HI-001", "jurisdiction": "HI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0002.htm", "publisher": "Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "HRS § 182-2(a)", "excerpt": "All minerals in, on, or under state lands or reserved lands are reserved to the State; provided that the board may release, cancel, or waive the reservation whenever it deems the land use, other than mining, is of greater benefit to the State as provided for in section 182-4.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/HI-hrs-182.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-HI-002", "jurisdiction": "HI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0001.htm", "publisher": "Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "HRS § 182-1, definition of reserved lands", "excerpt": "\"Reserved lands\" means those lands owned or leased by any person in which the State or its predecessors in interest has reserved to itself expressly or by implication the minerals or right to mine minerals, or both.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 30, 2023", "saved_as": "sources/HI-hrs-182.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-HI-003", "jurisdiction": "HI", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0009_0005.htm", "publisher": "Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "HRS § 182-9.5", "excerpt": "the board, in its discretion, may order such lessees or owners of mineral rights on adjoining properties to collectively adopt, and operate under, a cooperative or unit plan of development, if the board finds that such a plan will prevent the waste of any mineral, increase the ultimate recovery", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/HI-hrs-182.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-HI-004", "jurisdiction": "HI", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0003.htm", "publisher": "Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "HRS § 182-3(a)", "excerpt": "the occupier shall be reimbursed the full extent of the damages caused by the mining operations of the lessee to be allocated between the lessee and the fee owner in accordance with the lease terms, if any.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 30, 2023", "saved_as": "sources/HI-hrs-182.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-HI-005", "jurisdiction": "HI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0002.htm", "publisher": "Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "HRS 182-2(a)", "excerpt": "All minerals in, on, or under state lands or reserved lands are reserved to the State; provided that the board may release, cancel, or waive the reservation whenever it deems the land use, other than mining, is of greater benefit to the State as provided for in section 182-4.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/HI-hrs-182-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-HI-006", "jurisdiction": "HI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0182/HRS_0182-0001.htm", "publisher": "Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "HRS 182-1, definition of reserved lands", "excerpt": "\"Reserved lands\" means those lands owned or leased by any person in which the State or its predecessors in interest has reserved to itself expressly or by implication the minerals or right to mine minerals, or both.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 30, 2023", "saved_as": "sources/HI-hrs-182-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-HI-007", "jurisdiction": "HI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0523A/HRS_0523A-0002.htm", "publisher": "Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "HRS 523A-2, definition of mineral proceeds", "excerpt": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means amounts payable for the extraction, production, or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable thereafter.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 15, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/HI-hrs-182-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-001", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title55/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Survey of Idaho Code Titles 55, 47, 6, 5 and 14 chapters (full text of chapter PDFs)", "excerpt": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means an amount payable for", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshots March 12, 2025 to June 12, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-survey-chapters.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-002", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code § 47-320(1)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary integration, the department, upon the application of any owner in that proposed spacing unit, shall order integration of all tracts or interests in the spacing unit for drilling of a well or wells, for development and operation thereof and for the sharing of production therefrom.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-integration.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-003", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code § 47-320(4)(h)", "excerpt": "An affidavit indicating that at least sixty-seven percent (67%) of the mineral interest acres in the spacing unit support the integration application by leasing or participating as a working interest owner;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-integration.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-004", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-334/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code § 47-334(3)(c)", "excerpt": "(c) Compensate a surface landowner for unreasonable: (i) Loss of a surface landowner’s crops on the surface land; (ii) Loss of value to existing improvements owned by a surface landowner on the surface land; and (iii) Permanent damage to the surface land.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 16, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-334-surface-use.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-005", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-334/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code § 47-334(8)(b)", "excerpt": "The minimum surface use bond shall be in the amount of six thousand dollars ($6,000) per well site", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 16, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-334-surface-use.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-006", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-320(4)(j)", "excerpt": "A resume of efforts documenting the applicant’s good faith efforts on at least two (2) separate occasions within a period of time no less than sixty (60) days to inform uncommitted owners ... At least one (1) contact must be by certified U.S. mail sent to an owner’s last known address.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-007", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-320(5)", "excerpt": "At the time the integration application is filed with the department, the applicant shall certify that, for uncommitted owners who are unknown or cannot be found, a notice of the application was published in a newspaper in the county where the proposed spacing unit is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-008", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-328/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-328(3)(b)", "excerpt": "the applicant shall send a copy of the application and supporting documents to all known and located uncommitted mineral interest owners ... For any uncommitted owners and working interest owners who cannot be located, an applicant shall publish notice of any application for an order, notice of hearing and response deadline once in a newspaper of general circulation", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 18, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-009", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-328/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-328(2)", "excerpt": "Where the interested person is unknown or cannot be located, the commission shall serve notice by publishing at least one (1) notice of the hearing to such person in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the affected tract is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 18, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-010", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title47/T47CH3/SECT47-320/", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 47-320(3)(c)", "excerpt": "If an owner fails to make an election within the election period set forth in the integration order, the operator shall compensate such owner for the owner’s share of production with the following just and reasonable terms", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 7, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ID-011", "jurisdiction": "ID", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/statutesrules/idstat/Title14/T14CH5.pdf", "publisher": "Idaho Legislature, Idaho Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Idaho Code 14-5-102(16)", "excerpt": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means an amount payable for extraction, production, or sale of minerals or, on the abandonment of the amount, an amount that becomes payable after abandonment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/ID-47-320-328-14-5-102.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-001", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505150K1.htm", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/1(a), (b)", "excerpt": "An \"unknown or missing owner\" is any person or entity vested with a severed mineral interest and whose present identity or location cannot be determined from the records of the county in which the severed mineral interest is located and by diligent inquiry in the vicinity of the owner's last known place of residence", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 7, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-002", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505150K3.htm", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/3", "excerpt": "the circuit court of the county in which the minerals or the major portion thereof lies shall have the power to declare a trust therein, appoint a trustee for the unknown or missing owners and authorize the trustee to sell, execute and deliver a valid lease thereon", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-003", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505150K9.htm", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/9(a)", "excerpt": "Regardless of whether there has been production of the severed mineral interest, if the owners of the severed mineral interests which are the subject of a trustee's lease executed and delivered in accordance with this Act remain unknown or missing for a period of 7 years from the date of entry of the initial judgment authorizing a lease", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-004", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505150K11.htm", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/11(g)", "excerpt": "the court shall enter a judgment declaring that the severed mineral interests are null and void due to adverse possession by the surface owner and that fee title to such severed mineral interests is vested in such surface owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 23, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-005", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505150K11.htm", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/11(g)(2)", "excerpt": "and the severance took place more than 20 years prior to the date of the filing of the original petition, the plaintiff or his then successor in title shall file a motion with the court renewing or supplementing the allegations of the original petition", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 23, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-006", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Acts?ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Chapter 765 act list, Mineral Rights group", "excerpt": "765 ILCS 515/ Severed Mineral Interest Act. 765 ILCS 520/ Oil and Gas Rights Act. 765 ILCS 525/ Oil and Gas Recovery Act. 765 ILCS 530/ Drilling Operations Act.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 22, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-ilcs-mineral-rights-index.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-007", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/022507250K22.2.htm", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "225 ILCS 725/22.2(b)", "excerpt": "and where at least one of the owners has drilled or has proposed to drill a well on an established drilling unit the Department on the application of an owner shall, for the prevention of waste or to avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells, require such owners to do so and to develop their lands as a drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 31, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-225-725-22-2-integration.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-008", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://dnr.illinois.gov/oilandgas/programsandregulations.html", "publisher": "Illinois Department of Natural Resources", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Office of Oil and Gas Resource Management, programs and regulations page", "excerpt": "Illinois Oil and Gas Act (225 ILCS 725) provides for the conservation of oil and gas resources through the protection of correlative rights, proper well spacing, integration and unitization of mineral interests", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IL-dnr-oil-gas-programs.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-009", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505300K6.htm", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 530/6(A)(1), (B)", "excerpt": "The surface owner shall be entitled to reasonable compensation from the operator for damages as follows: (1) To growing crops, trees, shrubs, fences, roads, structures, improvements, personal property, and livestock thereon caused by the drilling of a new well.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-530-drilling-operations-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-010", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/076505300K4.htm", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 530/4", "excerpt": "certified mail addressed to the surface owner at the address shown in the certification obtained from the assessor, which shall be postmarked at least 15 days prior to the commencement of drilling operations", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 24, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-530-drilling-operations-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-011", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/1(b)", "excerpt": "whose present identity or location cannot be determined from the records of the county in which the severed mineral interest is located and by diligent inquiry in the vicinity of the owner's last known place of residence, and shall include his unknown heirs and his unknown successors and assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-012", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/3", "excerpt": "the circuit court of the county in which the minerals or the major portion thereof lies shall have the power to declare a trust therein, appoint a trustee for the unknown or missing owners and authorize the trustee to sell, execute and deliver a valid lease thereon", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-013", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/5(a)", "excerpt": "shall join as defendants to the action all persons having a legal interest therein who are unknown or missing and the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of all unknown or missing owners.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-014", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/5(b)(4), (5)", "excerpt": "The last known address, residence or whereabouts which plaintiff may have been able to ascertain for each unknown or missing owner and the sources of information which plaintiff has checked in an attempt to locate the present address, residence or whereabouts of each unknown or missing owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-015", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/5(c)", "excerpt": "The clerk shall also, within 10 days of the first publication of the notice, send a copy thereof by mail, addressed to each defendant's last known address stated in the petition.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-016", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/6", "excerpt": "Such defendant or his successor may petition the court, and upon a finding of the court of ownership of such interest, the court shall enter an order directing the release of all funds applicable to the interest, including any accrued interest, to such owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-017", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/7", "excerpt": "The lease shall be binding upon the defendant's heirs, legatees, personal representatives, successors or assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-018", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/9(a)", "excerpt": "remain unknown or missing for a period of 7 years from the date of entry of the initial judgment authorizing a lease, the trustee shall file a motion with the court on or before the eighth anniversary of the date of the lease naming the then present surface owners as additional parties defendant", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-019", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/11(e)", "excerpt": "the court shall enter a judgment that the owner of the surface estate and his heirs, successors and assigns, is from the date of the judgment exercising presumptive adverse possession of the severed mineral interests by reason of his ownership.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-020", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/11(g)", "excerpt": "the court shall enter a judgment declaring that the severed mineral interests are null and void due to adverse possession by the surface owner and that fee title to such severed mineral interests is vested in such surface owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-021", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/11(h)", "excerpt": "Upon a finding by the court that such intervenor is the owner of said severed mineral interest and upon payment to the plaintiff of all real estate taxes upon said severed mineral interest theretofore paid by the plaintiff and such reasonable attorney fees and costs as the court may allow", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IL-022", "jurisdiction": "IL", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2194&ChapterID=62", "publisher": "Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Compiled Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "765 ILCS 515/5(e)", "excerpt": "If any defendant answers or otherwise appears personally and the court finds that he is an unknown or missing owner of a severed mineral interest, the court shall enter an order determining the interest of such defendant and he shall be dismissed from the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/IL-765-515-severed-mineral-interest-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-001", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar23/ch10.html", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Office of Code Revision, Legislative Services Agency", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-2", "excerpt": "An interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals, if unused for a period of twenty (20) years, is extinguished and the ownership reverts to the owner of the interest out of which the interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals was carved.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 24, 2012", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-002", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar23/ch10.html", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Office of Code Revision, Legislative Services Agency", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-3(a)(1) to (3)", "excerpt": "(1) minerals are produced under the mineral interest; (2) operations are conducted on the mineral interest for injection, withdrawal, storage, or disposal of water, gas, or other fluid substances; (3) 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;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 24, 2012", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-003", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar23/ch10.html", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Office of Code Revision, Legislative Services Agency", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-4(c)", "excerpt": "Upon the filing of a statement of claim within the time provided in this section, the mineral interest is considered to be in use on the date the statement of claim is filed.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 24, 2012", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-004", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar23/ch10.html", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Office of Code Revision, Legislative Services Agency", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-5", "excerpt": "does not cause a mineral interest to be extinguished if the owner of the mineral interest: (1) was, at the time of the expiration of the period specified in section 4 of this chapter, the owner of ten (10) or more mineral interests in the county", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 24, 2012", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-005", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://iga.in.gov/ic/2026/Title_32.json", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly (iga.in.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Indiana Code 2026, Title 32 structure file, chapter 32-23-10", "excerpt": "Chapter 10. Lapse of Mineral Interest", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 12, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/IN-iga-2026-code-structure.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-006", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/454/516", "publisher": "Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (reproduction of the opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Texaco, Inc. v. Short, 454 U.S. 516 (1982)", "excerpt": "In 1971 the Indiana Legislature enacted a statute providing that a severed mineral interest that is not used for a period of 20 years automatically lapses and reverts to the current surface owner of the property, unless the mineral owner files a statement of claim in the local county recorder's office.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-texaco-v-short-1982.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-007", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.theindianalawyer.com/articles/31484-coa-rules-for-first-time-on-retroactivity-of-mineral-lapse-act", "publisher": "The Indiana Lawyer", "type": "secondary", "pinpoint": "Bond v. Templeton Coal Co., No. 42A01-1209-PL-419 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013), as reported", "excerpt": "limited in its retroactive application to only the 20-year period", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-secondary-case-notes.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-008", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title14/ar37/ch9.html", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Office of Code Revision, Legislative Services Agency", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "IC 14-37-9-1(b)", "excerpt": "If the owners of separate tracts of land do not agree to integrate their interests, the commission shall, for the prevention of waste or to avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells, require the owners to integrate their interests and to develop the land as a drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2011", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-14-37-9-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-009", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title14/ar37/ch9.html", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Office of Code Revision, Legislative Services Agency", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "IC 14-37-9-3(c)", "excerpt": "The operator is entitled to receive the first production from a well that otherwise would be credited to the other owners of the integrated interests, so that the proportionate share owed by the other owners for expenditures under this chapter is paid to the operator from production.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2011", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-14-37-9-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-010", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://iga.in.gov/ic/2026/Title_14.json", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly (iga.in.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Indiana Code 2026, Title 14 structure file, chapter 14-37-9", "excerpt": "Chapter 9. Integration and Forced Pooling", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 12, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/IN-iga-2026-code-structure.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-011", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar23/ch7.html", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Office of Code Revision, Legislative Services Agency", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-7-6(3)", "excerpt": "is accountable to the owner of the surface of the land for the actual damage resulting from the person's activities on the land to: (A) the surface of the land; (B) improvements to the land; or (C) growing crops on the land.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 7, 2013", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-7-surface.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-012", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar23/ch7.html", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Office of Code Revision, Legislative Services Agency", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-7-6.5(b)", "excerpt": "must provide to the surface owner a written notice of the person's intent to enter the property at least five (5) days before the person's entry.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 7, 2013", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-7-surface.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-013", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://iga.in.gov/ic/2026/Title_32.json", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly (iga.in.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Indiana Code 2026, Title 32 structure file, section 32-23-7-6.5", "excerpt": "Notice to surface owner of intent to enter property", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 12, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/IN-iga-2026-code-structure.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-014", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-2", "excerpt": "An interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals, if unused for a period of twenty (20) years, is extinguished and the ownership reverts to the owner of the interest out of which the interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals was carved.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-015", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-4(a)", "excerpt": "(1) be filed by the owner of the mineral interest before the end of the twenty (20) year period set forth in section 2 of this chapter; and (2) contain: (A) the name and address of the owner of the mineral interest; and (B) a description of the land", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-016", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-5(1), (4)", "excerpt": "(1) was, at the time of the expiration of the period specified in section 4 of this chapter, the owner of ten (10) or more mineral interests in the county", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-017", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-6(a)", "excerpt": "give notice of the lapse of the mineral interest by: (1) publishing notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the mineral interest is located; and (2) if the address of the mineral interest owner is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry, by mailing, not more than ten (10) days after publication", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-018", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-10/chapter-10.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-10-6(b)(1)", "excerpt": "the name of the owner of the mineral interest, as shown of record", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-10.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-019", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/ne2d/406/cases/0625-01.json", "publisher": "Indiana Supreme Court, Short v. Texaco, Inc., 406 N.E.2d 625 (Ind. 1980), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "406 N.E.2d 625 (Ind. 1980)", "excerpt": "If a court should be called upon to determine whether such conditions arose in a particular case so as to have effected the loss of an interest, the owner of such interest would be entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-short-v-texaco-ind-1980.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-020", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/us/454/cases/0516-01.json", "publisher": "U.S. Supreme Court, Texaco, Inc. v. Short, 454 U.S. 516 (1982), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "454 U.S. 516, 533 to 534 (1982)", "excerpt": "It is undisputed that, before judgment could be entered in a quiet title action that would determine conclusively that a mineral interest has reverted to the surface owner, the full procedural protections of the Due Process Clause — including notice reasonably calculated to reach all interested parties and a prior opportunity to be heard — must be provided.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-texaco-v-short-1982.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IN-021", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-3", "excerpt": "(2) whose identity or location cannot be determined: (A) from the records in the chain of title in the county in which the land is located; (B) by diligent inquiry in the vicinity of the record owner's last known place of residence or location; and (C) from a search of tax records", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-022", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-3(b)", "excerpt": "The term includes the person's heirs and devisees and successors and assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-023", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-6(a)(1)(A)", "excerpt": "The last owners of record in the chain of title and all reasonably ascertainable heirs, devisees, successors, and assigns of the last owners of record.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-024", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-6(b)", "excerpt": "The Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure govern an action under this chapter to make an unknown or missing person a respondent. Legal service on a respondent who is unknown or missing may be made by publication.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-025", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-6(a)(2)(F)", "excerpt": "A verified statement that informs the court of the actions the petitioner has taken to identify and locate the unknown or missing owner or the owner's heirs, devisees, successors, and assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-026", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-7(b)(2)", "excerpt": "(A) declare a trust in the mineral interest of the unknown or missing owner; (B) appoint, without a bond, a trustee for the unknown or missing owner; and (C) authorize the trustee to execute a valid mineral lease", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-027", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-10(b)", "excerpt": "A person that wishes to claim the funds described in subsection (a) must file a verified claim with the court setting out the interest of the claimant and the basis for the claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-028", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-10(d)", "excerpt": "If a successful claim is not made under this section for the funds within seven (7) years from the clerk's first receipt of any funds, the clerk shall distribute all the funds received and petitioner shall make any future payments as follows:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-029", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-12(b)", "excerpt": "The mineral lease is binding on the heirs, legatees, personal representatives, successors, and assigns of the respondents.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-030", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-14", "excerpt": "The remedies provided in this chapter are not exclusive and do not prohibit the initiation of a petition for the integration of oil and gas interest as provided in IC 14-37-9, including the integration of interests of missing or unknown owners.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IN-031", "jurisdiction": "IN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statecodesfiles.justia.com/indiana/2017/title-32/article-23/chapter-13/chapter-13.pdf", "publisher": "Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Code 2017 (PDF carried by Justia)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "IC 32-23-13-10(d)(2)", "excerpt": "the clerk shall distribute the funds and the petitioner shall make any future payments to the township trustee of the township in which the subject land is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IN-ic-32-23-13.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-IA-001", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026 (session laws)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, § 7 (Iowa Code § 557C.1)", "excerpt": "is abandoned if it has not been active in accordance with section 557C.2A for a period of twenty years after its creation, transfer, or preservation, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with section 557C.3", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-002", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026 (session laws)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, § 8 (Iowa Code § 557C.2(2))", "excerpt": "any naturally occurring gases, oil, or other gaseous, liquid, or solid hydrocarbons; oil shale; gemstones; metals; fissionable or nonfissionable ore;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-003", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026 (session laws)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, § 9 (new Iowa Code § 557C.2A)", "excerpt": "A severed mineral interest is active when any one of the following conditions exists:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-004", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026 (session laws)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, § 6 (Iowa Code § 458A.20(2))", "excerpt": "When the owner of those mineral rights or interests does not pay the total amount due by the deadline, the county shall convey the mineral rights or interests pursuant to section 331.310 to the surface owner of the land.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-005", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/557C.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Iowa Code § 557C.1 (Code 2026, before amendment)", "excerpt": "A mineral interest in coal shall be extinguished twenty years after its creation, transfer, or preservation, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with section 557C.3", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-557C-code2026.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-006", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1141.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026 (session laws)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1141, § 10 (Iowa Code § 458A.8(2))", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary pooling pursuant to subsection 1, and only if the producer has identified pools of existing natural hydrogen within the spacing unit, the director, upon the application by the owner or owners of not less than twenty-five percent of the area of the spacing unit, shall enter an order pooling all interests in the spacing unit", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1141-sf2490.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-007", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/458A.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Iowa Code § 458A.8(1) (Code 2026, before amendment; struck by 2026 ch. 1141)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary pooling, the department, upon the application of any interested person, shall enter an order pooling all interests in the spacing unit for the development and operations of the unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-458A-code2026-pooling-tax.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-008", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/3.7.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Iowa Code § 3.7(1)", "excerpt": "shall take effect on the first day of July following their passage, unless some other specified time is provided in an Act or resolution.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-3.7-effective-dates.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-009", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1141.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026 (session laws)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1141, § 11 (new Iowa Code § 458A.26(2)(a))", "excerpt": "an operator shall negotiate with the surface owner for the payment of any damages that may be caused by the drilling operation. If the parties agree and execute a written contract for payment of damages, the operator may enter the site to drill.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1141-sf2490.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-010", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 7 (Iowa Code 557C.1)", "excerpt": "A mineral interest is abandoned if it has not been active in accordance with section 557C.2A for a period of twenty years after its creation, transfer, or preservation, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with section 557C.3", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-011", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 9 (new Iowa Code 557C.2A(4))", "excerpt": "Any valid conveyance, lease, mortgage, assignment, private distribution, termination of joint tenancy interest affidavit, termination of life estate affidavit, or any judgment or decree that makes specific references to the record owner’s severed mineral interest is recorded within the last twenty years in the recorder’s office", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-012", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 9 (new Iowa Code 557C.2A(1))", "excerpt": "Minerals are produced or explored by the record owner of the mineral interest, or the rightful assignees or lessees of the record owner of the severed mineral interest, or pursuant to a pooling order issued by the department of natural resources pursuant to chapter 458A.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-013", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 10 (Iowa Code 557C.3)", "excerpt": "The statement of claim provided in section 557C.1 shall be filed by the owner of the severed mineral interest prior to the end of the twenty-year period set forth in section 557C.1 or by July 1, 1994, whichever is later.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-014", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 13 (Iowa Code 557C.6)", "excerpt": "shall not be required of an owner if the severed mineral interest was separately taxed for real estate tax purposes at any time after July 1, 1971", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-015", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 6 (Iowa Code 458A.20(1))", "excerpt": "The county treasurer shall serve the notice by sending it by regular first class mail to the person’s last known address and to the address of the person’s registered agent listed with the secretary of state, applicable.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-IA-016", "jurisdiction": "IA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/91.2/CH1176.pdf", "publisher": "Iowa Legislature, Iowa Acts 2026, chapter 1176 (H.F. 2531)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1176, s. 6 (Iowa Code 458A.20(2))", "excerpt": "When the owner of those mineral rights or interests does not pay the total amount due by the deadline, the county shall convey the mineral rights or interests pursuant to section 331.310 to the surface owner of the land ... Such conveyance shall terminate any right of redemption", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/IA-2026-acts-ch1176-hf2531.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-001", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0002.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1602", "excerpt": "An interest in coal, oil, gas or other minerals, if unused for a period of 20 years, shall lapse, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with K.S.A. 55-1604, and the ownership shall revert to the current surface owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-55-1601.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-002", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0001.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1601", "excerpt": "As used in this act, \"mineral interest\" means an interest created by an instrument transferring, by grant, assignment, reservation or otherwise, an interest of any kind in coal, oil, gas or other minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-55-1601.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-003", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0003.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1603(a)(1) to (2)", "excerpt": "A mineral interest shall be considered to be used when: (1) There are any minerals produced under the interest; (2) operations are being conducted on the interest for injection, withdrawal, storage or disposal of water, gas or other fluid substances;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-55-1601.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-004", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0003.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1603(a)(3) to (4)", "excerpt": "(3) rentals or royalties are being paid by the owner of the interest for the purpose of delaying or enjoying the use or exercise of the mineral rights; (4) the use or exercise of the mineral rights is being carried out on a tract with which the mineral interest may be unitized or pooled for production purposes;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-55-1601.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-005", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0004.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1604(a)", "excerpt": "A statement of claim may be filed by the owner of a mineral interest prior to the end of the twenty-year period specified by K.S.A. 55-1602 or within three years after the effective date of this act, whichever is later.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-55-1601.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-006", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0004.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1604(b)", "excerpt": "Failure to file a statement of claim within the time prescribed by subsection (a) shall not cause a mineral interest to be extinguished if the owner of the mineral interest filed the statement of claim within 60 days after (1) publication of notice as prescribed by K.S.A. 55-1605, if such notice is published", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-55-1601.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-007", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0005.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1605", "excerpt": "Upon the lapse of a mineral interest under K.S.A. 55-1602, any person who will succeed to the ownership of the interest shall give notice of the lapse of the mineral interest by publishing notice of the lapse in a newspaper of general circulation in the county", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-55-1601.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-008", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_013_0004.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1304", "excerpt": "The commission may make an order providing for the unitization and unit operation of such pool or part thereof sought to be unitized, if, upon application of any working interest owner and after notice and hearing", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-009", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_013_0005.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1305", "excerpt": "has been approved in writing by those persons who, under the commission's order, will be required to pay at least 63% of the costs of the unit operation, and also by the owners of at least 63% of the production or proceeds thereof that will be credited to royalties", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-010", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0011.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1611", "excerpt": "it may adopt an ordinance dividing the city into drilling units for the production of those minerals. The ordinance shall require any persons having the right to produce minerals in a drilling unit to pool their rights for the production of such minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-011", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_016_0013.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-1613", "excerpt": "The provisions of this act shall not apply to any drilling unit in which there is a producing well or wells.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-012", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_001_0051.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-151(a)", "excerpt": "The commission shall, upon receipt of such application, send a copy of such application to the named surface owner, as well as the contact information, including name, address, phone number, fax or email address, for a designated representative of the applicant.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-55-169-surface-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-013", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_001_0069.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-169", "excerpt": "K.S.A. 55-169 through 55-169b, and amendments thereto, may be cited as the Kansas surface owner notice act.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-ksa-55-169-surface-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-014", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/kan-app-2d/17/cases/0582-01.json", "publisher": "Kansas Court of Appeals, Caselaw Access Project static copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Scully v. Overall, 17 Kan. App. 2d 582, 587 (1992)", "excerpt": "We hold that the mineral interest was not extinguished or vested in the surface owners after 20 years of nonuse, when the mineral interest owners filed a statement of claim within 60 days from the publication of notice under K.S.A. 55-1604(b)(l).", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-scully-v-overall-1992.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-015", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2016/09/16/nickelson_v._bell.pdf", "publisher": "Kansas Court of Appeals, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Nickelson v. Bell, No. 114,507 (Kan. Ct. App. Sept. 16, 2016), syllabus 6", "excerpt": "A person who has acquired a mineral interest through intestate succession is not required to possess a decree of descent obtained under K.S.A. 59-2251 prior to filing a claim under the mineral lapse statute.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-nickelson-v-bell-2016.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-016", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2016/09/16/nickelson_v._bell.pdf", "publisher": "Kansas Court of Appeals, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Nickelson v. Bell (Kan. Ct. App. 2016), syllabus 4", "excerpt": "An owner of an unused mineral interest, as the term is used in K.S.A. 55-1604, is one who has acquired the right to possess, use, and control the subject mineral interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-nickelson-v-bell-2016.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-017", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0019.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-219", "excerpt": "the district court of the county wherein such tract or tracts of land are situated shall have the power to appoint a receiver over the mineral interest of such defendants whose residence, business address, or whereabouts are unknown, upon compliance with the procedure set forth in K.S.A. 55-220.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-219-222.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-018", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0020.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-220(a)(3)", "excerpt": "the sources of information which plaintiff has checked in an attempt to locate the present address or whereabouts of said defendant or defendants, and further stating that plaintiff has exercised due diligence and cannot by any means within plaintiff's control ascertain the present address or whereabouts", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-219-222.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-019", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0020.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-220(b)", "excerpt": "Notice of the hearing, the nature of the hearing and relief requested shall be given by publication one (1) time in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the property is located and also in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of the last known address of the defendant or defendants", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-219-222.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KS-020", "jurisdiction": "KS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch55/055_002_0021.html", "publisher": "Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "K.S.A. 55-221", "excerpt": "All bonuses, rentals or other monies paid to the receiver for the execution or extension of the oil and gas lease shall be by the receiver deposited with the court for the use and benefit of the defendants.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/KS-55-219-222.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-001", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33095", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.460(2)", "excerpt": "An \"unknown or missing owner\" is any person vested with a severed mineral interest and whose present identity or location cannot be determined from the records of the county in which the land is located or by diligent inquiry in the vicinity of the owner's last known place of residence", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-002", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33097", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.464(1)", "excerpt": "the Circuit Court of the county in which the minerals or the major portion thereof lies shall have the power to declare a trust therein, appoint a trustee for the unknown or missing owners and authorize the trustee to sell, execute and deliver a valid lease thereon", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-003", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33099", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.468(6)", "excerpt": "Within seven (7) years after the date of first commercial production of the severed mineral interests under the trustee's lease, any person being an unknown or missing owner of the severed mineral interest or any undivided portion thereof, may petition the Circuit Court to redocket the action", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 15, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-004", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33100", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.470(1)", "excerpt": "the owners of the severed mineral interests remain unknown or missing for a period of seven (7) years from the date of first production under the lease ... the court shall order the trustee to convey to the surface owners by recordable instrument the unknown or missing owners' interest in the severed mineral interests", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-005", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33103", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.476", "excerpt": "After the expiration of seven (7) years from the date of first commercial production of the severed mineral pursuant to the terms of the lease authorized hereunder, no action may be instituted by any unknown or missing owner to recover any right, title or interest in and to the severed mineral interest subject to the lease.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-006", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/chapter.aspx?id=38944", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS Chapter 353, section list", "excerpt": ".464 When court may declare trust and appoint trustee -- Persons authorized to institute proceedings.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 15, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-ch353-index.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-007", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/00rs/HB990.htm", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "2000 RS HB 990, LRC bill record (introduced, not enacted)", "excerpt": "allow surface owner to take action to terminate dormant mineral interests if interest is unused for fifteen (15) or more years next preceding commencement of the action", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 2, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/KY-2000-hb990-dormant-bill.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-008", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=35449", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 381.430", "excerpt": "the possession of the surface by the original claimant thereof, from whom such mineral, interests or rights passed ... shall be deemed to be for the benefit of the person, his heirs and assigns, to whom the mineral, interests or rights have passed.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 28, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-381-430.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-009", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47762", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.630(2)", "excerpt": "the operator has secured the written consent or agreement from the owners of at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the interests in each tract ... the department shall ... order ... the pooling of all oil and gas interests in all tracts, or portions thereof, that are included within the proposed pooled acreage", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 15, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-353-630-640-651.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-010", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "pooling", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47763", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.640(4)", "excerpt": "An oil or gas owner whose identity and location remain unknown after thirty (30) days has passed from the date of publication ... shall be deemed to have elected to lease the interest to the oil or gas operator, exclusive of one-eighth (1/8) of the production attributable to the unleased interest", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-353-630-640-651.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-011", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=44255", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.651(3)(a)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary pooling and upon application of any operator having an interest in the drilling unit ... the commission shall enter an order pooling all tracts or interests in the drilling unit for the development and operation thereof and for the sharing of production therefrom.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 11, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-353-630-640-651.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-012", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33120", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.595(5)", "excerpt": "The surface owner shall be entitled to reasonable compensation from the operator for damages to growing crops, trees, shrubs, fences, roads, structures, improvements, and livestock thereon caused by the drilling of a new well.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-krs-353-595.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-013", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.466(1)", "excerpt": "shall join as defendants to the action all those persons having record title thereto who are unknown or missing and the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of all such persons.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-014", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.466(2)", "excerpt": "The petitioner shall establish to the satisfaction of the court that a diligent effort has been made to identify and locate the present owners of said interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-015", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.466(4)", "excerpt": "It shall be the duty of the trustee ad litem to make an independent inquiry and search for the purpose of identifying and locating the unknown or missing owners and he shall report to the court the results of the investigation.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-016", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.466(3)", "excerpt": "Service of process shall be as provided by the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure and there shall be filed a lis pendens notice in the county clerk's office of the county wherein the mineral estate or the larger portion thereof lies.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-017", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33099", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.468(4)", "excerpt": "The court shall not authorize a trustee's lease upon the severed mineral interest of any owner whose identity and whereabouts is known, or can be ascertained by diligent inquiry, or is discovered as a result of the action brought hereunder;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 15, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-018", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33101", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.472", "excerpt": "If the leased minerals are never produced commercially during the term of the trustee's lease, the trustee shall pay any proceeds accruing from the lease to the then surface owners upon the termination of the lease in accordance with its terms or upon the expiration of seven (7) years following the date of judgment authorizing the lease, whichever last occurs.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-460-476.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-KY-019", "jurisdiction": "KY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47763", "publisher": "Kentucky Legislative Research Commission", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "KRS 353.640(1)", "excerpt": "where unknown owners or nonlocatable owners exist, the operator shall cause to be published, not more than thirty (30) days prior to the submission of an application for pooling, one (1) notice in the newspaper of the largest circulation in each county in which any tract, or portion thereof, proposed to be pooled is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/KY-353-640-381-430.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-001", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87858", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:16", "excerpt": "Mineral rights are real rights and are subject either to the prescription of nonuse for ten years or to special rules of law governing the term of their existence.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated November 11, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-16-21-22-mineral-rights-nature.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-002", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87915", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:21", "excerpt": "A mineral servitude is the right of enjoyment of land belonging to another for the purpose of exploring for and producing minerals and reducing them to possession and ownership.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated April 13, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-16-21-22-mineral-rights-nature.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-003", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87994", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:80", "excerpt": "A mineral royalty is the right to participate in production of minerals from land owned by another or land subject to a mineral servitude owned by another.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 13, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-80-to-98-royalty-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-004", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87804", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:114", "excerpt": "A mineral lease is a contract by which the lessee is granted the right to explore for and produce minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated May 10, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-114-133-lease.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-005", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87935", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:27(1)", "excerpt": "A mineral servitude is extinguished by: (1) prescription resulting from nonuse for ten years;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated August 20, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-006", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87936", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:28", "excerpt": "Prescription of nonuse of a mineral servitude commences from the date on which it is created.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 19, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-007", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87937", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:29", "excerpt": "The prescription of nonuse running against a mineral servitude is interrupted by good faith operations for the discovery and production of minerals. By good faith is meant that the operations must be (1) commenced with reasonable expectation of discovering and producing minerals in paying quantities at a particular point or depth,", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated January 17, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-008", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87939", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:30", "excerpt": "Preparations for the commencement of actual drilling or mining operations, such as geological or geophysical exploration, surveying, clearing of a site, and the hauling and erection of materials and structures necessary to conduct operations do not interrupt prescription. Prescription commences anew from the last day on which actual drilling or mining operations are conducted.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 14, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-009", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87945", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:36", "excerpt": "Prescription of nonuse is interrupted by the production of any mineral covered by the act creating the servitude. The interruption occurs on the date on which actual production begins and prescription commences anew from the date of cessation of actual production.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 19, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-010", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87947", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:38", "excerpt": "To interrupt prescription it is not necessary that minerals be produced in paying quantities. It is necessary only that minerals actually be produced in good faith with the intent of saving or otherwise using them for some beneficial purpose.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 17, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-011", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87942", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:33", "excerpt": "will, if otherwise sufficient to interrupt prescription according to Articles 29 through 32, interrupt prescription only as to that portion of the tract burdened by the servitude included in the unit", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated June 13, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-012", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87965", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:54", "excerpt": "The prescription of nonuse may be interrupted by a gratuitous or onerous acknowledgment by the owner of the land burdened by a mineral servitude. An acknowledgment must be in writing, and, to affect third parties, must be filed for registry.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "the official page, captured October 1, 2026; identical text in the Internet Archive snapshot of January 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-013", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87966", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:55", "excerpt": "An acknowledgment must express the intent of the landowner to interrupt prescription and clearly identify the party making it and the mineral servitude or servitudes acknowledged.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 13, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-014", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87967", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:56", "excerpt": "A landowner may extend a mineral servitude beyond the prescriptive date for a period less than that which would result from an interruption by an acknowledgment. The extension must meet all of the requirements for an acknowledgment and must specify the period for which the servitude is extended.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated August 3, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-015", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87956", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:46", "excerpt": "Adoption of the operations of another is accomplished when the servitude owner files for registry in the conveyance records of the situs of his servitude an instrument describing the land subject to the servitude, identifying the operations, specifying the date on which the operations commenced, and expressing the intent to adopt them as his own.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 11, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-016", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87970", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:59", "excerpt": "If the owner of a mineral servitude is prevented from using it by an obstacle that he can neither prevent nor remove, the prescription of nonuse does not run as long as the obstacle remains.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated January 17, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-27-to-64-servitude-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-017", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87999", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:85(1)", "excerpt": "A mineral royalty is extinguished by: (1) prescription resulting from nonuse for ten years;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 17, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-80-to-98-royalty-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-018", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=88001", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:87", "excerpt": "Prescription of nonuse running against a mineral royalty is interrupted by the production of any mineral covered by the act creating the royalty. Prescription is interrupted on the date on which actual production begins and commences anew from the date of cessation of actual production.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated January 19, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-80-to-98-royalty-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-019", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=88002", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:88", "excerpt": "To interrupt prescription it is not necessary that minerals be produced in paying quantities but only that they actually be produced and saved.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated August 3, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-80-to-98-royalty-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-020", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=88008", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:93", "excerpt": "Subject to the special rules provided in Articles 94 through 96, the rules applicable to acknowledgments and extensions of prescription running against mineral servitudes are applicable to mineral royalties.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 17, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-80-to-98-royalty-prescription.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-021", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87805", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:115(A)", "excerpt": "The interest of a mineral lessee is not subject to the prescription of nonuse, but the lease must have a term. Except as provided in this Article, a lease shall not be continued for a period of more than ten years without drilling or mining operations or production.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated January 23, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-114-133-lease.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-022", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87825", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:133", "excerpt": "A mineral lease terminates at the expiration of the agreed term or upon the occurrence of an express resolutory condition.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated January 19, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-114-133-lease.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-023", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87843", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:149(B)", "excerpt": "prescription of the mineral right is interrupted as long as title to the land remains with the acquiring authority, or any successor that is also an acquiring authority.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 20, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-149-government-acquisition.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-024", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87843", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:149(I)", "excerpt": "and a mineral right subject to the prescription of nonuse is reserved in the instrument by which the land is acquired, the prescription of nonuse shall be for a period of twenty years from the date of acquisition", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 20, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-149-government-acquisition.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-025", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87911", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:206(A)", "excerpt": "when a mineral right is extinguished by the accrual of prescription of nonuse, expiration of its term, or otherwise, the former owner shall, within thirty days after written demand by the person in whose favor the right has been extinguished or terminated, furnish the person with a recordable act evidencing the extinction or expiration of the right.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated February 17, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-206-to-209-extinction-record.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-026", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87928", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:214", "excerpt": "The provisions of this Code shall apply to all mineral rights, including those existing on the effective date hereof; but no provision may be applied to divest already vested rights or to impair the obligation of contracts.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated May 13, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-214-applicability.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-027", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=86885", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 30:10(A)(1)", "excerpt": "(1) Where the owners have not agreed by separate contract to pool, drill, and produce their interests, the commissioner shall require them to do so and to develop their lands as a drilling unit, if he finds it to be necessary to prevent waste or to avoid drilling unnecessary wells.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated January 17, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-30-10-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-028", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87544", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 30:28(I)(1)", "excerpt": "shall promulgate rules, regulations, and orders necessary to require an operator, agent, or assigns, to provide a single notice to the surface owner of lands on which drilling operations are to be conducted.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 10, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-11-30-28-surface.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-029", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87544", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 30:28(I)(1)(a)", "excerpt": "The pre-entry notice shall be sent to the surface owner no less than thirty days prior to construction operations of a drilling location on the property by the operator for the purpose of commencing drilling operations on the well described in the pre-entry notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated July 10, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-11-30-28-surface.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-030", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87799", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:11(A)", "excerpt": "The owner of land burdened by a mineral right or rights and the owner of a mineral right must exercise their respective rights with reasonable regard for those of the other.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated August 3, 2025, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-11-30-28-surface.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-031", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87930", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:22", "excerpt": "If he does, he is entitled to use only so much of the land as is reasonably necessary to conduct his operations. He is obligated, insofar as practicable, to restore the surface to its original condition at the earliest reasonable time.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "an Internet Archive snapshot of the official page dated June 6, 2026, because www.legis.la.gov was not available when AMR checked", "saved_as": "sources/LA-31-16-21-22-mineral-rights-nature.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-032", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87969", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:58", "excerpt": "The prescription of nonuse is not suspended by the minority or other legal disability of the owner of a mineral servitude.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-033", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=88012", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:97", "excerpt": "The prescription of nonuse is not suspended by the minority or other legal disability of the owner of a mineral royalty.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 23, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-034", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=87843", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. R.S. 31:149(E)(4)", "excerpt": "A grantor whose last known address cannot be determined shall be treated as an absentee defendant.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 20, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-035", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110646", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. Civ. Code art. 47", "excerpt": "An absent person is one who has no representative in this state and whose whereabouts are not known and cannot be ascertained by diligent effort.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 25, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-036", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110657", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. Civ. Code art. 48", "excerpt": "The curator has power of administration and disposition over the property of the absent person as provided by legislation.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 10, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-LA-037", "jurisdiction": "LA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111658", "publisher": "Louisiana State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3226", "excerpt": "The court may also authorize the granting of mineral leases on succession property after compliance with Article 3229.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 11, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/LA-mineral-code-civil-code-absent-persons.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-001", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)", "excerpt": "shall find that the mineral interest is extinguished and shall order that title to the mineral interest is in the complainant if: A. The owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest has failed to make use of the mineral interest during a period of 50 consecutive years next prior to the filing of the complaint", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-002", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/Laws/1983/1983_PL_c189.pdf", "publisher": "Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "PL 1983, c. 189", "excerpt": "AN ACT to Extinguish Obsolete Mineral and Mining Rights. ... Effective September 23, 1983.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-003", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/Laws/2025/2025_PL_c469.pdf", "publisher": "Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "PL 2025, c. 469, §§ 5 and 44", "excerpt": "(2) Payment of any the excise tax under Title 36, sections 2851 to 2865 section 2856; ... This Act applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-004", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/10/title10sec2158.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "10 M.R.S. § 2158 (repealed)", "excerpt": "§2158. Integration of interests in spacing units (REPEALED) ... PL 1969, c. 301 (NEW). PL 1977, c. 360, §2 (RP).", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-oil-gas-law-and-title33-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-005", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/38/title38sec570-BB.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "38 M.R.S. § 570-BB", "excerpt": "a person may not perform or cause to be performed, and the department may not permit, approve or otherwise authorize, any oil or natural gas exploration, development or production in, on or under the waters of the State.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-oil-gas-law-and-title33-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-006", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)(A)", "excerpt": "shall find that the mineral interest is extinguished and shall order that title to the mineral interest is in the complainant if: A. The owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest has failed to make use of the mineral interest during a period of 50 consecutive years next prior to the filing of the complaint", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-007", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)(B)", "excerpt": "Two years have passed since notice of the complaint under subsection 2 was served and the owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest has not filed a statement of claim under subsection 3 during that period.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-008", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(3)", "excerpt": "An owner, assignee or lessee of a mineral interest may file a statement of claim with the registrar of deeds of the county in which the land subject to the mineral interest is located. The claim shall contain his name and address", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-009", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6662.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6662(2)", "excerpt": "may maintain an action, as provided in sections 6651 to 6654 or sections 6655 to 6657, without the necessity of showing 4 years of possession next prior to filing of that complaint, provided that the person is the fee simple owner of the land which is subject to that interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6662.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-010", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6651.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6651", "excerpt": "If any such supposed claimants are unknown, the plaintiff or his attorney shall so allege under oath, but the truth of the allegation shall not after decree has been filed be denied for the purpose of defeating the title established thereby.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-011", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6653.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6653", "excerpt": "Service in such action shall be made as in other actions on all supposed known claimants residing either in the State or outside the State, and notice to persons who are unascertained, not in being or unknown shall be given by publication as in other actions where publication is required, unless the court on motion permits posting", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-012", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6655.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6655", "excerpt": "persons who are unascertained, not in being, unknown or out of the State, or who cannot be actually served with process and made personally amenable to the decree of the court, such persons may be made defendants and, if they are unascertained, not in being or unknown, they may be described generally as the heirs or legal representatives of A.B.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-013", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6656.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6656", "excerpt": "the court finds that there are or may be defendants who have not been actually served with process and who have not appeared in the action, it may of its own motion, or on the representation of any party, appoint an agent, guardian ad litem or next friend for any such defendant", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ME-014", "jurisdiction": "ME", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6654.html", "publisher": "Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "14 M.R.S. § 6654", "excerpt": "If the court upon hearing finds that the allegations of the complaint are true and that notice by publication has been given as ordered, it shall make and enter a decree", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ME-14-6651-to-6657.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-001", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1203(a)(1)", "excerpt": "On or after October 1, 2011, a surface owner of real property that is subject to a mineral interest may maintain an action to terminate a dormant mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-002", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1203(a)(2)", "excerpt": "(i) The mineral interest is unused for a period of 20 or more years preceding the commencement of termination of the mineral interest; and (ii) Notice of the mineral interest was not recorded during the period of 20 or more years preceding the commencement of termination of the mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-003", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1203(c)(1)(i)", "excerpt": "Active mineral operations on or below the surface of the real property or other property utilized or pooled with the real property, including production, geophysical exploration, exploratory or developmental drilling, mining, exploitation, and development of minerals", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-004", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1203(c)(4)", "excerpt": "The injection of substances for the purpose of disposal or storage does not constitute use of a mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-005", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1204&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1204(a)", "excerpt": "An owner of a mineral interest may record, at any time, a notice of intent to preserve the mineral interest or a part of a mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-006", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1205&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1205(b)", "excerpt": "the court shall permit the owner of the mineral interest to record a late notice of intent to preserve the mineral interest as a condition of dismissal of the action, if the owner of the mineral interest pays the litigation expenses incurred by the surface owner", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-007", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1205&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1205(c)", "excerpt": "This section does not apply in an action in which a mineral interest has been unused in accordance with § 15–1203 of this subtitle for a period of 40 years or more preceding the commencement of the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-008", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1206(a)", "excerpt": "If the title to a severed mineral interest is vested in an unknown or missing owner, the circuit court of the county where the severed mineral interest is located may on petition, and after notice and a hearing:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-009", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1202&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 15-1202(a)(2)", "excerpt": "Held by the State or an agency or political subdivision of the State, except to the extent permitted by State law.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-010", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2010rs/chapters_noln/Ch_269_hb0320T.pdf", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2010 Md. Laws ch. 269, § 3", "excerpt": "SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect October 1, 2010.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-session-laws-2010-2016.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-011", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=14-113&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 14-113", "excerpt": "On completion of a well producing gas or oil on any leased lands included under a unit operation agreement, royalties from the producing well shall be paid on all lands originally included within the unit operation agreement.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-14-oil-gas-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-012", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=14-112&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 14-112(a)(1)", "excerpt": "a well for the production or underground storage of gas or oil may not be drilled on any property nearer than 1,000 feet to the boundary of the property except by agreement with the owners of the gas and oil on adjacent lands.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-14-oil-gas-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-013", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=14-107.1&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 14-107.1(b)", "excerpt": "A person may not engage in the hydraulic fracturing of a well for the exploration or production of oil or natural gas in the State.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-14-oil-gas-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-014", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=14-111&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. § 14-111(c)(1)", "excerpt": "The permit holder’s financial assurance required under subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall: (1) Extend to the owner or owners of the surface and subsurface property;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-14-oil-gas-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-015", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1203(a)(1) and (2)", "excerpt": "(1) On or after October 1, 2011, a surface owner of real property that is subject to a mineral interest may maintain an action to terminate a dormant mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-016", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1203(b)(2)", "excerpt": "(2) The action may be maintained, whether or not the owner of the severed mineral interest is an unknown or missing owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-017", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1203&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1203(b)(1)", "excerpt": "(1) The action must be in the nature of and require the same notice as is required in an action to quiet title as set forth in § 14-108 of the Real Property Article.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-018", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1201&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1201(g)(2)", "excerpt": "(2) \"Unknown or missing owner\" includes the heirs, successors, or assignees of an unknown or missing owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-019", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1201&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1201(g)(1)", "excerpt": "(1) \"Unknown or missing owner\" means any person vested with a severed mineral interest whose present identity or location cannot be determined: (i) From the records of the county where the severed mineral interest is located; or (ii) By diligent inquiry in the vicinity of the owner's last known place of residence.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-020", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1204&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1204(a)", "excerpt": "(1) An owner of a mineral interest may record, at any time, a notice of intent to preserve the mineral interest or a part of a mineral interest. (2) A mineral interest is preserved in the county in which the notice is recorded.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-021", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1204&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1204(b)", "excerpt": "(iii) A co–owner, for the benefit of any or all co–owners. (2) A notice recorded under subsection (a) of this section shall contain: (i) 1. The name of the owner, or co–owners, of the mineral interest; or 2. If the identity of the owner cannot be determined, information that states that the owner cannot be determined;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-022", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1205&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1205(b)", "excerpt": "the court shall permit the owner of the mineral interest to record a late notice of intent to preserve the mineral interest as a condition of dismissal of the action, if the owner of the mineral interest pays the litigation expenses incurred by the surface owner", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-023", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1205&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1205(c)", "excerpt": "(c) This section does not apply in an action in which a mineral interest has been unused in accordance with § 15-1203 of this subtitle for a period of 40 years or more preceding the commencement of the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-024", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(a)", "excerpt": "(a) If the title to a severed mineral interest is vested in an unknown or missing owner, the circuit court of the county where the severed mineral interest is located may on petition, and after notice and a hearing: (1) Place the severed mineral interest in trust by order;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-025", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(c)(1)", "excerpt": "does not contest a trust created under subsection (a)(1) of this section on or before 5 years after the date that the court issued the order creating the trust, the trustee shall file a petition to terminate the trust and to convey title to the severed mineral interest to the surface owners.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-026", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(c)(2)(ii)5", "excerpt": "An affidavit signed by the trustee, affirming that after conducting a diligent inquiry, including a search in the county where the severed mineral interest is located, performed in accordance with generally accepted standards of title examination of the land records of the county, records of register of wills of the county, and records of the circuit court for the county,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-027", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=15-1206&enactments=false", "publisher": "Maryland General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Md. Code, Env. 15-1206(h)(2)", "excerpt": "(2) Under this section, procedures for notice to interested persons, the forms of petitions, and the conduct and requirements at a hearing shall be as provided by the Maryland Rules.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-env-15-1201-1206.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-028", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2018/16a17.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Maryland", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Ellis v. McKenzie, No. 16, September Term, 2017 (Md. filed January 26, 2018), slip op. at 21 to 22 (the court then concludes the three notices were late)", "excerpt": "Nothing in the Act alters the ordinary rule that the \"commencement\" of an action, here to terminate mineral rights, is the date of filing of the initial petition. Maryland Rules of Procedure, Rule 12-704, \"Termination of dormant mineral interest,\" states that, after October 1, 2011, a surface owner \"may initiate an action to terminate.\"", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-ellis-v-mckenzie-2018.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MD-029", "jurisdiction": "MD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2018/16a17.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Maryland", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Ellis v. McKenzie (Md. 2018), headnote", "excerpt": "HELD: Validity of DMIA sustained.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MD-ellis-v-mckenzie-2018.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MA-001", "jurisdiction": "MA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section31A", "publisher": "The General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.L. c. 260, § 31A (related title clearing statute, not mineral)", "excerpt": "No proceeding based upon any right of entry for condition broken or possibility of reverter, to which a fee simple or fee simple determinable in land is subject, created before the second day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-five, shall be maintained in any court after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and sixty-four", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MA-gl-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-001", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.291(1)", "excerpt": "Any interest in oil or gas in any land owned by any person other than the owner of the surface, which has not been sold, leased, mortgaged, or transferred by instrument recorded in the register of deeds office for the county where that interest in oil or gas is located for a period of 20 years shall", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 21, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-002", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.291(2)", "excerpt": "Any interest in oil or gas deemed abandoned as provided in subsection (1) shall vest as of the date of such abandonment in the owner or owners of the surface in keeping with the character of the surface ownership.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 21, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-003", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-291", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.291(3)", "excerpt": "an oil or gas interest in the property owned by a person other than the owner of the surface shall not be preserved from foreclosure under section 78k of the general property tax act, 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.78k, unless that interest is sold, leased, mortgaged, transferred, reserved, or subject to a claim of interest under section 2", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 21, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-004", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-292", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.292(1)", "excerpt": "The notice shall be verified by oath and shall describe the land and the nature of the interest claimed, give the name and address of the person or persons claiming the interest, and state that the person or persons desire to preserve the interest and do not intend to abandon the interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 5, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-005", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-292", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.292(3)", "excerpt": "Recording a written notice under this section shall operate to preserve the oil or gas interest included in the written notice from abandonment under this act for a period of 20 years after recording.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 5, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-006", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-292", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.292(5)", "excerpt": "This act shall not apply to any interest in oil or gas owned by any governmental body or agency.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 5, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-007", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-324-61513", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 324.61513(4)", "excerpt": "The pooling of properties or parts of properties is permitted, and, if not agreed upon, the supervisor may require pooling of properties or parts of properties in any case when and to the extent that the smallness or shape of a separately owned tract or tracts would", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 22, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-324-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-008", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-324-61513a", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 324.61513a", "excerpt": "The supervisor shall not require the pooling of state owned properties or parts of properties under section 61513 if the state provides for the orderly development of state owned hydrocarbon resources through an oil and gas leasing program", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 24, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-324-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-009", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-324-61706", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 324.61706(c)", "excerpt": "By those persons who under the supervisor's order will be entitled to at least 65% of all production from the unit area or the proceeds of that production.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 4, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-324-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-010", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-324-61525", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 324.61525(3)", "excerpt": "The supervisor shall make available to any person, upon request, not less often than weekly, the following information pertaining to applications for permits to drill and operate:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 21, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-324-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-011", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-554-292", "publisher": "Michigan Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCL 554.292(4)", "excerpt": "may be preserved indefinitely from abandonment under this act by filing written notices as provided in this act or the performance of any of the acts specified in this act evidencing nondormancy of the interest in oil or gas within each succeeding 20-year period.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 5, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MI-mcl-554-291-294.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MI-012", "jurisdiction": "MI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/mich/410/cases/0021-01.json", "publisher": "Michigan Supreme Court, Van Slooten v. Larsen, 410 Mich. 21, 299 N.W.2d 704 (1980), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "410 Mich. 21 (1980), opinion of Coleman, C.J.", "excerpt": "Therefore, the dormant mineral act was passed to reduce the likelihood that the presence of unknown or unlocatable owners or fractionalized ownership of severed interests would unnecessarily hinder or prevent the development of these resources by requiring an owner to do certain specified acts indicating ownership or record a claim of interest every 20 years.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MI-van-slooten-1980.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-001", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.52", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.52 subd. 2", "excerpt": "from and after January 1, 1970, every owner of a fee simple interest in minerals ... which interest is owned separately from the fee title to the surface of the property ... shall record in the office of the county recorder or, if registered property, in the office of the registrar of titles ... a verified statement", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55-551.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-002", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 1", "excerpt": "If the owner ... fails to record the verified statement required by section 93.52, before January 1, 1975, as to any interests owned on or before December 31, 1973, or within one year after acquiring the interests as to interests acquired after December 31, 1973, the mineral interest shall forfeit to the state after notice and opportunity for hearing", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55-551.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-003", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(a)", "excerpt": "The commissioner shall notify the last owner of record in either the county recorder's or registrar of titles' office of a hearing on an order to show cause why the mineral interest should not forfeit to the state absolutely.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55-551.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-004", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(b)(2)", "excerpt": "that all taxes relating to severed mineral interests had been timely paid, including any taxes which would have been due and owing under section 273.165, subdivision 1, had the interest been properly recorded as required by section 93.52 within the time specified in this section.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55-551.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-005", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/273.165", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 273.165 subd. 1", "excerpt": "A tax of 40 cents per acre or portion of an acre of mineral interest is imposed and is payable annually.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-273-165-272-039.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-006", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/272.039", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 272.039", "excerpt": "This result is caused in part by the decision in Wichelman v. Messner, 1957, 250 Minn. 88, 83 N.W. (2d) 800, where the so called \"40 year law\" was held inapplicable to mineral interests owned separately from surface interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-273-165-272-039.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-007", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/pre2003/other/930363.pdf", "publisher": "Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Minerals (digitized by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Severed Mineral Interest Research Program, 1992 fiscal year end report, part IV.C", "excerpt": "No payment of the delinquent taxes was made during the time for redemption and the title to the severed mineral interests forfeited to the state on February 14, 1992.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-dnr-1992-severed-mineral-report.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-008", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.513", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.513 subd. 1", "excerpt": "Any permit under this section must be protective of natural resources and require a demonstration of control of the extraction area through ownership, lease, or agreement.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-513-516-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-009", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.515", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.515(2)", "excerpt": "pooling, which is the combining of tracts and mineral interests to form a drilling or spacing unit", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-513-516-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-010", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/input/rules/rulemaking/r4995-notice-of-intent.pdf", "publisher": "Minnesota Department of Natural Resources", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Notice of intent to adopt expedited rules, Minn. R. parts 6124, R-4995", "excerpt": "Under Minnesota Statutes 93.513, an operator must control 100 percent of the extraction area before a permit is issued.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-dnr-r4995-gas-rules-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-011", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.516", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.516 subd. 3(3)", "excerpt": "the commissioner of natural resources may require an applicant to provide financial assurance to ensure payment of any damages resulting from the production of gas or oil", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-513-516-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-012", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/559.02", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 559.02", "excerpt": "the heirs of a deceased person are proper parties defendant, and their names are unknown, and such affidavit shall further state ... that their names and residences cannot with reasonable diligence be ascertained, then service of summons may be made on such unknown heirs by publication", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-559-01-02.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-013", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 2(b)(1)", "excerpt": "or that probate, divorce, bankruptcy, mortgage foreclosure, or other proceedings affecting the title had been timely initiated and diligently pursued by the true owner during the time period within which the severed mineral interest statement should have been recorded", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-014", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 1a", "excerpt": "A lessee holding a lease issued under this subdivision may not mine under the lease until the commissioner completes the procedures set forth in subdivision 2 and a court has adjudged the forfeiture of the mineral interest to be absolute.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-015", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/93.55", "publisher": "Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Minn. Stat. 93.55 subd. 4(b)", "excerpt": "An action may be commenced within six years after entry of judgment under this section to determine the ownership and the fair market value of the mineral interests in the property both at the time of forfeiture and at the time of bringing the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-93-52-55.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MN-016", "jurisdiction": "MN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/nw2d/278/cases/0732-01.json", "publisher": "Minnesota Supreme Court, Contos v. Herbst, 278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979), via Caselaw Access Project", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "278 N.W.2d 732 (Minn. 1979)", "excerpt": "Under these circumstances, notice by publication is inadequate where forfeiture is the penalty imposed for mere failure to act.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MN-contos-v-herbst-1979.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MS-001", "jurisdiction": "MS", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/2015/title-27/chapter-31/non-producing-gas-oil-and-mineral-interests/section-27-31-73/", "publisher": "Justia (unofficial mirror of the Mississippi Code, 2015 edition)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 27-31-73 (2015)", "excerpt": "Any sale for taxes of the surface or of the remainder of the fee shall not in any manner whatsoever affect the interest or interests hereby exempted.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 13, 2019", "saved_as": "sources/MS-27-31-73-nonproducing-mineral-exemption.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-MS-002", "jurisdiction": "MS", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/2023/title-89/", "publisher": "Justia (unofficial mirror of the Mississippi Code)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Title 89, chapter list (survey)", "excerpt": "UNIFORM DISPOSITION OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY ACT", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 26, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/MS-title89-survey.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-MS-003", "jurisdiction": "MS", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (Rule Book, June 2025, reproducing Mississippi Code Title 53)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(1)(a)", "excerpt": "Where, however, such persons have not agreed to integrate their interests, the board may, for the prevention of waste or to avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells, require such persons to integrate their interests and to develop their lands as a drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-integration.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MS-004", "jurisdiction": "MS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(b)", "excerpt": "if any owner's address is not known, the operator shall state in its petition that such person's address is unknown after diligent search and inquiry.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MS-005", "jurisdiction": "MS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(c)", "excerpt": "Said notice shall also notice all unknown heirs or devisees of deceased owners, if any there be, and all unknown persons owning drilling rights in said proposed drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MS-006", "jurisdiction": "MS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(d)", "excerpt": "The publication of notice to nonconsenting real parties in interest whose address is unknown after diligent search and inquiry shall be made once in each week during three (3) successive weeks in a public newspaper of the county or counties in which the proposed drilling unit is located,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MS-007", "jurisdiction": "MS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(e)", "excerpt": "the board shall mail each notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, sufficiently distant in time to allow thirty (30) days to elapse between the date of the mailing of said notice and the date of the regular meeting of the board", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MS-008", "jurisdiction": "MS", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ogb.state.ms.us/MSOGBDocumentsShared/Rulebook/Rulebook.pdf", "publisher": "Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board (statute reproduced in the Board's rule book)", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Miss. Code Ann. 53-3-7(2)(c), form of notice", "excerpt": "You are noticed to appear before the State Oil and Gas Board at its regular term,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MS-53-3-7-ogb-rulebook.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MO-001", "jurisdiction": "MO", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=259.220", "publisher": "Missouri Revisor of Statutes, Revised Statutes of Missouri", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RSMo § 259.220", "excerpt": "All rights and interests in or to oil, gas or other minerals underlying land, whether created by or arising under deed, lease, reservation of rights, or otherwise, which rights or interests are owned by any person other than the owner of the land, shall be assessed and taxed separately", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MO-259-110-220-pooling-tax.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MO-002", "jurisdiction": "MO", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=140.150", "publisher": "Missouri Revisor of Statutes, Revised Statutes of Missouri", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RSMo § 140.150(1)", "excerpt": "All lands, lots, mineral rights, and royalty interests on which taxes or special assessments are delinquent and unpaid are subject to sale to discharge the lien for the delinquent and unpaid taxes", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MO-259-110-220-pooling-tax.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MO-003", "jurisdiction": "MO", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=259", "publisher": "Missouri Revisor of Statutes, Revised Statutes of Missouri", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Survey of chapter headings, chapters 259, 442, 444, 446, 447, 516, 527, 528, 137, 140, 141", "excerpt": "Lands, lots, mineral rights, and royalty interests subject to sale, when.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MO-survey-chapter-headings.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MO-004", "jurisdiction": "MO", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=259.110", "publisher": "Missouri Revisor of Statutes, Revised Statutes of Missouri", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RSMo § 259.110(1)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary pooling the council, upon the application of any interested person, shall enter an order pooling all interests in the spacing unit for the development and operations thereof.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MO-259-110-220-pooling-tax.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MO-005", "jurisdiction": "MO", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=259.220", "publisher": "Missouri Revisor of Statutes, Revised Statutes of Missouri", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RSMo 259.220", "excerpt": "All rights and interests in or to oil, gas or other minerals underlying land ... which rights or interests are owned by any person other than the owner of the land, shall be assessed and taxed separately to the owner of such rights or interests in the same manner as other real estate.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MO-259-sections-and-chapter-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MO-006", "jurisdiction": "MO", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=259.140", "publisher": "Missouri Revisor of Statutes, Revised Statutes of Missouri", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RSMo 259.140.4", "excerpt": "Any notice required by this chapter shall be given at the election of the council either by personal service or by letter to the last recorded address of the person to whom the order is directed and one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the land affected, or some part thereof, is situated.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MO-259-sections-and-chapter-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-001", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-302(1)", "excerpt": "may petition the district court of the county in which the tract or a portion of the tract is located to declare a trust in favor of other persons also owning or claiming an interest in the minerals underlying the tract if their place of residence and present whereabouts is unknown and cannot reasonably be ascertained", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-unlocatable-owner-trust.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-002", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-302(3)", "excerpt": "the court shall appoint the clerk of court or, if the clerk of court declines to act as trustee, the department of revenue as trustee and shall authorize the clerk of court or the department to execute and deliver an oil, gas, or other mineral lease, a ratification, a division order, or any other related document or instrument", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-unlocatable-owner-trust.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-003", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0050/0820-0010-0030-0050.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-305(1)", "excerpt": "A person may not personally hold for longer than 6 months any bonuses, rental payments, royalties, or other income for unlocatable owners or claimants of an interest in minerals underlying a tract of land.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-unlocatable-owner-trust.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-004", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0060/0820-0010-0030-0060.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-306(1)", "excerpt": "Filing the notice creates a rebuttable presumption that the person owns the interest claimed.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-unlocatable-owner-trust.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-005", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://courts.mt.gov/external/leg/bills/1993/senate/SB102.pdf", "publisher": "Montana State Law Library, legislative history scans", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "1993 SB102, Uniform Dormant Mineral Interests Act, bill history (not enacted)", "excerpt": "1/29 Tabled in Committee", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-survey-and-failed-bills.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-006", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0110/part_0020/section_0020/0820-0110-0020-0020.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-11-202(1)(b)", "excerpt": "The board, upon the application of an interested person, may enter an order pooling all interests in the permanent spacing unit for the development and operation of the permanent spacing unit and the allocation of production if the applicant has made an unsuccessful, good faith attempt to voluntarily pool the interests within the permanent spacing unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-11-202-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-007", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0100/part_0050/section_0040/0820-0100-0050-0040.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-10-504(1)(a)", "excerpt": "The oil and gas developer or operator shall pay the surface owner a sum of money or other compensation equal to the amount of damages sustained by the surface owner for loss of agricultural production and income, lost land value, and lost value of improvements caused by oil and gas operations.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-10-501-surface-damage.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-008", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0100/part_0050/section_0030/0820-0100-0050-0030.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-10-503(1)", "excerpt": "The notice must be given no more than 180 days and no fewer than 20 days before any activity that disturbs the land surface.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-10-501-surface-damage.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-009", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0020/0820-0010-0030-0020.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-302(2)", "excerpt": "(a) a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the absent owner or claimant has been made; and (b) appointment of a trustee will be in the best interest of all owners of an interest in the minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-306.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-010", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0040/0820-0010-0030-0040.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-304(4)", "excerpt": "A trust in favor of unlocatable owners must be kept in force until the unlocatable owners of the mineral interest in question have successfully claimed their share of the funds held in trust and have filed the notice, as provided in 82-1-306.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-306.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-MT-011", "jurisdiction": "MT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0820/chapter_0010/part_0030/section_0040/0820-0010-0030-0040.html", "publisher": "Montana Legislature, Legislative Services Division (Montana Code Annotated 2025)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "MCA 82-1-304(3)", "excerpt": "All bonuses, rental payments, royalties, and other income must be paid to the trustee until the trust is terminated and notice of its termination given to all interested parties.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/MT-82-1-301-306.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-001", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-228", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-228", "excerpt": "Any owner or owners of the surface of real estate from which a mineral interest has been severed, on behalf of himself and any other owners of such interest in the surface, may sue in equity in the county where such real estate, or some part thereof, is located, praying for the termination and extinguishment of such severed mineral interest", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-nrs-57-228.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-002", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-229", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-229", "excerpt": "A severed mineral interest shall be abandoned unless the record owner of such mineral interest has within the twenty-three years immediately prior to the filing of the action provided for in sections 57-228 to 57-231, exercised publicly the right of ownership by", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-nrs-57-228.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-003", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-230", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-230", "excerpt": "If the court shall find that the severed mineral interest has been abandoned, it shall enter judgment terminating and extinguishing it, canceling it of record, and vesting the title thereto in the owner or owners of the interest in the surface from which it was originally severed", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-nrs-57-228.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-004", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-231", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-231", "excerpt": "In any action filed within two years after October 23, 1967, the owner of a severed mineral interest may enter his appearance and assert his interest therein, and he shall be deemed thereby to have timely and publicly exercised his right of ownership.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 5, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-nrs-57-228.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-005", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-228", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature (official annotation)", "type": "secondary", "pinpoint": "Annotation to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-228 citing Monahan Cattle Co. v. Goodwin, 201 Neb. 845, 272 N.W.2d 774 (1978)", "excerpt": "Sections 57-228 to 57-231 which declared that mineral rights were abandoned unless the record owner had exercised ownership rights within twenty-three years immediately prior to the filing of an action to cancel the severed mineral interest, are unconstitutional insofar as the statutory provisions could be interpreted to be retroactive in their operation.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-nrs-57-228.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-NE-006", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-229", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature (official annotation)", "type": "secondary", "pinpoint": "Annotation to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-229 citing Ricks v. Vap, 280 Neb. 130, 784 N.W.2d 432 (2010)", "excerpt": "The plain language of this section provides that a severed mineral interest is abandoned unless the record owner of the interest is the one who publicly exercises it.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-nrs-57-228.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-NE-007", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-909", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-909(1)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary pooling, the commission, upon the application of any interested person, or upon its own motion, may enter an order pooling all interests in the spacing unit for the development and operation thereof.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-nrs-57-909-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-008", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-910.03", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 57-910.03", "excerpt": "No order shall be entered by the commission authorizing the commencement of unit operations unless and until there has been written consent to the proposed plan of unitization by those persons who own at least seventy-five percent of the unit production or proceeds thereof", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 18, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-nrs-57-909-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-009", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-228", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-228", "excerpt": "naming as parties defendant therein all persons having or appearing to have any interest in such severed mineral interest, and if such parties defendant are not known and cannot be ascertained, they may be proceeded against as unknown defendants under the provisions of Chapter 25, article 3.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-228-231.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-010", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-229", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-229", "excerpt": "A severed mineral interest shall be abandoned unless the record owner of such mineral interest has within the twenty-three years immediately prior to the filing of the action provided for in sections 57-228 to 57-231, exercised publicly the right of ownership by", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-228-231.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-011", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-230", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-230", "excerpt": "If the court shall find that the severed mineral interest has been abandoned, it shall enter judgment terminating and extinguishing it, canceling it of record, and vesting the title thereto in the owner or owners of the interest in the surface from which it was originally severed", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-228-231.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-012", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-321", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-321", "excerpt": "after diligent investigation and inquiry, is unable to ascertain and does not know the names or whereabouts if in this state, or the residence of such persons, such action may proceed against all such persons designated as \"all persons having or claiming any interest in\" such property", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 29, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-25-321-25-517-02.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-013", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-517.02", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-517.02", "excerpt": "Upon motion and showing by affidavit that service cannot be made with reasonable diligence by any other method provided by statute, the court may permit service to be made (1) by leaving the process at the defendant's usual place of residence and mailing a copy by first-class mail to the defendant's last-known address, (2) by publication", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 24, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NE-25-321-25-517-02.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-014", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-210", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-210", "excerpt": "for authority to lease any interest in real estate, or any part thereof, of any deceased person, beneficiary of a trust, minor, incompetent, or person unfit by reason of infirmities of age or physical disability", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 18, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-210-212-01.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-015", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=57-212.01", "publisher": "Nebraska Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-212.01", "excerpt": "the court may, upon the hearing of the petition, appoint a trustee to represent the interests of such unknown owners, or unknown heirs, devisees, or legatees and to carry out the orders of the court with respect thereto.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 22, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NE-57-210-212-01.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-016", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2013/05/24/gibbs_cattle_co._v._bixler.pdf", "publisher": "Nebraska Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gibbs Cattle Co. v. Bixler, 285 Neb. 952 (2013)", "excerpt": "We hold that the \"record owner\" of mineral interests, as used in § 57-229, may be determined not only from the register of deeds, but also from probate records in the county where the interests are located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NE-gibbs-cattle-v-bixler-2013.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-017", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/10/03/rice_v._bixler.pdf", "publisher": "Nebraska Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Rice v. Bixler, 289 Neb. 194 (2014)", "excerpt": "we hold that severed mineral owners must strictly comply with the statutory requirements of § 57-229 and that the district court erred in concluding that substantial compliance was sufficient.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NE-rice-v-bixler-2014.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NE-018", "jurisdiction": "NE", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2015/06/05/fisher_v._heirs__devisees_of_t.d._lovercheck.pdf", "publisher": "Nebraska Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Fisher v. Heirs & Devisees of T.D. Lovercheck, 291 Neb. 9 (2015)", "excerpt": "Because US Bank did not publicly exercise its right of ownership during the 23 years preceding the original complaint, the Fishers are entitled to summary judgment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NE-fisher-v-heirs-lovercheck-2015.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NV-001", "jurisdiction": "NV", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-111.html", "publisher": "Nevada Legislature, Legislative Counsel Bureau, Nevada Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Survey of NRS chapters 11, 40, 111, 361, 362, 517, 522 (full text); excerpt from NRS chapter 361", "excerpt": "the property must be assessed to “unknown owner,”", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshots September 15, 2025 to September 25, 2026 (one for each chapter)", "saved_as": "sources/NV-survey-nrs-chapters.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NV-002", "jurisdiction": "NV", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-522.html", "publisher": "Nevada Legislature, Legislative Counsel Bureau, Nevada Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NRS 522.060(3)", "excerpt": "If those persons do not agree to pool their interests, the Division may, for the prevention of waste, for the protection of correlative rights, or to avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells, enter an order pooling and integrating their interests for the development of their lands as a drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NV-522-060-0824-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NV-003", "jurisdiction": "NV", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-522.html", "publisher": "Nevada Legislature, Legislative Counsel Bureau, Nevada Revised Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NRS 522.060(4)", "excerpt": "As to lessees who refuse to agree upon pooling, the order must provide for reimbursement for 300 percent of the costs chargeable to each lessee out of, and only out of, production from the unit belonging to the lessee.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NV-522-060-0824-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NV-004", "jurisdiction": "NV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-522.html", "publisher": "Nevada Legislature, Legislative Counsel Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NRS 522.113(1)(b)", "excerpt": "If unable to pay timely any portion of the money because of inability to locate a person entitled to receive the money or for any other reason, deposit the unpaid portion of the money in an escrow account in a bank, credit union, savings and loan institution or savings bank in Nevada", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NV-522-113-escrow.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NV-005", "jurisdiction": "NV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-522.html", "publisher": "Nevada Legislature, Legislative Counsel Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NRS 522.090(2)", "excerpt": "Any notice required by this chapter must be given by personal service on all interested persons, and if personal service cannot be made, then substituted service may be made in the manner provided for substitute service of process under the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NV-522-113-escrow.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NH-001", "jurisdiction": "NH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/I/12-E/12-E-mrg.htm", "publisher": "New Hampshire General Court, Revised Statutes Annotated", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RSA 12-E:1, VIII", "excerpt": "\"Mineral\" means copper, gold, silver, diatomite, feldspar, garnet, lime, thorium, uranium, and any similar solid material or metal substance to be excavated or extracted from natural deposits or formations on or in the earth or in or underneath water", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 10, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NH-rsa-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NJ-001", "jurisdiction": "NJ", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://pub.njleg.gov/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip", "publisher": "New Jersey Legislature, Office of Legislative Services (statutes bulk text)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.J.S.A. 46:3-27", "excerpt": "Every deed or other instrument which conveys or reserves mineral rights in any land shall, unless otherwise expressly provided therein, be construed to exclude any and all water rights or consideration thereof from any conveyance or reservation of mineral rights.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 30, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NJ-statutes-fulltext-search.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NJ-002", "jurisdiction": "NJ", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://pub.njleg.gov/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip", "publisher": "New Jersey Legislature, Office of Legislative Services (statutes bulk text)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.J.S.A. 13:1M-2", "excerpt": "no person shall commence operations incident to the exploration and drilling of wells for oil or natural gas without having received a permit therefor from the Department of Environmental Protection.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 30, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NJ-statutes-fulltext-search.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NJ-003", "jurisdiction": "NJ", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://pub.njleg.gov/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip", "publisher": "New Jersey Legislature, Office of Legislative Services (statutes bulk text)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.J.S.A. 13:1M-8", "excerpt": "A holder of a permit issued under section 2 of this act shall restore, or cause to be restored, the land surface within the area disturbed in siting, drilling and plugging and abandonment of the well, in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the department.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 30, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NJ-statutes-fulltext-search.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NJ-004", "jurisdiction": "NJ", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://pub.njleg.gov/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip", "publisher": "New Jersey Legislature, Office of Legislative Services (statutes bulk text)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.J.S.A. 46:30B-6(p)", "excerpt": "\"Mineral proceeds\" means amounts payable for the extraction, production, or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable thereafter, and includes, but is not limited to, amounts payable: for the acquisition and retention of a mineral lease, including bonuses, royalties, compensatory royalties, shut-in royalties, minimum royalties, and delay rentals;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 30, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NJ-statutes-search-and-46-30B.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NJ-005", "jurisdiction": "NJ", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://pub.njleg.gov/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip", "publisher": "New Jersey Legislature, Office of Legislative Services (statutes bulk text)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.J.S.A. 46:30B-7", "excerpt": "all property, including any income or increment derived therefrom, less any lawful charges, whether located in this State or another state, that is held, issued, owing in the ordinary course of a holder's business and has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after it became payable or distributable is presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 30, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NJ-statutes-search-and-46-30B.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NM-001", "jurisdiction": "NM", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4366/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 37-1-22", "excerpt": "provided, however that in the case of severed mineral interests the possession by the party in possession of the surface shall be considered as the constructive possession of such mineral claimant until actual possession shall have been taken by such mineral claimant", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NM-survey-related.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NM-002", "jurisdiction": "NM", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-3.1(C)", "excerpt": "If the purchaser or payor is unable to locate any person listed by the operator or lessee then the purchaser or payor shall notify the operator or lessee that he has been unable to locate or obtain the address of the person entitled to payment.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NM-survey-related.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NM-003", "jurisdiction": "NM", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4340/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 7-8A-1 (definition of mineral proceeds)", "excerpt": "\"mineral proceeds\" means amounts payable for the extraction, production or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable thereafter.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NM-survey-related.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NM-004", "jurisdiction": "NM", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-2-17(C)", "excerpt": "the division, to avoid the drilling of unnecessary wells or to protect correlative rights, or to prevent waste, shall pool all or any part of such lands or interests or both in the spacing or proration unit as a unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NM-70-2-17-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NM-005", "jurisdiction": "NM", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-12-4(A)", "excerpt": "An operator shall compensate the surface owner for damages sustained by the surface owner, as applicable, for loss of agricultural production and income, lost land value, lost use of and lost access to the surface owner's land and lost value of improvements caused by oil and gas operations.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NM-70-12-surface-owners-protection.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NM-006", "jurisdiction": "NM", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-12-5(B)", "excerpt": "No less than thirty days before first entering the surface of the land to conduct oil and gas operations, an operator shall, by certified mail or hand delivery, give the surface owner notice of the planned oil and gas operations.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NM-70-12-surface-owners-protection.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NM-007", "jurisdiction": "NM", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-3.1(A)", "excerpt": "The operator or lessee arranging for the sale of oil and gas shall furnish the payor with the name, the address and the percentage of interest of each person to whom payment is to be made, as well as proof of marketable title to all of the oil and gas to be sold.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NM-70-10-3-4-proceeds.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NM-008", "jurisdiction": "NM", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-4(A)", "excerpt": "In instances where payments cannot be made within the time period provided in Section 70-10-3 NMSA 1978, the payor shall create a suspense account on his books for such interest or may interplead the suspended funds into court.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NM-70-10-3-4-proceeds.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NM-009", "jurisdiction": "NM", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4440/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 70-10-4(B)", "excerpt": "Payment of principal and interest on the suspended funds shall be made to all persons legally entitled to the funds within thirty days from the date that the persons are determined to be entitled to the suspended funds by a final legal determination.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NM-70-10-3-4-proceeds.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NM-010", "jurisdiction": "NM", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4340/index.do", "publisher": "New Mexico Compilation Commission (NMOneSource.com, NMSA 1978)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "NMSA 1978, 7-8A-1(9)", "excerpt": "\"mineral proceeds\" means amounts payable for the extraction, production or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable thereafter.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/NM-7-8A-1-unclaimed.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-001", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(1)", "excerpt": "Any interest in oil and gas shall, if unused for a period of twenty years immediately prior to the effective date of this section, be extinguished, and the ownership thereof shall revert to the state, unless a statement of claim is filed within two years after the effective date of this section", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-002", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.parks.ny.gov/documents/inside-our-agency/Chapter501LawsNewYork2011.pdf", "publisher": "New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (copy of Laws of New York 2011, chapter 501)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "L. 2011, ch. 501, §§ 1 to 3", "excerpt": "Became a law September 23, 2011, with the approval of the Governor. ... § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 18, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-L2011-ch501-and-oprhp-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-003", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.parks.ny.gov/documents/inside-our-agency/AlleganyLapseLawNoticeExpirationTimeWithinWhichFile.pdf", "publisher": "New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "OPRHP public notice dated January 16, 2014", "excerpt": "The time within which to file a statement of claim expired on September 22, 2013.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 6, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-L2011-ch501-and-oprhp-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-004", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary integration as permitted by section 23-0701 of this article and after finding as required by subdivision 2 of this section, the department shall make an order integrating all tracts or interests in the spacing unit for development and operation.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-ecl-23-0901.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-005", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a (opening paragraph)", "excerpt": "The provisions of this section shall apply to oil and gas interests that were previously severed from interests in lands that are currently owned by the state within Allegany state park.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-006", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.parks.ny.gov/documents/inside-our-agency/Chapter501LawsNewYork2011.pdf", "publisher": "New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (copy of Laws of New York 2011, chapter 501)", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "L. 2011, ch. 501, § 1", "excerpt": "The provisions of this act provide ample notice to the unknown owners of the potential lapse of their rights as well as ample opportunity to assert their claims.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 18, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-L2011-ch501.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-007", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(5)", "excerpt": "Where such an interest is co-owned by more than one party, any one owner may file the statement of claim on behalf of all owners.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-008", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(4)", "excerpt": "Within thirty days after the effective date of this section, the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation shall cause to be published in three successive issues of three newspapers of general circulation published in the county of Cattaraugus, a notice announcing the enactment of the provisions of this section", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-009", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(7)", "excerpt": "by publishing the same in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of Cattaraugus, and, if the address of such oil and gas interest owner is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry, by mailing within ten days after such publication a copy of such notice to the owner", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-010", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/329-A", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 329-a(6)(b), (c)", "excerpt": "(b) failed to preserve such interest through inadvertence; and (c) filed the statement of claim required by this section within sixty days after publication of notice as provided in subdivision seven of this section or, if no such notice is published, within sixty days after receiving actual knowledge that such oil and gas interest had been extinguished.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-rpl-329-a.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-011", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(c)", "excerpt": "If applicable, such list shall also identify each tract where the owners remain unknown or cannot be located after diligent efforts by the well operator.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-ecl-23-0901.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-012", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(a)(3)", "excerpt": "\"Integrated royalty owner\" means an owner who has either elected to be an integrated royalty owner or who does not elect to become either a participating owner or a non-participating owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-ecl-23-0901.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NY-013", "jurisdiction": "NY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ENV/23-0901", "publisher": "New York State Senate, Open Legislation (Consolidated Laws of New York)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 23-0901(3)(e)", "excerpt": "such order shall be final and binding upon the well operator, all owners and their heirs, successors and assigns.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NY-ecl-23-0901.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-001", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.1.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.1(b)", "excerpt": "free and clear of any and all such fee simple oil, gas or mineral interests in such area of land founded upon any reservation or exception contained in an instrument conveying the surface estate in fee simple which was executed or recorded fifty (50) years or more prior to September 1, 1965", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2026; also read on ncleg.gov on October 1, 2026, identical apart from whitespace", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-gs-text.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-002", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.1.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.1(d)", "excerpt": "must be listed for ad valorem taxes and notice of such interest must be filed in writing in the manner provided by G.S. 1-42.1(b) and recorded in the local registry in the book provided by G.S. 1-42 within two years from September 1, 1967, to be effective against the surface fee simple owner", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2026; also read on the official site on October 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-gs-text.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-003", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://archive.org/details/sessionlaws196365nort", "publisher": "General Assembly of North Carolina, Session Laws 1965", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "1965 N.C. Sess. Laws c. 1072 (S.B. 372), s. 1 (G.S. 1-42.1(c) as enacted) and s. 3", "excerpt": "shall exclude governmental claims, State or Federal, and all such claims by reason of unexpired oil, gas or mineral leases. ... Sec. 3. This Act shall be in full force and effect on and after September 1, 1965.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive digitized copy of the printed official volume (OCR text)", "saved_as": "sources/NC-session-laws-ancient-mineral-claims.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-004", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://archive.org/details/sessionlaws19656667nort", "publisher": "General Assembly of North Carolina, Session Laws 1967", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "1967 N.C. Sess. Laws c. 905 (S.B. 351), s. 2", "excerpt": "Sec. 2. The provisions of this Act shall apply to the following counties: Anson, Buncombe, Durham, Franklin, Guilford, Hoke, Jackson, Montgomery, Person, Richmond, Swain, Transylvania, Union, Wake and Warren.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive digitized copy of the printed official volume (OCR text)", "saved_as": "sources/NC-session-laws-ancient-mineral-claims.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-005", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.2.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.2(b)", "excerpt": "executed or recorded at least 50 but not more than 56 years prior to September 1, 1971", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 13, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-gs-text.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-006", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.3.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.3(b)", "excerpt": "executed or recorded at least 50 years or more prior to September 1, 1974", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-gs-text.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-007", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.5.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.5(b) and (d), Avery County", "excerpt": "free and clear of any and all such fee simple oil, gas or mineral interest in such area of land, the existence of which depends upon any reservation or exception contained in an instrument conveying the surface estate in fee simple which was recorded prior to such 30-year period", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-gs-text.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-008", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://archive.org/details/sessionlawsresol1981nort", "publisher": "General Assembly of North Carolina, Session Laws 1981", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "1981 N.C. Sess. Laws c. 329 (H.B. 547), ss. 2 and 3", "excerpt": "Sec. 2. G.S. 1-42.3 is hereby repealed in its application to Avery County only. Sec. 3. This act shall become effective June 30, 1982.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive digitized copy of the printed official volume (OCR text)", "saved_as": "sources/NC-session-laws-ancient-mineral-claims.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-009", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(b)", "excerpt": "may be preserved and kept effective by recording within two years after January 1, 1986, a notice in writing duly sworn to and subscribed before an official authorized to take probate by G.S. 47-1", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-gs-text.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-010", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://archive.org/details/sessionlawsresol1985nort", "publisher": "General Assembly of North Carolina, Session Laws 1985", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "1985 N.C. Sess. Laws c. 573 (S.B. 296), ss. 1 and 2", "excerpt": "Section 1. G.S. 1-42.9 is amended by changing the calendar dates, wherever they appear, to \"January 1, 1986\". Sec. 2. This act does not revive any interests rendered ineffective under the provisions of G.S. 1-42.1 through G.S. 1-42.8 and G.S. 1-42.9.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive digitized copy of the printed official volume (OCR text)", "saved_as": "sources/NC-session-laws-ancient-mineral-claims.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-011", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.7.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.4(d) (Ashe), 1-42.6(d) (Alleghany), 1-42.7(d) (Chatham), 1-42.8(f) (Rutherford)", "excerpt": "The provisions of this subsection shall apply to the following county: Ashe. ... This section applies only to Alleghany County. ... This section shall apply to Chatham County only. ... (f) This act applies only to Rutherford County.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshots March 15, 2026 to April 2, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-gs-text.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-012", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_47B/GS_47B-3.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 47B-3(5)", "excerpt": "Such marketable record title shall not affect or extinguish the following rights: ... (5) Rights of any owners of mineral rights.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-47B-marketable-title-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-013", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_113/GS_113-423.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 113-423(b)", "excerpt": "Any lease of oil or gas rights or any other conveyance of any kind separating rights to oil or gas from the freehold estate of surface property shall expire at the end of 10 years from the date the lease is executed, unless, at the end of the 10-year period, oil or gas is being produced for commercial purposes", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NC-113-420-to-423-landowner-protection.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-014", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/SessionLaws/HTML/2011-2012/SL2011-276.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "S.L. 2011-276, s. 3, former G.S. 113-424 (repealed by S.L. 2012-143, s. 4(f))", "excerpt": "This Part applies to leases or contracts, and amendments to leases or contracts, entered into on or after June 15, 2011.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 1, 2019", "saved_as": "sources/NC-113-420-to-423-landowner-protection.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-015", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy", "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/SessionLaws/HTML/2011-2012/SL2012-143.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "S.L. 2012-143, s. 7", "excerpt": "Sections 4(a) through 4(f), 4(h), and 4(i) of this act are effective when this act becomes law and apply to wells drilled and leases or contracts entered into on or after that date.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 1, 2019", "saved_as": "sources/NC-113-420-to-423-landowner-protection.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-016", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42, second paragraph", "excerpt": "no holder or claimant of the surface rights shall be entitled to evidence or prove any use of the subsurface rights, by himself, or by his predecessors in title or of lessees or agents, as adverse possession against the holder of said subsurface rights, unless", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 15, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-gs-text.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-017", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_113/GS_113-393.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 113-393(a); 'Commission' defined in G.S. 113-389(1a) as the North Carolina Oil and Gas Commission", "excerpt": "Where, however, such owners have not agreed to integrate their interests, the Commission shall, for the prevention of waste or to avoid drilling of unnecessary wells, require such owners to do so and to develop their lands as a drilling unit. All orders requiring such integration shall be made after notice and hearing", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NC-113-393-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-018", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_113/GS_113-420.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 113-420(b)", "excerpt": "before entering the property for oil or gas operations that disturb the surface, the developer or operator shall give written notice to the surface owner at least 30 days before the desired date of entry to the property", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 18, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NC-113-420-to-423-landowner-protection.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-019", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_113/GS_113-421.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 113-421(a2)", "excerpt": "The oil or gas developer or operator shall be obligated to pay the surface owner compensation for all of the following: ... Damage to any livestock, crops, or timber determined according to the market value of the resources destroyed, damaged, or prevented from reaching market", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NC-113-420-to-423-landowner-protection.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-020", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_113/GS_113-423.1.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 113-423.1(b)", "excerpt": "An oil or gas developer or operator shall conduct oil and gas operations in a manner that accommodates the surface owner by minimizing intrusion upon and damage to the surface of the land.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 18, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/NC-113-420-to-423-landowner-protection.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-021", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(c)", "excerpt": "The oil, gas or mineral claims hereby extinguished shall include those of persons whether within or without the State, and whether natural or corporate, but shall exclude governmental claims, State or federal, and all such claims by reason of unexpired oil, gas or mineral leases.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-022", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(a)", "excerpt": "the record titleholder of any such oil, gas or mineral interests has not listed the same for ad valorem tax purposes in the county in which the same is located for a period of five years prior to January 1, 1986", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-023", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.5.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.5(b)", "excerpt": "any such fee simple oil, gas or mineral interest may be preserved and kept effective by recording within such 30-year period, a notice in writing duly sworn to and subscribed before an official authorized to take probate by G.S. 47-1, which sets forth the nature of such oil, gas or mineral interest and gives the book and page where recorded.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-024", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(e)", "excerpt": "The board of county commissioners shall publish a notice of this section in a newspaper published in the county or having general circulation in the county once a week for four consecutive weeks prior to January 1, 1986.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-025", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.5.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.5(d)", "excerpt": "The board of county commissioners shall publish a notice of this section within 90 days after the ratification date, and within 90 days prior to June 30, 1982. Such notice shall be published once per week for four consecutive weeks", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-NC-026", "jurisdiction": "NC", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_1/GS_1-42.9.html", "publisher": "North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "G.S. 1-42.9(d)", "excerpt": "must be listed for ad valorem taxes, and notice of this interest must be filed in writing in the manner provided by G.S. 1-42.9(b) and recorded in the local registry in the book provided by G.S. 1-42 to be effective against the surface fee simple owner or creditors, purchasers, heirs or assigns of such owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/NC-1-42-series-owner-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-001", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-02", "excerpt": "Any mineral interest is, if unused for a period of twenty years immediately preceding the first publication of the notice required by section 38-18.1-06, deemed to be abandoned, unless a statement of claim is recorded in accordance with section 38-18.1-04.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-002", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-01", "excerpt": "\"mineral interest\" includes any interest in oil, gas, coal, clay, gravel, uranium, and all other minerals of any kind and nature, whether created by grant, assignment, reservation, or otherwise owned by a person other than the owner of the surface estate.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-003", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-03(2)", "excerpt": "The payment of royalties, bonus payments, or any other payment to a named or unnamed interest-bearing account, trust account, escrow account, or any similar type of account on behalf of a person who cannot be located does not satisfy the requirements of this section and the mineral interest is not deemed to be used for purposes of this section.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-004", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-04", "excerpt": "A statement of claim filed after July 31, 2009, by a person other than the owner of record of the mineral interest is not effective to preserve a mineral interest unless accompanied by a reference to the name of the record owner under whom the owner of the mineral interest claims.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-005", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-05(1)", "excerpt": "The owner of record of the mineral interest satisfies either one of the following requirements within sixty days after first publication of the notice provided for in section 38-18.1-06:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-006", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(2)", "excerpt": "once each week for three weeks in the official county newspaper of the county in which the mineral interest is located; however, if the address of the mineral interest owner is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry as defined in subsection 6, notice must also be made by mailing a copy of the notice", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-007", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(6)", "excerpt": "To constitute a reasonable inquiry as provided in subsection 2, the owner or owners of the surface estate or the owner's authorized agent must conduct a search of:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-008", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06.1(1)", "excerpt": "Upon completion of the procedure provided in section 38-18.1-06, the owner or owners of the surface estate may maintain an action in district court in the county in which the minerals are located and obtain a judgment in quiet title in the owner or owners of the surface estate.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-009", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-08", "excerpt": "This chapter does not apply to any mineral interest owned by any governmental body or agency thereof and this chapter is both prospective and retrospective in its application.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-010", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.dmr.nd.gov/dmr/oilgas/mineralownerinfo", "publisher": "North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas Division", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Mineral Owner page, Statement of Claim section and linked form", "excerpt": "The Statement of Claim Form must be recorded in the office of the recorder in the county in which the mineral interest is located", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-dmr-mineral-owner.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-011", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/59-2005/session-laws/documents/MINE.pdf#CHAPTER320", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "S.L. 2005, ch. 320 (HB 1344), new subsection 2 of 38-18.1-03", "excerpt": "The payment of royalties, bonus payments, or any other payment to a named or unnamed interest-bearing account", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-2005-hb1344-sl-ch320.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-012", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/60-2007/session-laws/documents/MINE.pdf#CHAPTER313", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "S.L. 2007, ch. 313 (HB 1045), amending 38-18.1-02", "excerpt": "The owner of the surface estate in the land in or under which the mineral interest is located on the date of abandonment may record a statement of succession in interest", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-2007-hb1045-sl-ch313.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-013", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ndlegis.gov/assembly/61-2009/regular/bill-text/JRCB0400.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Enrolled HB 1370, S.L. 2009, ch. 317, approved April 24, 2009", "excerpt": "AN ACT to create and enact a new section to chapter 38-18.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to perfecting title to dormant minerals; and to amend and reenact sections 38-18.1-03, 38-18.1-04, 38-18.1-05, and 38-18.1-06", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-2009-hb1370-sl-ch317.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-014", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/64-2015/session-laws/documents/GNLPR.pdf#CHAPTER62", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "S.L. 2015, ch. 62 (SB 2053), section 14, striking 38-18.1-03(1)(f) on payment of taxes (strike read on the rendered page)", "excerpt": "relating to technical corrections and improper, inaccurate, redundant, missing, or obsolete references", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-2015-sb2053-sl-ch62.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-015", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/67-2021/session-laws/documents/PROPT.pdf#CHAPTER337", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "S.L. 2021, ch. 337 (SB 2048), section 14, amending 38-18.1-03(2)", "excerpt": "AN ACT to create and enact chapter 47-30.2 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-2021-sb2048-sl-ch337.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-016", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ndcourts.gov/supreme-court/opinion/2017ND49", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Nelson v. McAlester Fuel Co., 2017 ND 49, paragraph 18 (applying the 2004 text)", "excerpt": "we interpret this phrase in the statute to indicate a surface owner must send notice to the most recent address of record in order to comply with N.D.C.C. § 38-18.1-06(2) (2004).", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2023", "saved_as": "sources/ND-sc-nelson-2017nd49-felton-2011nd33.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-017", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ndcourts.gov/supreme-court/opinion/2017ND49", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Nelson v. McAlester Fuel Co., 2017 ND 49, paragraph 8, quoting Peterson v. Jasmanka, 2014 ND 40, paragraph 12", "excerpt": "wholly self-executing, and once the notice procedure under the statute is completed, title to the mineral interest vests in the surface owner as of the date of abandonment, without the necessity of a subsequent quiet title action.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 17, 2023", "saved_as": "sources/ND-sc-nelson-2017nd49-felton-2011nd33.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-018", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ndcourts.gov/supreme-court/opinion/2011ND33", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Sorenson v. Felton, 2011 ND 33, paragraphs 9 and 14 (applying the 2004 text)", "excerpt": "Sorenson was required to conduct a reasonable inquiry only if Felton's address was not shown of record.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 21, 2022", "saved_as": "sources/ND-sc-nelson-2017nd49-felton-2011nd33.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-019", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c08.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-08-08(1)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary pooling, the commission upon the application of any interested person shall enter an order pooling all interests in the spacing unit for the development and operations thereof.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-08-08.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-020", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c08.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-08-08(3)(a)", "excerpt": "the risk penalty is two hundred percent of the nonparticipating owner's share of the reasonable actual costs of drilling and completing the well", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-08-08.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-021", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c08.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-08-02(3)", "excerpt": "\"Commission\" means the industrial commission.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-08-08.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-022", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c08.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-08-09.5", "excerpt": "will be required to pay more than fifty-five percent of the costs of the unit operation and by the owners of more than fifty-five percent of the royalty interests", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-08-08.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-023", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c11-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-11.1-04", "excerpt": "The mineral developer shall pay the surface owner a sum of money equal to the amount of damages sustained by the surface owner and the surface owner's tenant, if any, for lost land value, lost use of and access to the surface owner's land, and lost value of improvements caused by drilling operations.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-11-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-024", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c11-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-11.1-04.1(2)", "excerpt": "the mineral developer shall give the surface owner written notice by registered mail or hand delivery of the oil and gas drilling operations contemplated at least twenty days before commencement of drilling operations unless mutually waived by agreement of both parties.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-11-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-025", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c11-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-11.1-09", "excerpt": "If the amount of compensation awarded by the court is greater than the amount offered by the mineral developer, the court shall award the person seeking compensation reasonable attorney's fees, any costs and disbursements under chapter 28-26, and interest", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-11-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-026", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c11-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-11.1-03(6)", "excerpt": "\"Minerals\" means oil and gas.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-11-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-027", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(3)(a)", "excerpt": "The notice must state: a. The name of the record owner of the mineral interest;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-028", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(1) and (2)", "excerpt": "The publication provided for in subsection 1 must be made once each week for three weeks in the official county newspaper of the county in which the mineral interest is located", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-029", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06(6)(c) and (d)", "excerpt": "c. The social security death index for the last-known residence of the owner of the mineral interest, if deceased; and d. One or more public internet databases to locate or identify the owner of the mineral interest or any known heirs of the owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-030", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-06.1(2)", "excerpt": "the owner or owners of the surface estate shall submit evidence to the district court establishing that all procedures required by this chapter were properly completed and that a reasonable inquiry as defined by subsection 6 of section 38-18.1-06 was conducted.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-031", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c18-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-18.1-05(2)", "excerpt": "A person other than the owner of record of the mineral interest files with the county recorder within sixty days after first publication of the notice provided for in section 38-18.1-06 an affidavit under oath or a declaration under oath which includes an explanation of the factual and legal basis for the person's assertion of title to the mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-18-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-032", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c13-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-13.1-01", "excerpt": "A person that owns a mineral, leasehold, or royalty interest underlying a tract of land may petition the district court of the county in which the tract or a portion of the tract is located to declare a trust in favor of other persons also owning or claiming an interest", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-13-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-033", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t38c13-1.pdf", "publisher": "North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "N.D.C.C. 38-13.1-03", "excerpt": "The creation of a trust in favor of unlocatable owners does not affect the right of a surface owner who succeeds to ownership of a mineral interest upon its lapse under chapter 38-18.1.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-38-13-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-034", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/10/31/capps_v._weflen.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201, paragraph 13", "excerpt": "We conclude a surface owner is required to conduct a reasonable inquiry only if the mineral owner's address does not appear of record, even if the surface owner knows the mineral owner whose address appears of record is deceased.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-capps-v-weflen-2014ND201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-035", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/10/31/capps_v._weflen.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201, paragraph 12", "excerpt": "this Court made it clear that when the mineral interest owners of record are deceased, the notice must still be mailed to the address of the deceased owners of record.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-capps-v-weflen-2014ND201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-036", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2017/03/07/nelson_v._mcalester_fuel_company.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Nelson v. McAlester Fuel Co., 2017 ND 49, paragraph 1", "excerpt": "requires a surface owner to mail notice of lapse to the most recent address of record.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-nelson-v-mcalester-2017ND49.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-037", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2010/07/13/state_v._poitra.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Halvorson v. Starr, 2010 ND 133, paragraph 10", "excerpt": "The mailing required by N.D.C.C. §38-18.1-06 does not begin a civil action. It is not part of a procedure in the district court.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-halvorson-v-starr-2010ND133.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-038", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/02/21/peterson_v._jasmanka.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Peterson v. Jasmanka, 2014 ND 40, paragraph 18", "excerpt": "We conclude any defect in the mailing of the notice of lapse of mineral interest did not deprive the district court of personal jurisdiction in the subsequent quiet title action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-peterson-v-jasmanka-2014ND40.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-039", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2013/04/04/waslaski_v._state.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Estate of Christeson v. Gilstad, 2013 ND 50, paragraph 9", "excerpt": "Emmett Christeson, as Edyth Christeson's sole heir, succeeded to her interest and became legal owner of the mineral interest immediately upon her death.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-christeson-v-gilstad-2013ND50.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-040", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2013/04/04/waslaski_v._state.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Estate of Christeson v. Gilstad, 2013 ND 50, paragraph 15", "excerpt": "Section 38-18.1-03(1)(d), N.D.C.C., does not require that the lease be executed by the owner of record, but merely provides that the recording of a lease of the mineral interest is deemed to be a use under N.D.C.C. ch. 38-18.1.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-christeson-v-gilstad-2013ND50.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-041", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2013/04/08/larson_v._norheim.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Larson v. Norheim, 2013 ND 60, paragraph 18", "excerpt": "Section 38-18.1-04, N.D.C.C., allows an owner's representative to record a statement of claim and does not require the owner of the mineral interest to record the claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-larson-v-norheim-2013ND60.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-ND-042", "jurisdiction": "ND", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/wpd/2014/10/31/capps_v._weflen.wpd", "publisher": "North Dakota Supreme Court, CourtListener storage copy", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Capps v. Weflen, 2014 ND 201, paragraph 23", "excerpt": "We conclude the Capps have failed to establish that the notice provisions of N.D.C.C. ch. 38-18.1 are unconstitutional on their face or as applied in this case.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/ND-capps-v-weflen-2014ND201.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-001", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(B) and (B)(3)", "excerpt": "shall be deemed abandoned and vested in the owner of the surface of the lands subject to the interest if the requirements established in division (E) of this section are satisfied and none of the following applies: ... (3) Within the twenty years immediately preceding the date on which notice is served or published under division (E) of this section", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-002", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(E)(1)", "excerpt": "Serve notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each holder or each holder's successors or assignees, at the last known address of each, of the owner's intent to declare the mineral interest abandoned. If service of notice cannot be completed to any holder, the owner shall publish notice", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-003", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(H)(1)", "excerpt": "not later than sixty days after the date on which the notice was served or published, as applicable, shall file in the office of the county recorder of each county where the land that is subject to the mineral interest is located one of the following:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-004", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(H)(2)", "excerpt": "Immediately after the notice of failure to file a mineral interest is recorded, the mineral interest shall vest in the owner of the surface of the lands formerly subject to the interest", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-005", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(D)(1)", "excerpt": "A mineral interest may be preserved indefinitely from being deemed abandoned under division (B) of this section by the occurrence of any of the circumstances described in division (B)(3) of this section, including, but not limited to, successive filings of claims to preserve mineral interests under division (C) of this section.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-006", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.53", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.53(E) and (G)", "excerpt": "(E) Any right, title, estate, or interest in coal, and any mining or other rights pertinent to or exercisable in connection with any right, title, estate, or interest in coal; ... (G) Any right, title, or interest of the United States, of this state, or of any political subdivision, body politic, or agency of the United States or this state.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 19, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-53.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-007", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/chapter-5301", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.48 (Marketable Title Act); also currency check of R.C. 5301.56", "excerpt": "who has an unbroken chain of title of record to any interest in land for forty years or more, has a marketable record title to such interest", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 8, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-ch5301-mta-2025-07.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-008", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2016/2016-Ohio-5796.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Corban v. Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C., 149 Ohio St.3d 512, 2016-Ohio-5796, paragraph 31 (lead opinion)", "excerpt": "as of June 30, 2006, any surface holder seeking to claim dormant mineral rights and merge them with the surface estate is required to follow the statutory notice and recording procedures enacted in 2006 by H.B. 288.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 16, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-corban-2016-ohio-5796.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-009", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2016/2016-Ohio-5796.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Corban, 2016-Ohio-5796, paragraph 28 (lead opinion; Kennedy, J., agreeing at paragraph 104)", "excerpt": "we conclude that the 1989 law was not self-executing and did not automatically transfer ownership of dormant mineral rights by operation of law.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 16, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-corban-2016-ohio-5796.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-010", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2016/2016-Ohio-5793.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Walker v. Shondrick-Nau, 149 Ohio St.3d 282, 2016-Ohio-5793, paragraph 22", "excerpt": "Noon's claim to preserve, which was timely filed with the county recorder's office, was sufficient to preclude the mineral estate from being deemed abandoned and vested in the owner of the surface estate.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 16, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-walker-2016-ohio-5793.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-011", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2015/2015-Ohio-2362.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Dodd v. Croskey, 143 Ohio St.3d 293, 2015-Ohio-2362, paragraph 37", "excerpt": "a mineral-interest holder's claim to preserve filed pursuant to R.C. 5301.56(H)(1)(a) is sufficient to preclude the mineral interests from being deemed abandoned if filed within 60 days after notice of the surface owner's intent to declare those interests abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 15, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-dodd-2015-ohio-2362.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-012", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2015/2015-Ohio-4551.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C. v. Buell, 144 Ohio St.3d 490, 2015-Ohio-4551, syllabus", "excerpt": "1. A recorded oil and gas lease is a title transaction under R.C. 5301.56(B)(3)(a). 2. The unrecorded expiration of a recorded oil and gas lease and the accompanying reversion to the lessor of rights granted by the lease is not a title transaction that restarts the 20-year clock under the Dormant Mineral Act, R.C. 5301.56.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 15, 2022", "saved_as": "sources/OH-buell-2015-ohio-4551.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-013", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity v. Chervenak, 162 Ohio St.3d 694, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 41", "excerpt": "A surface owner attempting to comply with R.C. 5301.56(E) must exercise reasonable diligence to identify all holders of the severed mineral interest, but the inability to identify or locate all such holders does not, in itself, preclude application of the Dormant Mineral Act.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-2020-ohio-6705.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-014", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2018/2018-Ohio-4959.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Blackstone v. Moore, 155 Ohio St.3d 448, 2018-Ohio-4959, paragraph 23 (DeGenaro, J., concurring)", "excerpt": "Given that this question is not squarely before us, we cannot reach its merits. For now, it remains an open issue that is for this court's future review.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 8, 2023", "saved_as": "sources/OH-mta-erickson-blackstone.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-015", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2021/2021-Ohio-746.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Erickson v. Morrison, 165 Ohio St.3d 76, 2021-Ohio-746, paragraph 35", "excerpt": "Notwithstanding its failure to name the owner of the reserved rights, this reference is sufficient to preserve them from being extinguished under Ohio's Marketable Title Act.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 10, 2022", "saved_as": "sources/OH-mta-erickson-blackstone.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-016", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/133/hb100", "publisher": "Ohio General Assembly", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "Bill status page, 2019 H.B. 100, 133rd General Assembly (not enacted)", "excerpt": "To amend section 5301.56 of the Revised Code to revise the requirements governing abandoned mineral rights. Current Version As Introduced", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 5, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-133-hb100-status.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-017", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1509.27", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 1509.27 (effective September 29, 2015, House Bill 64, 131st General Assembly)", "excerpt": "If a tract or tracts are of insufficient size or shape to meet the requirements for drilling a proposed well thereon as provided in section 1509.24 or 1509.25 of the Revised Code, whichever is applicable, and the owner has been unable to form a drilling unit under agreement", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-1509-27-28.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-018", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1509.28", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 1509.28(A)(1) (effective July 21, 2022, House Bill 397, 134th General Assembly)", "excerpt": "A person who has obtained the consent of the owners of at least sixty-five per cent of the land area overlying a pool or a part of a pool may submit an application for the operation as a unit of the entire pool or part of the pool", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 15, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-1509-27-28.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-019", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/chapter-1509", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 1509.072 (effective September 29, 2011)", "excerpt": "No oil or gas well owner or agent of an oil or gas well owner shall fail to restore the land surface within the area disturbed in siting, drilling, completing, and producing the well as required in this section.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 12, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-1509-surface-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-020", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/chapter-1509", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 1509.22(F)", "excerpt": "An owner shall replace the water supply of the holder of an interest in real property who obtains all or part of the holder's supply of water for domestic, agricultural, industrial, or other legitimate use from an underground or surface source where the supply has been substantially disrupted", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 12, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-1509-surface-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-021", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/chapter-1509", "publisher": "Ohio Legislative Service Commission (codes.ohio.gov)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 1509.27, surface consent sentence", "excerpt": "No surface operations or disturbances to the surface of the land shall occur on a tract pooled by an order without the written consent of or a written agreement with the surface rights owner of the tract that approves the operations or disturbances.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 12, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-1509-surface-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-022", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(B)", "excerpt": "Any mineral interest held by any person, other than the owner of the surface of the lands subject to the interest, shall be deemed abandoned and vested in the owner of the surface of the lands subject to the interest if the requirements established in division (E) of this section are satisfied", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-023", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(A)(1)", "excerpt": "\"Holder\" means the record holder of a mineral interest, and any person who derives the person's rights from, or has a common source with, the record holder and whose claim does not indicate, expressly or by clear implication, that it is adverse to the interest of the record holder.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-024", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(F)(1)", "excerpt": "The name of each holder and the holder's successors and assignees, as applicable;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-025", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(C)(2)", "excerpt": "A claim that complies with division (C)(1) of this section or, if applicable, divisions (C)(1) and (3) of this section preserves the rights of all holders of a mineral interest in the same lands.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-026", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(B)(3)", "excerpt": "Within the twenty years immediately preceding the date on which notice is served or published under division (E) of this section, one or more of the following has occurred:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-027", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5301.56", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 5301.56(E)(2)", "excerpt": "At least thirty, but not later than sixty days after the date on which the notice required under division (E)(1) of this section is served or published, as applicable, file in the office of the county recorder of each county in which the surface of the land that is subject to the interest is located an affidavit of abandonment", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-5301-56.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-028", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity v. Chervenak, 162 Ohio St.3d 694, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 15", "excerpt": "As Richards's sole heir and as successor to her interest in the mineral rights, Gerrity qualifies as a \"holder\" under R.C. 5301.56(A)(1).", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-029", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 41", "excerpt": "A surface owner attempting to comply with R.C. 5301.56(E) must exercise reasonable diligence to identify all holders of the severed mineral interest, but the inability to identify or locate all such holders does not, in itself, preclude application of the Dormant Mineral Act.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-030", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 36", "excerpt": "Review of publicly-available property and court records in the county where the land subject to a severed mineral interest is located will generally establish a baseline of reasonable diligence in identifying the holder or holders of the severed mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-031", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 34", "excerpt": "all weigh against a bright-line requirement for online searches, let alone a bright-line requirement that a surface owner consult any particular paid subscription services, to identify heirs to a severed mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-032", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-6705.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gerrity, 2020-Ohio-6705, paragraph 21", "excerpt": "And again, nothing in the statutory text precludes the use of publication to notify classes of unknown or potential holders.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 16, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-gerrity-v-chervenak-2020-Ohio-6705.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-033", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2016/2016-Ohio-5814.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Albanese v. Batman, 148 Ohio St.3d 85, 2016-Ohio-5814, paragraph 20", "excerpt": "The mineral rights cannot be deemed abandoned if the mineral-rights holder has not been provided notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 16, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-albanese-v-batman-2016-Ohio-5814.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-034", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2016/2016-Ohio-5796.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Corban v. Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C., 149 Ohio St.3d 512, 2016-Ohio-5796, paragraph 31", "excerpt": "Thus, as of June 30, 2006, any surface holder seeking to claim dormant mineral rights and merge them with the surface estate is required to follow the statutory notice and recording procedures enacted in 2006 by H.B. 288.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 16, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OH-corban-v-chesapeake-2016-Ohio-5796.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-035", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1509.27", "publisher": "Ohio Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.C. 1509.27", "excerpt": "The chief shall notify all mineral rights owners of tracts within the area proposed to be pooled by an order and included within the drilling unit of", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 28, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OH-1509-27.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OH-036", "jurisdiction": "OH", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2020/2020-Ohio-5473.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of Ohio", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "West v. Bode, 162 Ohio St.3d 293, 2020-Ohio-5473, paragraph 2", "excerpt": "we must apply them as the General Assembly wrote them—as independent, alternative statutory mechanisms that may be used to reunite severed mineral interests with the surface property subject to those interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive capture of the official PDF, 9 Dec 2024", "saved_as": "sources/OH-west-v-bode-2020-Ohio-5473.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-001", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "84 O.S. 271.1", "excerpt": "If the proceeds or other intangible property interest from any mineral interests are abandoned for a period of fifteen (15) years, as provided for in the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, then the mineral interest which generates the intangible property interest shall not be subject to escheat, but shall be subject to judicial sale by the state", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-abandoned-mineral-interest-sale.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-002", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "84 O.S. 271.1(3)", "excerpt": "The record owner or owners of the surface from which abandoned mineral interests have been severed shall be mailed at the last-known address as shown by the records of the county treasurer a notice of the sale of such abandoned mineral interest at least thirty (30) days prior to said sale", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-abandoned-mineral-interest-sale.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-003", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os60.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "60 O.S. 658.1", "excerpt": "Any mineral interest in land in Oklahoma shall be subject to sale under the provisions of Sections 271.1 through 277 of Title 84 of the Oklahoma Statutes if it generates an intangible property interest which is presumed abandoned for a period of fifteen (15) years under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-60-658-658-1-unclaimed-mineral-interests.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-004", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os60.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "60 O.S. 658(A)", "excerpt": "all intangible personal property ... that is held, issued, or owing in the ordinary course of a holder's business and has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than five (5) years after becoming payable or distributable is presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-60-658-658-1-unclaimed-mineral-interests.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-005", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os16.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "16 O.S. 76(A)", "excerpt": "Sections 71 through 80 of this title shall not be applied to bar any lessor or his successor as a reversioner of his right to possession on the expiration of any lease; or to bar or extinguish any mineral or royalty interest which has been severed from the fee simple title of the land", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-16-71-80-marketable-record-title-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-006", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 556", "excerpt": "transfer to the Unclaimed Property Fund those monies which have been in escrow accounts and the Mineral Owner's Fund five (5) years or more after the date of pooling. After that time, such monies shall be subject to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-551-558-unknown-owner-escrow.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-007", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "pooling", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 87.1(e)", "excerpt": "Where, however, such owners have not agreed to pool their interests and where one such separate owner has drilled or proposes to drill a well on the unit to the common source of supply, the Commission ... shall, upon a proper application therefor and a hearing thereon, require such owners to pool", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-87-1-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-008", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 87.9(G)", "excerpt": "by lessees of record of not less than sixty-three percent (63%) of the working interest in the targeted reservoir in each spacing unit in the area to be included in the unit and by owners of record of not less than sixty-three percent (63%)", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-87-1-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-009", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 318.5(A)", "excerpt": "Prior to entering the site with heavy equipment, the operator shall negotiate with the surface owner for the payment of any damages which may be caused by the drilling operation. If the parties agree, and a written contract is signed, the operator may enter the site to drill.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-318-2-318-9-surface-damages-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-010", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 318.9", "excerpt": "Any operator who willfully and knowingly fails to keep posted the required bond or who fails to notify the surface owner, prior to entering, or fails to come to an agreement and does not ask the court for appraisers, shall pay, at the direction of the court, treble damages to the surface owner.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-318-2-318-9-surface-damages-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-011", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 521", "excerpt": "wherein it is made to appear that the defendant or defendants in such action own or appear to own in the aggregate a minority interest in said minerals thereunder but that the residence, business address or whereabouts of one or more of the defendants cannot be ascertained,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-012", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 522(a)(3)", "excerpt": "the sources of information which plaintiff has checked in an attempt to locate the present address or whereabouts of said defendant or defendants, and further stating that plaintiff has exercised due diligence and cannot by any means within his control ascertain the present address or whereabouts", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-013", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 522(b)", "excerpt": "Notice of the hearing, the nature of the hearing and relief requested shall be given by publication one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the county and by mailing to the last-known address, if any, of the defendant or defendants as set forth in said petition.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-014", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 522(c)", "excerpt": "On the date set for said hearing the court shall dismiss the action as to all defendants who answer and request such dismissal,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-015", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 523", "excerpt": "All monies paid to the receiver shall be by him deposited in the registry of the court for the use and benefit of the defendants", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-016", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 552(A) and (B)", "excerpt": "2. Persons entitled to the receipt of such monies are unknown or cannot be located after exercise of due diligence. B. The escrow account shall be for the benefit of the rightful recipient of the monies.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-017", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 554(A)", "excerpt": "transmit the funds to the State Treasurer, who shall hold the funds in trust for the mineral owners in the Mineral Owner's Fund.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-018", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os52.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "52 O.S. 554(C)", "excerpt": "upon sufficient proof of ownership, the State Treasurer shall pay monies to the rightful owner or to the rightful owner’s heirs, devisees or assigns", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-52-521-523-551-558-87-1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-019", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/p2d/613/cases/0442-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Oklahoma Supreme Court opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Cravens v. Corporation Commission, 613 P.2d 442 (Okla. 1980)", "excerpt": "When the names and addresses of the parties are known, or are easily ascertainable by the exercise of diligence, notice of pending proceedings by publication service alone, is not sufficient to satisfy the requirements of due process under federal or Oklahoma constitutions.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-cravens-1980.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-020", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "84 O.S. 274", "excerpt": "the clerk shall also issue a summons for publication, setting forth briefly the contents of the petition, for all persons interested in the property to appear and answer within thirty (30) days from the date of first publication,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-60-658-abandoned-minerals.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-021", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "84 O.S. 275", "excerpt": "If no person after notice as aforesaid shall appear and plead within the time prescribed by law, which shall not be less than thirty days after the first publication of notice, judgment shall be rendered by default in behalf of the state;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-60-658-abandoned-minerals.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OK-022", "jurisdiction": "OK", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os84.pdf", "publisher": "Oklahoma Legislature, Legislative Service Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "84 O.S. 276", "excerpt": "any proceeds paid to the Treasurer resulting from a sale of minerals deemed abandoned pursuant to Sections 658.1 and 658.1A of Title 60 of the Oklahoma Statutes and Section 271.1 of this title shall be treated as proceeds subject to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/OK-84-271-277-60-658-abandoned-minerals.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-001", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(1)", "excerpt": "An owner of land in which another person holds a mineral interest, may extinguish the holder’s interest by publishing notice and submitting an affidavit of publication for recording as described in subsections (4) to (9) of this section, unless:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-002", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(1)(a), (b)", "excerpt": "(a) Within the last 30 years, the holder of the mineral interest has submitted a statement of claim for recording in the manner set out in subsection (3) of this section; or (b) The holder of the mineral interest acquired the mineral interest within the previous 30 years.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-003", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(2)(a)", "excerpt": "an interest of any kind in coal, oil, gas or other minerals and geothermal resources, except an interest vested in the United States, the State of Oregon or a political subdivision of the State of Oregon. A mineral interest does not include an interest in sand or gravel.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-004", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(8)", "excerpt": "the mineral interest of the holder shall be extinguished and become the property of the owner of the lands, unless the holder of the mineral interest submits a statement of claim to the county clerk within 60 days after the date of the last publication of the notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-005", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.170", "excerpt": "It is in the interest of the State of Oregon to provide a mechanism for the removal of dormant encumbrances on property which prevent a landowner from using or developing that property in a manner which contributes to the economy and increases the state’s tax base.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-006", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors520.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 520.220(2)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary integration, the governing board of the State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, upon the application of any interested person, shall make an order integrating all tracts or interests in the spacing unit for the development and operation thereof and for the sharing of production therefrom.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 3, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OR-520-220-integration.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-007", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors520.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS chapter 520 full text search (2023 edition)", "excerpt": "In no event shall such gas be subject to the rights of the owner of the surface of the land under which said underground reservoir lies or of the owner of any mineral interest therein", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 3, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/OR-surface-damages-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-008", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(1)(b)", "excerpt": "The holder of the mineral interest acquired the mineral interest within the previous 30 years.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-009", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(3)(a), (b)", "excerpt": "(a) The name and address of the holder of the mineral interest as that name is shown in the instrument that created the original mineral interest; and (b) The name and address of the current holder of the mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-010", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(4)", "excerpt": "the owner of the land shall publish notice of the lapse of the mineral interest at least once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the lands affected by the mineral interest are located.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-011", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(5)(a)", "excerpt": "The name of the holder of the mineral interest, as shown of record;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-012", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.180(7)(b)", "excerpt": "If no copy of the notice was mailed, a detailed description, including dates, of the efforts made to determine with due diligence the address of the holder of the mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-013", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.250", "excerpt": "If the delinquent co-owner cannot be found within the state, or if at the time of giving the notice the delinquent co-owner is without the state, service of the notice shall be made by publication thereof in the weekly newspaper published in the county nearest to where the mine is situated.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-OR-014", "jurisdiction": "OR", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors517.html", "publisher": "Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "ORS 517.270", "excerpt": "the delinquent co-owner has not paid the proportion of the delinquent co-owner to the co-owners who performed or caused to be performed the assessment work, the title to the interest of the delinquent co-owner in the mine shall be immediately vested in the co-owners who performed or caused to be performed the assessment work.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 1, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/OR-517-170-180-230-270.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-001", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly, Legislative Data Processing Center", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 2", "excerpt": "It is not the purpose of this act to vest the surface owner with title to oil and gas interests that have been severed from the surface estate.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-2006-115-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-002", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly, Legislative Data Processing Center", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(a)", "excerpt": "Any person who owns an interest in oil and gas underlying a tract of land may petition the appropriate division of the court of common pleas of the county in which the tract or any portion of the tract is located to declare a trust in favor of all unknown owners", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-2006-115-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-003", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly, Legislative Data Processing Center", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(c)", "excerpt": "the court shall appoint a financial institution authorized to do business in this Commonwealth as trustee of a trust for the unknown owner or owners and shall authorize the trustee to execute and deliver one or more oil or gas leases or other instruments on terms and conditions approved by the court.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-2006-115-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-004", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly, Legislative Data Processing Center", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(c) and (d)", "excerpt": "A trust for unknown owners shall remain in force until the unknown owners of the oil and gas interests in question have been identified to the satisfaction of the trustee and received their share of any funds held in trust.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-2006-115-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-005", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/1961/0/0359..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly, Legislative Data Processing Center", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Act 359 of 1961, section 8(a)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary integration, the commission, upon the application of any operator having an interest in the spacing unit, shall make an order integrating all tracts or interests in the spacing unit for the development and operation thereof and for the sharing of production therefrom.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 11, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-1961-359-conservation-law.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-006", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/1961/0/0359..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly, Legislative Data Processing Center", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Act 359 of 1961, section 3(b)(1)", "excerpt": "This act shall not apply to or affect-- (1) Any well or wells which do not penetrate the Onondaga horizon, or in those areas in which the Onondaga horizon is nearer to the surface than thirty-eight hundred feet, any well or wells which do not exceed a depth of thirty-eight hundred feet beneath the surface.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 11, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-1961-359-conservation-law.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-007", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/1979/0/0060..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly, Legislative Data Processing Center", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Act 60 of 1979, section 2.2(c)(1) (added 2019, Act 85)", "excerpt": "Nothing in this section shall be construed to: (1) authorize an operator to drill an oil or gas well that is not subject to a valid lease or royalty agreement", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 22, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-1979-60-lease-integration.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-008", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/58/00.032..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly, Legislative Data Processing Center", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "58 Pa.C.S. 3211(b)(2)", "excerpt": "The applicant shall forward by certified mail a copy of the plat to the surface landowner", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 13, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/PA-58-pacs-ch32-surface-water.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-009", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/58/00.032..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly, Legislative Data Processing Center", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "58 Pa.C.S. 3218(a)", "excerpt": "a well operator who affects a public or private water supply by pollution or diminution shall restore or replace the affected supply with an alternate source of water adequate in quantity or quality for the purposes served by the supply.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot October 13, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/PA-58-pacs-ch32-surface-water.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-010", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 3, \"Owner\"", "excerpt": "\"Owner.\" Any person having a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this act or the person's legal representative and any person who owns a royalty interest in oil or gas deposits.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-011", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 3, \"Unknown owner or owners\"", "excerpt": "\"Unknown owner or owners.\" The owner or owners of interests in oil and gas who are unknown or whose present residence or other addresses cannot be found by reasonable efforts to do so.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-012", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 4(b)(1) and (2)", "excerpt": "(1) Petitioner has made a diligent effort to locate the owner or claimant. (2) Despite this diligent effort, petitioner has been unable to identify or to locate the present residence or other address of one or more owners or claimants of the oil or gas interest or interests in question.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-013", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(c)", "excerpt": "A trust for unknown owners shall remain in force until the unknown owners of the oil and gas interests in question have been identified to the satisfaction of the trustee and received their share of any funds held in trust.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-014", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(d)", "excerpt": "Funds held in a trust for unknown owners are subject to the provisions of Article XIII.1 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, relating to disposition of unclaimed and abandoned property.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-015", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(b)", "excerpt": "All bonuses, rental payments, royalties and other income due to the unknown owner or owners shall be paid to the trustee until the trust is terminated and notice of its termination given to all interested parties.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-PA-016", "jurisdiction": "PA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2006/0/0115..HTM", "publisher": "Pennsylvania General Assembly", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "Act 115 of 2006, section 5(a) and (b)", "excerpt": "The trust shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of 20 Pa.C.S. (relating to decedents, estates and fiduciaries).", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/PA-act-115-2006-dormant-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-RI-001", "jurisdiction": "RI", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-4.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-4", "excerpt": "such marketable record title shall be held by its owner and such shall be taken by any person dealing with the land free and clear of all interests, claims or charges whatsoever, the existence of which depends upon any act, transaction, event or omission that occurred prior to the effective date of the root title.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1-mrta.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-RI-002", "jurisdiction": "RI", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-5.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-5(a)", "excerpt": "Any person claiming an interest of any kind in land may preserve and keep effective that interest by recording, during the forty (40) year period immediately following the effective date of the root title of the person whose record title would otherwise be marketable, a notice in writing, duly verified by oath, setting forth the nature of the claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 2, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1-mrta.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-RI-003", "jurisdiction": "RI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-7.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-7", "excerpt": "This chapter shall not be applied to bar any lessor or is or her successor as a reversioner of his or her right to possession on the expiration of any lease or to bar or extinguish any easement or interest in the nature of an easement", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 3, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1-mrta.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-RI-004", "jurisdiction": "RI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-1.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-1(f)", "excerpt": "“Title transaction” means any transaction affecting title to any interest in land, including, but not limited to, title by will or descent", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 3, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-RI-005", "jurisdiction": "RI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13.1/34-13.1-6.htm", "publisher": "State of Rhode Island General Assembly, Rhode Island General Laws", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13.1-6(b)", "excerpt": "The notice shall be indexed in the grantors’ index under the name or names of the owners of record as listed in the notice and in the grantees’ index under the name of the claimant appearing in the notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/RI-34-13.1.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SC-001", "jurisdiction": "SC", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/title27.php", "publisher": "South Carolina Legislature, South Carolina Code of Laws (unannotated)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Survey of Code Titles 10, 12, 15, 27, 30, 48 (full text)", "excerpt": "The Public Service Authority may, through its board of directors, make and execute leases of gas, oil, and other minerals and mineral rights", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SC-survey-code-titles.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SC-002", "jurisdiction": "SC", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t48c043.php", "publisher": "South Carolina Legislature, South Carolina Code of Laws (unannotated)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "S.C. Code § 48-43-340(A)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary integration, the department upon the application of any interested person, shall make an order integrating all tracts or interests in the spacing unit for the development and operation thereof and for the sharing of production therefrom.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SC-48-43-340-350-integration.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SC-003", "jurisdiction": "SC", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t48c043.php", "publisher": "South Carolina Legislature, South Carolina Code of Laws (unannotated)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "S.C. Code § 48-43-350(B)", "excerpt": "The department shall make an order providing for the unit operation of a pool or part thereof if it finds that:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SC-48-43-340-350-integration.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-001", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-2", "excerpt": "A mineral interest is abandoned if it has not been used for a period of twenty-three years or more. Title to an abandoned mineral interest vests in the owner of the surface estate in the land in, or under, which the mineral interest is located on the date of abandonment.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-002", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-5", "excerpt": "Failure to record the statement of claim within the time period provided in § 43-30A-4 does not cause a mineral interest to be abandoned if the record owner of the mineral interest records a statement of claim pursuant to § 43-30A-4 within sixty days after completion of the publication of the notice of lapse", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-003", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-6", "excerpt": "In order to succeed to the ownership of an abandoned mineral interest, a surface owner shall give notice of the lapse of the mineral interest by publication. The publication shall be made once each week for three weeks in the official newspaper of the county in which the mineral interest is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-004", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-1", "excerpt": "the term, \"mineral interest,\" includes any interest in oil, gas, coal, clay, gravel, uranium, and all other minerals of any kind and nature, whether created by grant, assignment, exception, reservation, or otherwise, owned by a person other than the owner of the surface estate.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-005", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/Session_Laws/Chapter/6251", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Session Laws 2016", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "SL 2016, ch 215 (HB 1058), section 2, struck subdivision (6) of 43-30A-3", "excerpt": "Taxes are paid on the mineral interest on behalf of the owner;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-SL2016-ch215-HB1058.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-006", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://ujs.sd.gov/media/vkubegdt/26821.pdf", "publisher": "Supreme Court of South Dakota", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, paragraphs 1, 13 to 20", "excerpt": "In this quiet title action, the circuit court granted summary judgment, ruling that the surface estate owners had succeeded to the ownership of the previously severed mineral interests because those interests were abandoned for nonuse under SDCL 43-30A-2.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-holsti-v-kimber-2014.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-007", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30-1, 43-30-3, 43-30-7, 43-30-12 (survey only)", "excerpt": "who has an unbroken chain of title to any interest in land by himself and his immediate or remote grantors for a period of twenty - two years or longer, and is in possession of such land, shall be deemed to have a marketable record title to such interest", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30-marketable-title.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-008", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/45-9", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 45-9-31", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary pooling, the Board of Minerals and Environment or the secretary, as applicable, upon the application of any interested person, shall enter an order pooling all interests in the spacing unit for the development and operation of the spacing unit, and for the sharing of production from the spacing unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-45-9-31-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-009", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/45-5A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 45-5A-4", "excerpt": "The mineral developer shall pay the surface owner a sum of money equal to the amount of damages sustained by the surface owner for loss of agricultural production, lost land value, and lost value of improvements caused by mineral development.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-45-5A-surface-damages.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-010", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/45-5A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 45-5A-5", "excerpt": "The mineral developer shall give the surface owner written notice of proposed surface disturbing mineral development activities at least thirty days before the date operations are commenced.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-45-5A-surface-damages.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-011", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-3(1)", "excerpt": "(1) Minerals are produced by or with the express permission of the record owner of the mineral interest;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-012", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-3(4)", "excerpt": "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 twenty-three years", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-013", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30A", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30A-4(1) and (2)", "excerpt": "(1) Be recorded for the record owner of the mineral interest prior to the end of the twenty-three-year period set forth in § 43-30A-2.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-014", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30B-1", "excerpt": "Any person or entity who holds an interest in a particular tract of land may petition the court in the county where the land is located to declare a trust in favor of an owner of a mineral interest in the particular tract of land if the location or identity of the owner cannot be determined.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30B.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-015", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30B-2", "excerpt": "If the petitioner can demonstrate that the creation of a trust is in the best interest of the owner and that the petitioner cannot, after due diligence, locate or identify the owner, the court may create a trust", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30B.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-016", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30B-3", "excerpt": "shall appoint the county treasurer or another person or entity as trustee of the trust, and shall authorize the trustee to execute and deliver a mineral lease, a ratification, a division order, or any other related document or instrument", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30B.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-017", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/43-30B", "publisher": "South Dakota Legislature, Legislative Research Council (Codified Laws)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "SDCL 43-30B-6", "excerpt": "No act taken by or upon the permission of a trustee, petitioner, or court under this chapter shall be considered use of a mineral interest under chapter 43-30A.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-43-30B.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-018", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ujs.sd.gov/media/vkubegdt/26821.pdf", "publisher": "South Dakota Supreme Court, Unified Judicial System", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, paragraph 15", "excerpt": "Here, the heirs became the owners of Kvalheim's mineral interest upon his passing and in accord with the devise in his will.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-holsti-v-kimber-2014SD21.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-019", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ujs.sd.gov/media/vkubegdt/26821.pdf", "publisher": "South Dakota Supreme Court, Unified Judicial System", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, paragraph 16", "excerpt": "Yet the statute does not use the words \"record owner\" or \"original deed.\"", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-holsti-v-kimber-2014SD21.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-SD-020", "jurisdiction": "SD", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://ujs.sd.gov/media/vkubegdt/26821.pdf", "publisher": "South Dakota Supreme Court, Unified Judicial System", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, paragraph 20", "excerpt": "Because the mineral interests have not been abandoned under SDCL 43-30A-2, we need not address the heirs' second issue", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/SD-holsti-v-kimber-2014SD21.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-001", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/currencecharles.opn_.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Tennessee", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "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)", "excerpt": "Any interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals shall, if unused for a period of twenty (20) years, be extinguished, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with subsection (d), and the ownership of the mineral interest shall revert to the owner of the surface.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 28, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-currence-v-harrogate-2015.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-002", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/currencecharles.opn_.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Tennessee", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Currence, slip op. 6, quoting Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(b)(3)", "excerpt": "or when any such use is being carried out on any tract with which such mineral interest may be unitized or pooled for production purposes, or when taxes are paid on such mineral interest by the owner of the land.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 28, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-currence-v-harrogate-2015.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-003", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/currencecharles.opn_.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Tennessee", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Currence, slip op. 6, quoting Tenn. Code Ann. 67-5-809(d)", "excerpt": "[A]ny mineral interest owner failing to identify the location of the mineral interest according to § 67-5-804 shall not claim payment of taxes as a use of mineral interest as provided in title 66, chapter 5.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 28, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-currence-v-harrogate-2015.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-004", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/043/Cunningh.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Tennessee", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Cunningham v. Gill, No. M2003-01374-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 20, 2004), slip op. 5", "excerpt": "Based upon the foregoing, it is evident the language in the statute means that unused mineral interests will expire unless a statement of claim is filed within twenty years of the last “use,” as that term is defined by the statute, or three years from the effective date of the statute, whichever is later.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 17, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-cunningham-v-gill-2004.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-005", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia (mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated, 2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(4)", "excerpt": "If, within sixty (60) days after publication provided in subdivision (e)(3), the mineral interest owner does not file with the clerk and master an answer alleging a claim to the mineral interest, the clerk and master shall so certify to the chancellor who shall enter the following order declaring the mineral interest has lapsed", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-006", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia (mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated, 2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(7) and (j)", "excerpt": "In order for the judicially determined lapse to be effective as to the subsequent interest holders, a certified copy of the final order evidencing the same must be recorded in the register of deeds office in the county where the property is located.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-007", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/101/Melvin%20Quarles%20v%20Barbara%20Atkins%20Smith%20et%20al%20OPN.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Tennessee", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Quarles v. Smith, No. W2009-00514-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 24, 2010), quoting Tenn. Code Ann. 28-2-110(c)", "excerpt": "Nothing in this section shall bar a person from bringing an action to contest the lapse of a mineral interest within the period provided by § 66-5-108(f).", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 11, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-quarles-v-smith-2010-28-2-110.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-008", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/993/begleyl.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Tennessee", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Begley Lumber Co. v. Trammell, No. 03A01-9902-CH-00047 (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 25, 1999), slip op. 1", "excerpt": "insisting that the Trial Judge erred by not applying the affirmative defense of the statute of limitations set forth in Tennessee Code Annotated §66-5-108(j).", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 16, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-begley-v-trammell-1999.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-009", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/leukingjamesopn2nd.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Tennessee", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Lueking v. Cambridge Resources, Inc., No. E2011-02393-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 21, 2012), quoting Tenn. Code Ann. 66-7-103(a)(1)", "excerpt": "Any lease of oil or natural gas rights or any other conveyance of any kind separating such rights from the freehold estate of land shall expire at the end of ten (10) years from the date executed, unless, at the end of such ten (10) years, natural gas or oil is being produced from such land for commercial purposes.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 15, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-lueking-v-cambridge-2012.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-010", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/eli/mineral-interests", "publisher": "University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service", "type": "secondary", "pinpoint": "CTAS-1480, Mineral Interests (footnote marker 2 omitted)", "excerpt": "failure to identify the location of a mineral interest will render the owner unable to claim payment of taxes as use of a mineral interest against a surface owner's claim of abandonment under T.C.A. § 66-5-108.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/TN-ctas-mineral-interests.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-011", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/leukingjamesopn2nd.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Tennessee", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Lueking v. Cambridge Resources, Inc. (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 21, 2012), slip op. 6 to 7, quoting Tenn. Code Ann. 60-1-202(a)(4)(M)", "excerpt": "(M) To provide for the forced integration of separately owned tracts and other property ownership into drilling and production units....", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 15, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-lueking-v-cambridge-2012.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-012", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/iogcc/documents/member-states/tennessee_2019.pdf", "publisher": "Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission", "type": "secondary", "pinpoint": "Tennessee member state summary 2019, section VII Pooling", "excerpt": "Authority to establish compulsory: Yes; TCA 60-1-202(4)(M).", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/TN-iogcc-2019-pooling.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-013", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/leukingjamesopn2nd.pdf", "publisher": "Court of Appeals of Tennessee", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Lueking v. Cambridge Resources, Inc. (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 21, 2012), slip op. 6", "excerpt": "Further, Tenn. Code Ann. 60-1-601 et seq. specifically vests the OGB with the power to compensate landowners for damages caused by oil and gas operators.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 15, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-lueking-v-cambridge-2012.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-014", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(c)", "excerpt": "Any interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals shall, if unused for a period of twenty (20) years, be extinguished, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with subsection (d), and the ownership of the mineral interest shall revert to the owner of the surface.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-015", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(d)(1)", "excerpt": "The statement of claim provided in subsection (c) shall be filed by the owner of the mineral interest 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.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-016", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(l)", "excerpt": "The only parties of interest pursuant to this section shall be an owner of the mineral interest and a person who shall succeed to the ownership of the mineral interest upon its lapse. Any third person claiming title or interest in any matter pursuant to this section shall prove by verified complaint, affidavit or other evidence", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-017", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(1), complaint form paragraphs 3 and 4", "excerpt": "After inquiring with the county property assessor, I am not aware of any tax being paid for the mineral estate which underlies my surface estate. ... The name of the mineral interest owner (if known) is and the address (if known) is . 4. Upon reasonable inquiry, I am not aware of any use being made of the mineral estate", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-018", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(3)", "excerpt": "shall lapse in sixty (60) days by publishing the same once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks ... and shall send by certified mail within ten (10) days after such publication a copy of such notice to the owner of such mineral interest identified by the plaintiff", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-019", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(e)(5)", "excerpt": "All notices provided for in this section shall state the name of the owner of the mineral interest, if known, as shown of record, a description of the land and the name of the person filing the complaint of claim of abandoned mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-020", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(j)", "excerpt": "No action shall be brought by any person to contest the lapse of a mineral interest pursuant to this section after three (3) years from the date such interest lapsed.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-021", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(k)(1)", "excerpt": "A court may find that a statement of claim or the complaint was not filed in good faith if such was filed without reasonable inquiry, with no factual basis, and for purposes of harassment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TN-022", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/043/Cunningh.pdf", "publisher": "Tennessee Court of Appeals", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Cunningham v. Gill, No. M2003-01374-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 20, 2004), slip op. 2", "excerpt": "Defendant inherited the mineral interests from his father, John Gill, Sr., in 1984. The elder Gill had expressly reserved the mineral interests in deeds dated February 16, 1942 and June 12, 1950.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 17, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-cunningham-v-gill-2004.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-023", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OPINIONS/TCA/PDF/043/Cunningh.pdf", "publisher": "Tennessee Court of Appeals", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Cunningham v. Gill, slip op. 6", "excerpt": "What is apparent, however, is that Defendant and/or his predecessor directly or indirectly provided the statutorily required information to the Office of the Assessor of Property as required by the statute", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 17, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-cunningham-v-gill-2004.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-024", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/currencecharles.opn_.pdf", "publisher": "Tennessee Court of Appeals", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Currence v. Harrogate Energy, LLC, No. M2014-01263-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 11, 2015), slip op. 5", "excerpt": "The purpose of the enactment was to ensure that owners of real property were not “hindered in fully developing the surface of land” by unused, unregistered, and generally undiscoverable mineral interests in their property.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 28, 2017", "saved_as": "sources/TN-currence-v-harrogate-2015.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TN-025", "jurisdiction": "TN", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-66/chapter-5/part-1/section-66-5-108/", "publisher": "Justia, unofficial mirror of Tennessee Code Annotated (2021)", "type": "unofficial_mirror", "pinpoint": "Tenn. Code Ann. 66-5-108(k)(2)", "excerpt": "If the court finds no record of taxes paid or statement of claim filed for the lapsed mineral interests which references the mineral estate by tax map and parcel number, then a complaint for claim of abandoned mineral interest shall be deemed to have been filed in good faith.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 1, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/TN-66-5-108-justia-2021.md", "official": false }, { "id": "SRC-TX-001", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(b-1)", "excerpt": "(1) be a person whose residence or identity is unknown or a nonresident; and (2) have not paid taxes on the interest or rendered it for taxes during the five-year period immediately preceding the filing of the action.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-091-093-receivership.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-002", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(e)", "excerpt": "A receivership created under this subchapter continues as long as the defendant or his heirs, assigns, or personal representatives fail to appear in court in person or by agent or attorney to claim the defendant's interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-091-093-receivership.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-003", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.75.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Prop. Code 75.101(a)", "excerpt": "All mineral proceeds that are held or owing by the holder and that have remained unclaimed by the owner for longer than three years after they became payable or distributable and the owner's underlying right to receive those mineral proceeds are presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-prop-75-mineral-proceeds-unclaimed.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-004", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/NR/htm/NR.102.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Nat. Res. Code 102.011", "excerpt": "the commission, on the application of an owner specified in Section 102.012 of this code and for the purpose of avoiding the drilling of unnecessary wells, protecting correlative rights, or preventing waste, shall establish a unit and pool all of the interests in the unit", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-nr-102-mineral-interest-pooling-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-005", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/NR/htm/NR.102.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Nat. Res. Code 102.013(b)", "excerpt": "The commission shall dismiss the application if it finds that a fair and reasonable offer to pool voluntarily has not been made by the applicant.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-nr-102-mineral-interest-pooling-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-006", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/NR/htm/NR.102.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Nat. Res. Code 102.003 and 102.004(a)", "excerpt": "The provisions of this chapter do not apply to any reservoir discovered and produced before March 8, 1961. ... The provisions of this chapter do not apply to land owned by the State of Texas nor to land in which the State of Texas has an interest directly or indirectly.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-nr-102-mineral-interest-pooling-act.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-007", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/NR/htm/NR.91.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Nat. Res. Code 91.753(a)", "excerpt": "the operator shall give written notice of the issuance of the permit to the surface owner of the tract of land on which the well is located or is proposed to be located.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-nr-91-subch-q-surface-owner-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-008", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/NR/htm/NR.91.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Nat. Res. Code 91.755(a)", "excerpt": "This subchapter does not affect the status of any rule of law to the effect that the mineral estate in land is dominant over the surface estate.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-nr-91-subch-q-surface-owner-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-009", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(b)", "excerpt": "In the following actions, a district court or the business court may appoint a receiver for the mineral interest or leasehold interest under a mineral lease owned by a nonresident or absent defendant:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-010", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(c)", "excerpt": "The plaintiff in the action must allege by verified petition and prove that he: (1) has made a diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the defendant; and (2) will suffer substantial damage or injury unless the receiver is appointed.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-011", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(d)(1) and (2)", "excerpt": "(1) the plaintiff, in the verified petition, must name the last known owner or the last record owner of the interest as defendant; (2) the plaintiff must serve notice on the defendant by publication as provided by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-012", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(f)", "excerpt": "As ordered by the court, the receiver shall immediately: (1) execute and deliver to a lessee or successive lessees mineral leases on the outstanding undivided mineral interests;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-013", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.091(h)", "excerpt": "Payments made at a later time under the lease, assignment, or unitization agreement shall be paid into the registry of the court and impounded for the use and benefit of the owner of the mineral or leasehold interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-014", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.093(a) and (f)", "excerpt": "A district court or the business court may appoint a receiver for the royalty interest owned by a nonresident or absent defendant in an action that:", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-015", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.093(e)", "excerpt": "A receivership created under this section continues as long as the defendant or the defendant's heirs, assigns, or personal representatives fail to appear in court in person or by agent or attorney to claim the defendant's interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-016", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://static.case.law/sw2d/710/cases/0566-01.json", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project (Supreme Court of Texas opinion)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Gray v. PHI Resources, Ltd., 710 S.W.2d 566 (Tex. 1986) (per curiam)", "excerpt": "Nonetheless, the three-day posting of the petition is analogous to citation by publication, Tex.R.Civ.P. 109, or other substituted service, Tex.R.Civ.P. 109a.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/TX-gray-v-phi-1986.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-017", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/08/14/clay_exploration_inc._v._santa_rosa_operating_llc_1.pdf", "publisher": "CourtListener (Fourteenth Court of Appeals of Texas opinion, 442 S.W.3d 795)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Clay Exploration, Inc. v. Santa Rosa Operating, LLC, 442 S.W.3d 795 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 2014), slip op. at 7", "excerpt": "We conclude that Santa Rosa is incorrect, however, and hold that a claim of heirship communicated outside the judicial process did not alone invalidate either the receivership or the lease.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/TX-clay-exploration-2014.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-018", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2014/08/14/clay_exploration_inc._v._santa_rosa_operating_llc_1.pdf", "publisher": "CourtListener (Fourteenth Court of Appeals of Texas opinion, 442 S.W.3d 795)", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "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", "excerpt": "nothing in the statute indicates that such an appearance would dissolve the receivership retroactively.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/TX-clay-exploration-2014.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-TX-019", "jurisdiction": "TX", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.64.htm", "publisher": "Texas Legislative Council", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code 64.001(d)", "excerpt": "appoint a receiver for the missing person if: (1) it appears that the estate of the missing person is in danger of injury, loss, or waste; and (2) the estate of the missing person is in need of a representative.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/TX-cprc-64-receivers.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-001", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title57/Chapter9/C57-9_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel (Utah Code)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 57-9-6(5) (this chapter 'may not be applied to')", "excerpt": "extinguish any right, title, estate, or interest in and to minerals, and any development, mining, production or other rights or easements related to the minerals or exercisable in connection with the minerals", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/UT-57-9-marketable-record-title.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-002", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/~2019/bills/sbillenr/SB0078.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "S.B. 78 (2019), amending Utah Code 75-2-105(4)", "excerpt": "the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration with respect to any minerals or mineral proceeds referenced in Subsection (3), may bring an action in district court in any district in which part of the property related to the minerals or mineral proceeds is located to quiet title the minerals, mineral proceeds, or property.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 19, 2022", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-SB78-2019.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-003", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title40/Chapter6/C40-6-S6.5_2018050820180508.html", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel (Utah Code)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 40-6-6.5(2)(a) (version effective 5/8/2018)", "excerpt": "In the absence of a written agreement for pooling, including a joint operating agreement, the board may enter an order pooling all interests in the drilling unit for the development and operation of the drilling unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 14, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-40-6-6-5-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-004", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title40/Chapter6/C40-6-S20_1800010118000101.html", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel (Utah Code)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 40-6-20(2)(c)", "excerpt": "(c) compensate a surface land owner for unreasonable: (i) loss of a surface land owner's crops on the surface land; (ii) loss of value to existing improvements owned by a surface land owner on the surface land; and (iii) permanent damage to the surface land.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot July 22, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-40-6-20-21-surface-use.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-005", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title57/Chapter9/C57-9_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 57-9-6(5)", "excerpt": "extinguish any right, title, estate, or interest in and to minerals, and any development, mining, production or other rights or easements related to the minerals or exercisable in connection with the minerals;", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 20, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/UT-57-9-6-mrta.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-006", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 75-2-105(2)", "excerpt": "If there is no taker under this chapter, the intestate estate passes upon the decedent's death to the state for the benefit of the permanent state school fund.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-2024.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-007", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 75-2-105(3)", "excerpt": "When minerals or mineral proceeds pass to the state pursuant to Subsection (2), the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration shall administer the interests in the minerals or mineral proceeds for the support of the common schools", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-2024.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-008", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 75-2-105(6)(a)", "excerpt": "If an operator, owner, or payor determines that minerals or mineral proceeds form part of a decedent's intestate estate, and has not located an heir of the decedent, the operator, owner, or payor shall submit to the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration the information in the operator's, owner's, or payor's possession", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-2024.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-009", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 75-2-105(4)(a)", "excerpt": "If a probate or other proceeding has not adjudicated the state's rights under Subsection (2), the state, and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration with respect to any minerals or mineral proceeds referenced in Subsection (3), may bring an action in a court with jurisdiction", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-2024.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-010", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter2/C75-2_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 75-2-105(5)(a)", "excerpt": "no interested person appears in the action and demonstrates entitlement to the minerals, mineral proceeds, or property after notice has been given pursuant to Section 78B-6-1303 and in the manner described in Section 75-1-401; and", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 9, 2024", "saved_as": "sources/UT-75-2-105-2024.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-011", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter6/C78B-6-P13_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 78B-6-1303(3)", "excerpt": "From the time of filing the notice, a purchaser, an encumbrancer of the property, or any other party in interest that may be affected by the action is considered to have constructive notice of pendency of action.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/UT-78B-6-1303-1315.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-012", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter6/C78B-6-P13_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 78B-6-1315(3)", "excerpt": "The court may not enter any judgment by default against unknown defendants, but in all cases shall require evidence of plaintiff's title and possession and hear the evidence offered respecting the claims and title of any of the defendants.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot August 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/UT-78B-6-1303-1315.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-UT-013", "jurisdiction": "UT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title40/Chapter6/C40-6_1800010118000101.pdf", "publisher": "Utah State Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Utah Code 40-6-9(3)(b)(i)", "excerpt": "If accrued payments cannot be made within the time limits specified in Subsection (1) or (2), the payor shall deposit all oil and gas proceeds credited to the eventual oil and gas proceeds owner to an escrow account in a federally insured bank or savings and loan institution using a standard escrow document form.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot June 17, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/UT-40-6-9-proceeds-escrow.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-001", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(a), (b)", "excerpt": "An abandoned interest in oil and gas shall revert to and merge with the surface estate from which it was severed. ... An interest in oil and gas is deemed abandoned at any time that: (1) it has been unused for a continuous period of 10 years after July 1, 1973", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-563-current.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-002", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/ACTS/ACT161/ACT161%20As%20Enacted.pdf", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Acts and Resolves", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2024, No. 161, §§ 36 and 58", "excerpt": "Sec. 36. 29 V.S.A. § 563 is added to read: ... This act shall take effect on passage ... Date Governor signed bill: June 6, 2024", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-acts-2023-53-and-2024-161.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-003", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. ch. 14, history note", "excerpt": "§§ 561-566. Repealed. 2023, No. 53, § 135, eff. June 8, 2023.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-563-current.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-004", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "27 V.S.A. § 603", "excerpt": "free and clear of any and all interests, liens, claims, and charges the existence of which depends in whole or in part upon any act, transaction, event, or omission that occurred prior to such 40-year period", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/VT-27-601-606-mrta.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-005", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "former 29 V.S.A. § 523(a)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary pooling and upon application by any person owning a tract or interest within an exploratory or development drilling unit, the Board may enter an order pooling all tracts and interests within the unit.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 26, 2020", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-ch14-former-2020.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-006", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. ch. 14, subchapter 3 history note", "excerpt": "§§ 521-526. Repealed. 2023, No. 53, § 135, eff. June 8, 2023.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-563-current.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-007", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "former 29 V.S.A. § 541(e)", "excerpt": "every person granted permission to drill a well pursuant to this section shall give written notice by certified mail to the Board, local agencies, and the surface landowner affected.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 26, 2020", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-ch14-former-2020.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-008", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(a)", "excerpt": "An abandoned interest in oil and gas shall revert to and merge with the surface estate from which it was severed.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-009", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(b)", "excerpt": "(1) it has been unused for a continuous period of 10 years after July 1, 1973; and (2) no statement of interest under subsection (e) of this section has been filed at any time within the preceding five years.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-010", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(c)", "excerpt": "The provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to any interest in oil or gas that has been retained by the owner who originally severed the mineral estate from the surface estate", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-011", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(f)", "excerpt": "The owner of an interest in oil or gas may file a statement of interest in the land records of any municipality in which the land affected is located. The statement shall include a description of the land affected, the nature of the interest claimed, the book and page of recording of the original grant", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-012", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(g)", "excerpt": "Notice shall contain the name of the record owner of the interest; a description of the land and the nature of the interest; the book and page of filing of the interest, if it is filed; the name and address of the person giving notice; and a statement that the interest is presumed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-013", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/29/014", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "29 V.S.A. § 563(h)", "excerpt": "After the notice and affidavit have been filed, unless a court finds to the contrary, the oil and gas interest shall be presumed abandoned, and the interest of the surface owner shall be presumed for all purposes free of encumbrance from that interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot May 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/VT-29-561-563.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-014", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "27 V.S.A. § 602(b)", "excerpt": "No absence, incapacity, disability, or lack of knowledge of any kind on the part of any person shall suspend the running of the 40-year period.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/VT-27-601-606.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-015", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "27 V.S.A. § 602(c)", "excerpt": "also includes the transfer of an interest in real estate by inheritance or descent occasioned by death.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/VT-27-601-606.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VT-016", "jurisdiction": "VT", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/27/005", "publisher": "Vermont General Assembly, Vermont Statutes Online", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "27 V.S.A. § 605(b)", "excerpt": "may be filed by a claimant or any person acting on behalf of a claimant if such claimant is: (1) under a disability; (2) unable to assert a claim on his or her own behalf; or (3) one of a class whose identity is uncertain.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/VT-27-601-606.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-001", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System (Code of Virginia)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code § 45.2-400(A)", "excerpt": "it shall be prima facie presumed that no coal, minerals, ore, oil, or subsurface substances exist in, on, or under such lands, except lands lying west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45.2-400-401-presumption-extinguish.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-002", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System (Code of Virginia)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code § 45.2-400(B)", "excerpt": "for a period of 35 years or more, such right to explore or mine has not been exercised, the person having such claim or right has never been charged with taxes thereon, all the taxes on the land have been charged to and paid by the person holding the land", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45.2-400-401-presumption-extinguish.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-003", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System (Code of Virginia)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code § 45.2-401(B), (C)", "excerpt": "In the absence of satisfactory evidence to the contrary, it shall be presumed that no commercial coal, mineral, ore, oil, or subsurface substance exists in or on the land, and the court shall enter an order declaring the claim or right to be a cloud on the title and releasing the land therefrom and extinguishing such claim or right.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45.2-400-401-presumption-extinguish.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-004", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-602/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System (Code of Virginia)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code §§ 45.2-602, 45.2-604, 45.2-605", "excerpt": "seeks to impress a trust upon unknown or missing owners of such tract of coal may petition the circuit court in the county or city containing the majority of the tract of coal to establish a trust to protect the interests of all coal owners and lessees.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45.2-602-607-missing-coal-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-005", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1620/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System (Code of Virginia)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code § 45.2-1620(A)", "excerpt": "The Board, upon application from any gas or oil owner, shall enter an order pooling all interests in a drilling unit for the development and operation thereof when:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45.2-1620-1624-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-006", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1620/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System (Code of Virginia)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code § 45.2-1620(D)", "excerpt": "Any gas or oil owner whose identity and location remain unknown at the conclusion of a hearing concerning the establishment of a pooling order for which public notice was given shall be deemed to have elected to lease his interest to the gas or oil operator at a rate to be established by the Board.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45.2-1620-1624-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-007", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1622/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System (Code of Virginia)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code § 45.2-1622(A)", "excerpt": "If there are conflicting claims to the ownership of coalbed methane gas, the Board, upon application from any claimant, shall enter an order pooling all interests or estates in the coalbed methane gas-drilling unit for the development and operation thereof.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45.2-1620-1624-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-008", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1632/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System (Code of Virginia)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code § 45.2-1632(A)(1)", "excerpt": "the applicant shall provide notice of the application to the following persons: 1. Every surface owner, coal owner, and mineral owner on the tract to be drilled;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45.2-1632-1637-1649-surface-owner.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-009", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1649/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System (Code of Virginia)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code § 45.2-1649", "excerpt": "the operator of such gas well shall promptly provide a replacement water supply that shall be capable of meeting the uses such water supply met prior to the contamination or partial or complete interruption.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45.2-1632-1637-1649-surface-owner.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-010", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-400(A)", "excerpt": "it shall be prima facie presumed that no coal, minerals, ore, oil, or subsurface substances exist in, on, or under such lands, except lands lying west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-400-401.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-011", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-400/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-400(B)", "excerpt": "The provisions of subsection A shall apply only if (i) for a period of 35 years or more, such right to explore or mine has not been exercised, the person having such claim or right has never been charged with taxes thereon,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-400-401.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-012", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-401(A)", "excerpt": "The person by whom such claim by such writing was derived or reserved, or his successors in title, shall be made a defendant by name so far as known or as defendants unknown if such successors in title are unknown.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-400-401.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-013", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-401(B)", "excerpt": "The court shall allow a period of not less than six months from the time the cause is docketed and set for hearing to elapse. During such time, the defendant may explore and discover any commercial coal, mineral, ore, oil, or subsurface substance.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-400-401.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-014", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter4/section45.2-401/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-401(C)", "excerpt": "However, if the defendant or defendants prove that a commercial coal, mineral, ore, oil, or subsurface substance exists in or on the land, the court shall require such coal, mineral, ore, oil, or subsurface substance to be charged with taxes according to law.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-400-401.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-015", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-602/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-602(A)", "excerpt": "Any coal owner or lessee who (i) has more than a 50 percent interest in the coal on a particular tract and (ii) seeks to impress a trust upon unknown or missing owners of such tract of coal may petition the circuit court", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-602-607.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-016", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-602/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-602(C)", "excerpt": "The petitioner shall establish to the satisfaction of the court that a diligent effort has been made to identify and locate the present owners of such interests.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-602-607.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-017", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-603/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-603", "excerpt": "Such notice shall appear in a local newspaper of general circulation at least once a week for two consecutive weeks.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-602-607.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-018", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-604/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-604(C)", "excerpt": "The court shall not authorize a trustee's lease upon the coal interests of any owner whose identity and location are known, can be ascertained, or are discovered as a result of the action brought under this article.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-602-607.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-019", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter6/section45.2-605/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-605(B)", "excerpt": "Five years after the date of first commercial production of the coal interests, the proceeds in the trust shall be disposed of pursuant to the Virginia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-602-607.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-020", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1620/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-1620(D)", "excerpt": "Any gas or oil owner whose identity and location remain unknown at the conclusion of a hearing concerning the establishment of a pooling order for which public notice was given shall be deemed to have elected to lease his interest to the gas or oil operator at a rate to be established by the Board.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-1618-1620.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-VA-021", "jurisdiction": "VA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title45.2/chapter16/section45.2-1618/", "publisher": "Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Va. Code 45.2-1618(A)", "excerpt": "Whenever a hearing applicant is unable to provide such written notice because the identity or location of a person to whom notice is required to be given is unknown, the hearing applicant shall promptly notify the Board of such inability.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/VA-45-2-1618-1620.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-001", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22.010", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.010", "excerpt": "Any mineral interest, if unused for a period of twenty years, may be extinguished by the surface owner as set forth in RCW 78.22.050 and 78.22.060 .", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-002", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22.030", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.030(3), (6)", "excerpt": "(3) Rents or royalties have been paid for the purpose of delaying or enjoying the use or exercise of the mineral interest; ... (6) Taxes have been paid on such mineral interest;", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-003", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22.050", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.050(1)", "excerpt": "After the later of the expiration of the twenty-year period set forth in RCW 78.22.010 or two years after June 7, 1984, the surface owner may extinguish the mineral interest held by another person and acquire ownership of that interest by providing sixty days notice of intention to file a claim of abandonment and extinguishment", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-004", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22.060", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.060", "excerpt": "if the surface owner files the claim of abandonment and extinguishment, together with a copy of the notice and the affidavit of publication, as required in RCW 78.22.050 , in the county auditor's office for the county where such interest is located then the mineral interest shall be conclusively presumed to be extinguished.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-005", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22.080", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.080", "excerpt": "Mineral interests retained or owned by any public entity or mineral interests resulting from land exchanges between public and private owners shall not be subject to a claim of abandonment and extinguishment.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-006", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.52.240", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.52.240", "excerpt": "In the absence of this voluntary pooling, the department, upon the application of any interested person, shall enter an order pooling all interests, including royalty interests, in the development unit for the development and operation thereof. Each such pooling order shall be made after notice and hearing.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-52-pooling-permit-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-007", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.52.120", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.52.120", "excerpt": "the applicant must notify the surface landowner, the landowner's tenant, and other surface users in the manner provided by regulations of the department that a drilling permit has been applied for by furnishing each such surface landowner, tenant, and other users with a copy of the application concurrent with the filing of the application.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-52-pooling-permit-notice.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-008", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=79.14.040", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 79.14.040 (state oil and gas leases only)", "excerpt": "No lessee shall commence any operation upon lands covered by the lease until such lessee has provided for compensation to owners of private rights therein according to law, or in lieu thereof, filed a surety bond with the department", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-79-14-state-lease-surface-survey.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-009", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.010", "excerpt": "Any mineral interest, if unused for a period of twenty years, may be extinguished by the surface owner as set forth in RCW 78.22.050 and 78.22.060.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-010", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.040", "excerpt": "The statement of claim referred to in RCW 78.22.030(9) shall be filed by the current owner of the mineral interest prior to the end of the twenty-year period set forth in RCW 78.22.010 or within two years after June 7, 1984, whichever is later.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-011", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.050(1)", "excerpt": "The county treasurer shall supply the name and address of the current mineral interest owner as they appear on the county property tax records to the surface owner without charge.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-012", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.050(4)(b)", "excerpt": "If a copy of the notice was not mailed, a detailed description, including dates, of the efforts made to determine with due diligence the address of the current owner of the mineral interest.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-013", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.060", "excerpt": "If a statement of claim of mineral interest is filed by the current mineral interest owner within the sixty-day period provided in RCW 78.22.050, together with payment of fees provided in RCW 36.18.010, the county auditor shall record, index, and make special notation in the index of the filing.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WA-014", "jurisdiction": "WA", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=78.22&full=true", "publisher": "Washington State Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "RCW 78.22.050(2)(f)", "excerpt": "A statement that a claim of abandonment and extinguishment of the mineral interest will be filed upon the expiration of a period of sixty days after the date of the last publication or the date service was perfected by personal service or registered mail on the current mineral interest owner", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WA-78-22.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-001", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-2/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-2(1)", "excerpt": "\"Abandoning owner\" means any person, vested with title to any interest in minerals, who is proved to have abandoned the interest, that is, to have relinquished any right to possess or enjoy the interest with the expressed intention of terminating ownership of the interest, but without vesting the ownership in any other person.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 11, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A-missing-abandoning-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-002", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-4/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-4(a)", "excerpt": "If the title to any mineral interest is vested in an unknown or missing owner or an abandoning owner and it is proved that the development of the minerals would be advantageous to a prudent owner ... the circuit court ... shall have the power to appoint a special commissioner", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 4, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A-missing-abandoning-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-003", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-7/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-7(a)(1)", "excerpt": "If an owner of any mineral interest leased under section six of this article remains unknown or missing, or does not disavow the abandonment, for a period of seven years from the date of the special commissioner's lease, the special or general receiver shall report the same to the court", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 10, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A-missing-abandoning-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-004", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-7/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-7(a)(1)(i) and (ii)", "excerpt": "order the special Commissioner to convey to the proven surface owner, subject to the special commissioner's lease, the mineral interest specified in the motion ... and (ii) order the special or general receiver to pay to the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund established pursuant to §22-6-29 the funds which have accrued", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot January 10, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A-missing-abandoning-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-005", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37B-1-4/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 37B-1-4(g)", "excerpt": "After seven years from the date of the first report to the treasurer, a bona fide surface owner may file an action to quiet title to the interests of all unknown and unlocatable interest owners of the oil and natural gas estate underlying the surface tract.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-37B-cotenancy-unknown-owners.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-006", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22C-9-7A/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 22C-9-7a(o)(6)", "excerpt": "The court may appoint a special commissioner at any time to deliver a deed to the petitioners in the form provided herein five years after first production reported to the state occurs or one year after the first publication service of a petition under this subsection is made, whichever is later.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-22C-9-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-007", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/signed_bills/2026/2026-RS-SB686-SUB2%20ENR_signed.pdf", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2026 SB 686, new W. Va. Code 37B-3-4(g)", "excerpt": "After seven years from the date of the first report to the State Treasurer, a surface owner may file an action to quiet title to the interests of all unknown and unlocatable interest owners of the coal estate.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WV-2026-sb686-coal-cotenancy.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-008", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2021_SESSIONS/RS/bills/HB2205%20INTR.pdf", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_agency", "pinpoint": "2021 HB 2205, introduced bill (not enacted)", "excerpt": "all relating to the procedure for claiming abandoned mineral interests; creating a procedure to quiet title to abandoned mineral interests by serving notice on a mineral rights owner", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WV-2021-hb2205-abandoned-mineral-bill.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-009", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22C-9-7/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 22C-9-7(b)(1)", "excerpt": "the commission shall enter an order pooling all tracts or interests in the drilling unit for the development and operation thereof and for sharing production therefrom ... in no event shall drilling be initiated on the tract of an unleased owner without the owner's written consent.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-22C-9-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-010", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22C-9-7A/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 22C-9-7a(c)(1)", "excerpt": "For all horizontal wells, including shallow horizontal wells and deep horizontal wells, the commission may unitize tracts, or portions of tracts, in a horizontal well unit established under this section upon the filing of an application with the commission by a person that controls the horizontal well unit", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-22C-9-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-011", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22C-9-3/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 22C-9-3(b)(1)", "excerpt": "This article shall not apply to or affect: (1) Shallow wells other than shallow horizontal wells and those utilized in secondary recovery programs", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 7, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-22C-9-pooling-unitization.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-012", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22-7-3/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 22-7-3(a)", "excerpt": "The oil and gas developer shall be obligated to pay the surface owner compensation for: (1) Lost income or expenses incurred as a result of being unable to dedicate land actually occupied by the driller's operation ... (2) the market value of crops destroyed, damaged or prevented from reaching market, (3) any damage to a water supply", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 12, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-22-7-surface-damage-compensation.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-013", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22-7-5/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 22-7-5", "excerpt": "Any surface owner, to receive compensation under section three of this article, shall notify the oil and gas developer of the damages sustained by the person within two years after the date that the oil and gas developer files notice that reclamation is commencing", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-22-7-surface-damage-compensation.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-014", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-2/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-2(5)", "excerpt": "\"Unknown or missing owner\" means any person, vested with title to any interest in minerals, whose present identity or location cannot be determined from the records of the clerk of the county commission, the sheriff, the assessor and the clerk of the circuit court in the county in which the interest is located or by diligent inquiry", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 11, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-015", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(a)", "excerpt": "The person filing a petition under this article shall join as defendants to the action all unknown or missing owners or abandoning owners having record title to the particular minerals sought to be developed, and the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of all such owners not known to be alive.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-016", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-6/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-6(a)", "excerpt": "(2) a diligent effort has been made to identify and locate the present unknown or missing owners and abandoning owners,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-017", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(c)", "excerpt": "In addition, the petitioner shall send notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address, if there be such, of all named defendants.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-018", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-5/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-5(d)", "excerpt": "The circuit court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for any unknown or missing owner or abandoning owner and their unknown heirs, successors and assigns not known to be alive.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 9, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-019", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-6/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-6(e)", "excerpt": "Any person purporting to be the unknown or missing owner or an abandoning owner, or any heir, successor or assign of an unknown or missing owner or abandoning owner, may appear as a matter of right at any time prior to the entry of judgment confirming the special commissioner's lease,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-020", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/55-12A-6/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 55-12A-6(g)", "excerpt": "Within seven years after the date of the special commissioner's lease, any unknown or missing owner or abandoning owner of a mineral interest leased hereunder may file a motion with the court to reopen the action,", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 10, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-55-12A.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-021", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37B-1-4/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 37B-1-4(d)", "excerpt": "Unknown or unlocatable interest owners are deemed to have made the election provided by subdivision (1), subsection (b) of this section and are only entitled to receive the amount provided by that subdivision.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot November 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-37B-1-3-4.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-022", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37B-1-3/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 37B-1-3, \"Unknown or unlocatable interest owner\"", "excerpt": "(B) A reasonable inquiry in the vicinity of the owner's last known place of residence; (C) A diligent inquiry into known interest owners in the same tract; and (D) A reasonable review of available Internet resources commonly utilized by the industry.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot September 13, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-37B-1-3-4.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-023", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22C-9-7A/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 22C-9-7a(f)(16)", "excerpt": "the horizontal well unit operator shall deposit the moneys payable to unknown and unlocatable interest owners into an escrow account bearing a market rate of interest to be held, administered, and disbursed in accordance with an order of the commission and this section.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-22C-9-7a.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WV-024", "jurisdiction": "WV", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22C-9-7A/", "publisher": "West Virginia Legislature", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W. Va. Code 22C-9-7a(b)(10)(D) and (E)", "excerpt": "(D) A reasonable inquiry utilizing available internet resources that could reasonably lead to the identification of the person; and (E) A mailing to the last known address, if available, of the person as reflected in the records of the sheriff's or assessor's office, and includes the unknown heirs, representatives, successors, and assigns of the person.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot December 14, 2025", "saved_as": "sources/WV-22C-9-7a.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-001", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(3)(a)", "excerpt": "Except as provided in par. (b) or (c), an interest in minerals lapses if the interest in minerals was not used during the previous 20 years.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Official page the official page, captured October 1, 2026, currency through 2025 Wis. Act 247 in effect October 1, 2026; the official host was not available when AMR checked. Text matches the official ch. 706 PDF of April 3, 2026 (Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026).", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-002", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(2)(a) to (c)", "excerpt": "an interest in minerals is used if any of the following occur: (a) Any minerals are mined in exploitation of the interest in minerals. (b) A conveyance of mineral interests is recorded under this chapter. (c) Any other conveyance evidencing a transaction by which the interest in minerals is created, aliened, reserved, mortgaged or assigned is recorded under this chapter.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Official page the official page, captured October 1, 2026, currency through 2025 Wis. Act 247 in effect October 1, 2026; the official host was not available when AMR checked. Text matches the official ch. 706 PDF of April 3, 2026 (Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026).", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-003", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(2)(d) and (e)", "excerpt": "(d) Property taxes are paid on the interest in minerals by the owner of the interest in minerals. (e) The owner of the interest in minerals records a statement of claim under sub. (4) or (5) concerning the interest in minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Official page the official page, captured October 1, 2026, currency through 2025 Wis. Act 247 in effect October 1, 2026; the official host was not available when AMR checked. Text matches the official ch. 706 PDF of April 3, 2026 (Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026).", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-004", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(4)", "excerpt": "The statement of claim shall contain the name and address of the owner of the interest in minerals, a description of the location and boundary of the interest in minerals and a reference to the recorded instrument which created the interest in minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Official page the official page, captured October 1, 2026, currency through 2025 Wis. Act 247 in effect October 1, 2026; the official host was not available when AMR checked. Text matches the official ch. 706 PDF of April 3, 2026 (Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026).", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-005", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(5)", "excerpt": "is cured if the owner of the interest in minerals records a statement of claim complying with all of the requirements of sub. (4) before the surface owner records a statement of claim under sub. (6) (a) or before a statement of claim takes effect under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Official page the official page, captured October 1, 2026, currency through 2025 Wis. Act 247 in effect October 1, 2026; the official host was not available when AMR checked. Text matches the official ch. 706 PDF of April 3, 2026 (Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026).", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-006", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(6)(b)", "excerpt": "a statement of claim which is recorded under par. (a) before the lapse of the interest in minerals to which the claim applies takes effect when the interest in minerals lapses.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Official page the official page, captured October 1, 2026, currency through 2025 Wis. Act 247 in effect October 1, 2026; the official host was not available when AMR checked. Text matches the official ch. 706 PDF of April 3, 2026 (Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026).", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-007", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 706.057(9)(c)", "excerpt": "if no action is brought under par. (a), at the end of the 3-year period after the surface owner’s claim is recorded or at the end of the 3-year period after the claim takes effect as provided under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later, the ownership of the interest in minerals reverts to the owner of the land", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Official page the official page, captured October 1, 2026, currency through 2025 Wis. Act 247 in effect October 1, 2026; the official host was not available when AMR checked. Text matches the official ch. 706 PDF of April 3, 2026 (Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026).", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-008", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706.pdf", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 706.01(7m)", "excerpt": "“Interest in minerals” means any fee simple interest in minerals beneath the surface of land that is: (a) Separate from the fee simple interest in the surface of the land; and (b) Created by an instrument transferring, granting, assigning or reserving the minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026 of the official ch. 706 PDF (currency through 2025 Wis. Act 103, published 4-3-26)", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-01-definitions.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-009", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706.pdf", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 706.01(8m)", "excerpt": "“Mineral” means a naturally occurring substance recognized by standard authorities as mineral, whether metalliferous or nonmetalliferous.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026 of the official ch. 706 PDF (currency through 2025 Wis. Act 103, published 4-3-26)", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-01-definitions.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-010", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/1983/related/acts/455.pdf", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "1983 Wis. Act 455, s. 7", "excerpt": "SECTION 7. Effective date. This act takes effect on July 1, 1984.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot February 18, 2025 of the official session law PDF", "saved_as": "sources/WI-1983-act-455.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-011", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=338851", "publisher": "Wisconsin Court of Appeals", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass’n v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, ¶38", "excerpt": "once an interest has been used during the requisite three-year period, it is again subject to subsec. (3)(a) and will therefore lapse if not used at least once every twenty years.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Official URL was not available; read the court’s slip opinion PDF as stored by CourtListener (storage.courtlistener.com), which lists the official URL as its download source", "saved_as": "sources/WI-lakeland-2021-WI-App-19.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-012", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=338851", "publisher": "Wisconsin Court of Appeals", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass’n v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, ¶43", "excerpt": "did not use their mineral rights at any time during the twenty-year period following January 12, 1987. As a result, their interests in the mineral rights lapsed on January 13, 2007.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Official URL was not available; read the court’s slip opinion PDF as stored by CourtListener (storage.courtlistener.com), which lists the official URL as its download source", "saved_as": "sources/WI-lakeland-2021-WI-App-19.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-013", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=338851", "publisher": "Wisconsin Court of Appeals", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass’n v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, ¶52", "excerpt": "the statute requires a surface owner to record a statement of claim with respect to any lapsed mineral rights, see § 706.057(6), and it sets forth a process by which the ownership of mineral rights may be determined after a surface owner records a statement of claim", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Official URL was not available; read the court’s slip opinion PDF as stored by CourtListener (storage.courtlistener.com), which lists the official URL as its download source", "saved_as": "sources/WI-lakeland-2021-WI-App-19.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-014", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/295.pdf", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 295.35(3)(e) and (f)", "excerpt": "(e) Spacing of wells. (f) Regulation of well production, including the allocation of allowable production in any field or pool.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026 of the official ch. 295 PDF (currency through 2025 Wis. Act 103)", "saved_as": "sources/WI-295-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-015", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/295.pdf", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. § 295.35(2)(d)", "excerpt": "Reclamation of affected land when exploration and production are completed.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot April 12, 2026 of the official ch. 295 PDF (currency through 2025 Wis. Act 103)", "saved_as": "sources/WI-295-oil-gas.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-016", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(3)(a)", "excerpt": "Except as provided in par. (b) or (c), an interest in minerals lapses if the interest in minerals was not used during the previous 20 years.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-017", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(2)(c)", "excerpt": "Any other conveyance evidencing a transaction by which the interest in minerals is created, aliened, reserved, mortgaged or assigned is recorded under this chapter.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-018", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(2)(d), (e)", "excerpt": "Property taxes are paid on the interest in minerals by the owner of the interest in minerals. ... The owner of the interest in minerals records a statement of claim under sub. (4) or (5) concerning the interest in minerals.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-019", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(5)", "excerpt": "The lapse ... is cured if the owner of the interest in minerals records a statement of claim complying with all of the requirements of sub. (4) before the surface owner records a statement of claim under sub. (6) (a) or before a statement of claim takes effect under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-020", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(6)(a)", "excerpt": "The owner of the land under which an interest in minerals exists may claim that portion of a lapsed interest in minerals which lies beneath the owner’s land by recording a statement of claim.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-021", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(9)(a)", "excerpt": "The owner of an interest in minerals which is the subject of a claim under sub. (6) (a), within 3 years after the claim is recorded ... or within 3 years after the claim takes effect as provided under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later, may bring an action for a declaratory judgment", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-022", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/706/057", "publisher": "Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "Wis. Stat. 706.057(9)(c)", "excerpt": "if no action is brought under par. (a), at the end of the 3-year period after the surface owner’s claim is recorded or at the end of the 3-year period after the claim takes effect as provided under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later, the ownership of the interest in minerals reverts to the owner of the land", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 14, 2026", "saved_as": "sources/WI-706-057.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-023", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=338851", "publisher": "Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass'n, U.A. v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, 396 Wis. 2d 622", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "2021 WI App 19, ¶59", "excerpt": "The Court’s conclusions in Texaco compel a conclusion in this case that § 706.057(3) does not result in an unconstitutional taking of ... Lakeland’s property without just compensation, nor does the statute violate due process for lack of notice.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 27, 2025 of the official slip opinion PDF", "saved_as": "sources/WI-lakeland-v-oneida-2021.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WI-024", "jurisdiction": "WI", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=338851", "publisher": "Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass'n, U.A. v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, 396 Wis. 2d 622", "type": "court_opinion", "pinpoint": "2021 WI App 19, ¶52", "excerpt": "Thus, the automatic reversion of mineral rights to the surface owner that occurred under § 700.30—and which motivated the supreme court’s decision in Chicago & North Western—does not occur under § 706.057.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "Internet Archive snapshot March 27, 2025 of the official slip opinion PDF", "saved_as": "sources/WI-lakeland-v-oneida-2021.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WY-001", "jurisdiction": "WY", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title34.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes, title PDFs created May 9, 2026)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 34-10-108(a)(iv) (this act 'shall not be applied')", "excerpt": "To bar or extinguish any title, estate or interest in and to any timber or any minerals (including without limiting the generality of that term, oil, gas and other hydrocarbons) and any development, mining, production or other rights or easements related thereto", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WY-34-10-marketable-title.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WY-002", "jurisdiction": "WY", "fields": [ "dormancy" ], "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/2003/Digest/HB0176.htm", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature", "type": "session_law", "pinpoint": "2003 HB0176, Termination of mineral interest, journal digest (not enacted)", "excerpt": "1/30/2003 H Failed CoW; Indef Postponed", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WY-2003-HB0176-failed-bill.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WY-003", "jurisdiction": "WY", "fields": [ "dormancy", "owner_status" ], "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title34.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes, title PDFs created May 9, 2026)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 34-24-117(a)", "excerpt": "Any sum payable as mineral proceeds that has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than three (3) years after it became payable or distributable and the owner's underlying right to receive those mineral proceeds are deemed abandoned.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WY-title34-survey-related.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WY-004", "jurisdiction": "WY", "fields": [ "pooling" ], "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes, title PDFs created May 9, 2026)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 30-5-109(f)", "excerpt": "In the absence of voluntary pooling, the commission, upon the application of any interested person, may enter an order pooling all interests in the drilling unit for the development and operation thereof.", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WY-30-5-109-pooling.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WY-005", "jurisdiction": "WY", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes, title PDFs created May 9, 2026)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 30-5-405(a)(i)", "excerpt": "The oil and gas operator shall pay the surface owner as follows: (i) A sum of money or other compensation equal to the amount of damages sustained by the surface owner for loss of production and income, loss of land value and loss of value of improvements caused by oil and gas operations", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WY-30-5-401-split-estate.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WY-006", "jurisdiction": "WY", "fields": [ "surface_damages" ], "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes, title PDFs created May 9, 2026)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 30-5-402(c)", "excerpt": "Entry upon the land for oil and gas operations shall be conditioned on the oil and gas operator providing the required notice, attempting good faith negotiations and:", "accessed": "2026-10-01", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WY-30-5-401-split-estate.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WY-007", "jurisdiction": "WY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title34.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes title PDFs)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 34-10-108(a)(iv)", "excerpt": "To bar or extinguish any title, estate or interest in and to any timber or any minerals (including without limiting the generality of that term, oil, gas and other hydrocarbons)", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WY-34-10-108-34-24-117.md", "official": true }, { "id": "SRC-WY-008", "jurisdiction": "WY", "fields": [ "owner_status" ], "url": "https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title30.pdf", "publisher": "Wyoming Legislature, Legislative Service Office (Wyoming Statutes title PDFs)", "type": "official_statute", "pinpoint": "W.S. 30-5-302", "excerpt": "Any delay in determining any person legally entitled to an interest in the proceeds from production shall not affect payments to all other persons entitled to payment.", "accessed": "2026-10-06", "via": "", "saved_as": "sources/WY-30-5-301-303.md", "official": true } ] }