State law reference
Abandoned Mineral Rights in Illinois
What happens to abandoned mineral rights in Illinois? 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.
Official text cited Researched and checked by American Mineral Registry against the official text; review completed October 1, 2026. Reference research, not legal advice.
- Rule type
- Missing owner procedure
- Period
- 7 years
- Ends without a surface owner step
- Not applicable
- Preservation filing
- Not applicable
- Forced pooling statute
- Statute found
Official text cited - Surface damages statute
- Statute found
Official text cited - Deceased or unlocated owner
- Partly checked
How the rule works
Severed Mineral Interest Act: court trusteeship and adverse possession route for unknown or missing owners; no dormant mineral act. 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.
What has to happen
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)).
What counts as use or preserves the interest
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)).
Scope
- Interests covered
- '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)).
- Minerals covered
- 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)
- Enactment and amendments
- 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.
Dates and what they mean
The rule works through a court decision. A last use date plus the period shows only when a case could begin to be argued, not an outcome.
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.
Deceased or unlocated owner
Partly checked What the law of Illinois says when the owner of record has died, is unknown, or cannot be found. It sets out the questions; it does not decide who owns an interest, whether a notice was valid, or whether an interest ended.
Why only partly checked. No Illinois decision on the Severed Mineral Interest Act was searched or read because the case search was rate limited.
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 of record has died
- 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.
- Current owner unknown
- Covered: an owner whose present identity cannot be determined from county records and diligent local inquiry, including unknown heirs (P1).
- Owner known but cannot be found
- Covered on the same terms as unknown owners: an owner whose present location cannot be determined (P1).
How the nonuse rule treats these owners Statute
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).
Statute
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. 765 ILCS 515/11(e)
“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.”
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.
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. 765 ILCS 515/11(g)
“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.”
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.
Heirs, devisees and successors Statute
Unknown heirs, successors and assigns are part of the definition and must be joined; trustee leases bind heirs, legatees, personal representatives, successors and assigns.
Statute
The petitioner must join unknown or missing owners and the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of all of them. 765 ILCS 515/5(a)
“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.”
Scope: Trustee lease proceedings; section 11(a) imposes the same joinder in adverse possession proceedings. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.
A trustee lease binds the defendant's heirs, legatees, personal representatives, successors and assigns. 765 ILCS 515/7
“The lease shall be binding upon the defendant's heirs, legatees, personal representatives, successors or assigns.”
Scope: Trustee leases under sections 3 to 8. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.
Search required to find the owner Statute
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.
Statute
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. 765 ILCS 515/1(b)
“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.”
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.
The verified petition must state the last known address found, the sources checked, and that after diligent inquiry the owner cannot be found. 765 ILCS 515/5(b)(4), (5)
“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.”
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.
Who gets notice, and how Statute
Clerk publishes notice and mails a copy to each last known address stated in the petition within 10 days of first publication.
Statute
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. 765 ILCS 515/5(c)
“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.”
Scope: Trustee lease proceedings; 515/11(c) is the same for adverse possession. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.
Notice by publication Statute
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.
Statute
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. 765 ILCS 515/5(c)
“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.”
Scope: Trustee lease proceedings; 515/11(c) is the same for adverse possession. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.
Publication must run at least once a week for three successive weeks, and no default may be taken until 30 days after first publication. 765 ILCS 515/5(c)
“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.”
Scope: Trustee lease proceedings; 515/11(c) is the same. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.
How the owner responds or preserves Statute
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.
Statute
A defendant who appears and is found to be the owner has the interest determined and is dismissed from a trustee lease action. 765 ILCS 515/5(e)
“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.”
Scope: Trustee lease proceedings; a guardian ad litem's appearance is not a personal appearance. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.
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. 765 ILCS 515/11(h)
“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”
Scope: Adverse possession proceedings under section 11. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.
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. 765 ILCS 515/6
“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.”
Scope: Trustee lease proceeds held in a county depository under court order. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.
Court, receivership or trust for missing owners Statute
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.
Statute
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. 765 ILCS 515/1(b)
“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.”
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.
The circuit court may declare a trust, appoint a trustee for unknown or missing owners and authorize a court approved lease. 765 ILCS 515/3
“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”
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.
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. 765 ILCS 515/6
“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.”
Scope: Trustee lease proceeds held in a county depository under court order. No Illinois decision applying the act was read.
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. 765 ILCS 515/9(a)
“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”
Scope: Interests subject to a trustee lease; applies "Regardless of whether there has been production". No Illinois decision applying the act was read.
What a title review must establish
- Has a 765 ILCS 515 trustee lease judgment or presumptive adverse possession judgment been entered, and on what date?
- What sources did the petition list, and was diligent inquiry renewed before any section 11(g) judgment?
- Were the unknown heirs, successors and assigns of each record owner joined, and did any heir appear or intervene?
- Did the surface owner pay all taxes assessed on the severed interest, as section 11(g) requires?
Dates. 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. The rule finder does not calculate this period.
What AMR searched. 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. A point marked not addressed means only that the provisions read do not address it; probate, quiet title and other general procedures may still apply and were not reviewed.
Not settled by this review.
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.
Checked October 6, 2026. Also in the dormant mineral rule finder.
Forced pooling
Official text cited 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)).
Surface damages
Official text cited 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).
Taxes
Broad personal income tax: yes. Rents and royalties from real property are allocated to Illinois for nonresidents if the property is located in Illinois, and the tax is imposed on the privilege of earning or receiving income in Illinois or as an Illinois resident. Official text cited Source and notes.
Severance or production tax. No general severance tax found; a 3 to 6 percent tax applies only to wells under the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act. Core rule cited Full record: rates, exemptions, royalty owner share and sources.
Not tax advice. Rates change and the cited source controls.
Sources for the dormant mineral rule
Each source was read on the date shown. Where an official site was not available, the official page was read through a dated Internet Archive copy and that is stated.
- 765 ILCS 515/1(a), (b)
“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”
- 765 ILCS 515/3
“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”
- 765 ILCS 515/9(a)
“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”
- 765 ILCS 515/11(g)
“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.”
- 765 ILCS 515/11(g)(2)
“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”
- Chapter 765 act list, Mineral Rights group
“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.”
Open questions for a specialist
This review did not settle these points. They are where an Illinois title attorney or landman should look first.
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.
Common questions
Can mineral rights lapse in Illinois?
Not through nonuse. Illinois has no dormant mineral statute; its law provides a procedure for unknown or missing owners instead, described under How the rule works.
Does Illinois allow forced pooling?
Yes. Illinois has a forced pooling statute, summarized with its citation under Forced pooling above.
Does Illinois require payment for surface damage?
Yes. Illinois has a statute requiring operators to compensate surface owners, summarized with its citation under Surface damages above.
What changed
The June 2026 edition listed Illinois as Special mechanism, lapse period see note. Release 2026.10 replaced that entry with the reviewed rule above, and retired the June risk score and ranking for every state. Release 2026.10.1 added the deceased or unlocated owner section. See all changes.
Cite this page
American Mineral Registry. "Abandoned Mineral Rights in Illinois." U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1, October 6, 2026. https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ abandoned-mineral-rights-illinois
[Abandoned Mineral Rights in Illinois](https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ abandoned-mineral-rights-illinois), U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
<a href="https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ abandoned-mineral-rights-illinois">Abandoned Mineral Rights in Illinois</ a>, U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
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title = {Abandoned Mineral Rights in Illinois},
howpublished = {U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1},
date = {2026-10-06},
url = {https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/abandoned-mineral-rights-illinois}
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General information about statutes, not legal advice and not a title opinion. Facts about a specific interest decide the outcome. Published by American Mineral Registry, which also runs a commercial service for owners; see how the two relate.