State law reference
Connecticut Dormant Mineral Act
What does the Connecticut Dormant Mineral Act say? 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.
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
- Dormant mineral statute
- Period
- 20 years
- Ends without a surface owner step
- No
- Preservation filing
- Available
- Forced pooling statute
- No statute found
- Surface damages statute
- No statute found
- Deceased or unlocated owner
- Partly checked
How the rule works
Dormant Mineral Interests Act, 20 years, court action by the fee owner required. 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.
What has to happen
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).
What counts as use or preserves the interest
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)).
Scope
- Interests covered
- 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)).
- Minerals covered
- 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))
- Enactment and amendments
- 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.
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 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.
Deceased or unlocated owner
Partly checked What the law of Connecticut 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. Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.
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 of record has died
- 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).
- Current owner 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).
- Owner known but cannot be found
- 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).
How the nonuse rule treats these owners Statute
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.
Statute
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)
“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.”
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.
No disability or lack of knowledge of any person suspends the twenty year period. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)
“No disability or lack of knowledge of any kind on the part of any person suspends the running of the twenty-year period.”
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.
The Act does not limit or affect any other procedure provided by law for extinguishing an abandoned or dormant mineral interest. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33t(c)
“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.”
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.
Heirs, devisees and successors Statute
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.
Statute
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(c)(3)
“including an instrument that evidences a transfer of the title to such mineral interest, such as a probate certificate of distribution or devise.”
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.
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(b)
“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.”
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.
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33(a)
“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”
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.
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33(a)
“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.”
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.
"Heirs" named as defendants under section 52-69 include heirs at law, legatees, devisees and all persons who might claim under them. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33(b)
“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”
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.
Search required to find the owner Statute
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.
Statute
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(b)
“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”
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.
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(c)
“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.”
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.
Who gets notice, and how Statute
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.
Statute
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(c)
“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.”
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 court need not appoint a guardian or other representative for unknown persons, and they are concluded by the judgment. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-31(c)
“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.”
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.
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-69
“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”
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.
The Superior Court may order reasonable notice when interested persons live out of state or their names or residences are unknown to the plaintiff. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-68(a)
“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.”
Scope: General order of notice statute for Superior Court actions; not mineral specific. Read because it governs notice to persons whose residences are unknown.
Notice by publication Statute
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.
Statute
Notice to unnamed heirs is whatever the court, clerk or judge orders as reasonable; once given and proved the court may proceed. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-69
“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.”
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.
How the owner responds or preserves Statute
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.
Statute
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(a)
“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.”
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.
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(a)
“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.”
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.
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. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(b)
“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.”
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.
Court, receivership or trust for missing owners Not yet verified
No verified statement yet.
What a title review must establish
- Was a termination action filed and a decree recorded, or is the interest still of record?
- Has a probate certificate of distribution or devise, or any transfer, lease or lien, been recorded for the mineral interest within twenty years before any action?
- If the record owner is dead, does the land record show a notice of death or the appointment of an executor or administrator?
- What search of the land records and other sources did the plaintiff swear to before naming unknown persons?
- What notice did the court order for unknown persons, unnamed heirs or persons of unknown residence, and was it proved?
- Was a notice of intent to preserve recorded in each town where the land lies, by the owner or someone acting for an owner of uncertain identity?
Dates. 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. The rule finder does not calculate this period.
What AMR searched. 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. 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.
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.
Checked October 6, 2026. Also in the dormant mineral rule finder.
Forced pooling
No statute found 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.
Searched: 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.
Surface damages
No statute found No Connecticut statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify and compensate surface owners for damage was found.
Searched: 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.
Taxes
Broad personal income tax: yes. Nonresidents report rents and royalties from real property located in Connecticut as Connecticut source income whether or not the property is used in a business, and part-year residents report income from all sources earned while they were Connecticut residents. Official text cited Source and notes.
Severance or production tax. Not part of AMR’s October 2026 tax review, which covered 25 producing states; that is not a finding that Connecticut levies none. Use the state revenue agency’s own pages.
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.
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)
“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.”
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(a)
“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.”
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(b)
“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.”
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33q(c)(1)
“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.”
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33r(a)
“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.”
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33s
“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.”
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33o(1)
““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”
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-33t(b)
“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.”
Open questions for a specialist
This review did not settle these points. They are where a Connecticut title attorney or landman should look first.
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.
Common questions
Can mineral rights lapse in Connecticut?
Yes, but not by itself (Dormant Mineral Interests Act, 20 years, court action by the fee owner required). In Connecticut an interest ends only after the surface owner or another party takes the steps the statute requires, such as a notice or a court action, and each step, with its citation, is under How the rule works.
How long before unused mineral rights lapse in Connecticut?
20 years. 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.
How can an owner keep a Connecticut mineral interest from lapsing?
By recording the filing the statute provides before the period runs. What it must contain and where it is recorded are under Preservation filing above.
Does Connecticut allow forced pooling?
A search of Connecticut’s official code found no forced pooling statute. The scope of that search is under Forced pooling above.
Does Connecticut require payment for surface damage?
A search of Connecticut’s official code found no surface damages statute of that kind. Leases, deeds and general law can still give the surface owner a claim.
What changed
The June 2026 edition listed Connecticut as Can lapse / revert, lapse period 20 years. 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. "Connecticut Dormant Mineral Act." U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1, October 6, 2026. https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ connecticut-dormant-mineral-act
[Connecticut Dormant Mineral Act](https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ connecticut-dormant-mineral-act), U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
<a href="https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ connecticut-dormant-mineral-act">Connecticut Dormant Mineral Act</ a>, U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
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title = {Connecticut Dormant Mineral Act},
howpublished = {U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1},
date = {2026-10-06},
url = {https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/connecticut-dormant-mineral-act}
} TY - ELEC AU - American Mineral Registry TI - Connecticut Dormant Mineral Act T2 - U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas ET - 2026.10.1 DA - 2026/10/ 06 UR - https:/ / americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ connecticut-dormant-mineral-act ER -
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.