State law reference
Do Mineral Rights Expire in Montana?
Do mineral rights expire in Montana? 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).
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
- See rule
- 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
No dormant mineral act; court trust for unlocatable mineral owners. 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.
What has to happen
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.
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.
Scope
- Interests covered
- 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.
- Minerals covered
- Minerals generally; the trustee may execute an oil, gas, or other mineral lease.
- Enactment and amendments
- 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.
Dates and what they mean
There is no statutory nonuse period to calculate for this jurisdiction under the rules AMR reviewed.
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.
Deceased or unlocated owner
Partly checked What the law of Montana 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 Montana decision on the diligent effort standard or on heirs was found, and the case search was limited.
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 of record has died
- Not addressed in the provisions read.
- Current owner unknown
- Not addressed in the provisions read; the trust statute speaks of unknown residence and whereabouts, not unknown identity.
- Owner known but cannot be found
- 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.
How the nonuse rule treats these owners Not addressed in the provisions read
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.
Heirs, devisees and successors Not addressed in the provisions read
Part 3 refers to persons 'owning or claiming' an interest but does not address heirs, devisees or successors of a deceased owner.
Search required to find the owner Statute
A diligent but unsuccessful effort to locate the absent owner must be shown before a trustee is appointed.
Statute
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. MCA 82-1-302(2)
“(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.”
Scope: Trust petitions under part 3. Diligent effort is not defined in the provisions read.
Who gets notice, and how Statute
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.
Statute
Income is paid to the trustee until the trust ends and notice of termination is given to all interested parties. MCA 82-1-304(3)
“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.”
Scope: Termination of part 3 trusts. The provisions read say nothing about notice to the absent owner of the petition itself.
Notice by publication Not addressed in the provisions read
Part 3 contains no publication requirement; any service in the court proceeding would follow general civil procedure, not reviewed.
How the owner responds or preserves Statute
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.
Statute
The trust stays in force until the unlocatable owners claim their share and file the address notice; money is distributed on court order. MCA 82-1-304(4)
“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.”
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.
A claimant may record a notice of address and interest, which creates a rebuttable presumption of ownership. MCA 82-1-306(1)
“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.”
Scope: Claimants in a part 3 trust proceeding; the clerk and recorder forwards a copy to the trustee.
Court, receivership or trust for missing owners Statute
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.
Statute
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. MCA 82-1-302(1)
“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”
Scope: Unlocated owners and claimants. The text addresses unknown whereabouts, not unknown identity, and does not mention heirs or deceased owners.
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. MCA 82-1-302(3)
“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”
Scope: Trusts under part 3.
A person holding payments for unlocatable owners may not keep them more than six months and must petition for a trust within that period. MCA 82-1-305(1)
“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”
Scope: Anyone holding proceeds for unlocatable owners; subsection (2) imposes fees, costs and double interest for noncompliance.
What a title review must establish
- Is any share held in a part 3 trust, and who is the trustee (special_mechanism)?
- Has the absent owner filed an 82-1-306 address notice or obtained a distribution order (response)?
- Was a diligent search documented in the trust petition (search)?
- Does the record show a deceased owner whose heirs must be established through probate or quiet title, which these provisions do not address (succession)?
Dates. 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. The rule finder does not calculate this period.
What AMR searched. 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. 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 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.
Checked October 6, 2026. Also in the dormant mineral rule finder.
Forced pooling
Official text cited 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.
Surface damages
Official text cited 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.
Taxes
Broad personal income tax: yes. Nonresidents owe Montana tax on Montana source income, which includes net royalties from real property to the extent the property is used in Montana, and, subject to statutory exceptions, remitters must withhold tax from royalty payments to royalty owners, including owners of nonworking interests in oil or gas production. Official text cited Source and notes.
Severance or production tax. Royalty interests 15.10 percent of value; working interests 0.80 percent in a well’s first 12 months, then mostly 9.30 to 15.10 percent. Official text 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.
- MCA 82-1-302(1)
“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”
- MCA 82-1-302(3)
“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”
- MCA 82-1-305(1)
“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.”
- MCA 82-1-306(1)
“Filing the notice creates a rebuttable presumption that the person owns the interest claimed.”
- 1993 SB102, Uniform Dormant Mineral Interests Act, bill history (not enacted)
“1/29 Tabled in Committee”
Open questions for a specialist
This review did not settle these points. They are where a Montana title attorney or landman should look first.
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.
Common questions
Can mineral rights lapse in Montana?
Not through nonuse. Montana has no dormant mineral statute; its law provides a procedure for unknown or missing owners instead, described under How the rule works.
Does Montana allow forced pooling?
Yes. Montana has a forced pooling statute, summarized with its citation under Forced pooling above.
Does Montana require payment for surface damage?
Yes. Montana has a statute requiring operators to compensate surface owners, summarized with its citation under Surface damages above.
What changed
The June 2026 edition listed Montana as Does not lapse, lapse period none. 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. "Do Mineral Rights Expire in Montana?" U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1, October 6, 2026. https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ do-mineral-rights-expire-in-montana
[Do Mineral Rights Expire in Montana?](https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ do-mineral-rights-expire-in-montana), U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
<a href="https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ do-mineral-rights-expire-in-montana">Do Mineral Rights Expire in Montana?</ a>, U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
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title = {Do Mineral Rights Expire in Montana?},
howpublished = {U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1},
date = {2026-10-06},
url = {https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/do-mineral-rights-expire-in-montana}
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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.