State law reference
Do Mineral Rights Expire in Utah?
Do mineral rights expire in Utah? 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.
No statute found Researched and checked by American Mineral Registry by searching the text it could read, which turned up no statute on this point; review completed October 1, 2026. Reference research, not legal advice.
- Rule type
- No such statute found
- Period
- None
- 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
Core rule cited - Deceased or unlocated owner
- Partly checked
How the rule works
No dormant mineral statute identified; the marketable record title act excludes minerals. 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.
Scope
- Interests covered
- 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.
- Minerals covered
- 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
- Enactment and amendments
- 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.
- What AMR searched
- 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.
What “none found” means. AMR searched the official code for a dormant mineral, abandonment, lapse or forfeiture statute and found none. That does not mean a mineral interest can never be lost: deeds, title defects, tax sales, adverse possession and other rules can still affect ownership, and they are outside this review.
Dates and what they mean
There is no statutory nonuse period to calculate for this jurisdiction under the rules AMR reviewed.
No statutory lapse was identified, so there is no lapse or deadline date for Utah.
Deceased or unlocated owner
Partly checked What the law of Utah 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: notice by publication.
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 of record has died
- 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.
- Current owner 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)).
- Owner known but cannot be found
- 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)).
How the nonuse rule treats these owners Not addressed in the provisions read
No nonuse or dormancy mechanism found; the Marketable Record Title Act may not be applied to extinguish mineral interests.
Statute
Utah's Marketable Record Title Act may not be applied to extinguish mineral interests. Utah Code 57-9-6(5)
“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;”
Scope: Lead in words: "This chapter may not be applied to". Covers all mineral interests under chapter 57-9.
Heirs, devisees and successors Statute
Intestate estates with no taker pass to the state; minerals and proceeds are administered by the Trust Lands Administration.
Statute
If an intestate decedent has no taker, the intestate estate passes to the state for the permanent state school fund. Utah Code 75-2-105(2)
“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.”
Scope: Intestate estates with no taker. Version amended by Chapter 158, 2024 General Session; later amendments not checked.
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. Utah Code 75-2-105(3)
“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”
Scope: Same as P2.
Search required to find the owner Statute
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.
Statute
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. Utah Code 75-2-105(6)(a)
“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”
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.
Who gets notice, and how Statute
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.
Statute
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. Utah Code 75-2-105(5)(a)
“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”
Scope: Actions under 75-2-105(4). Section 75-1-401 was not read, so the permitted methods of notice are not stated here.
Section 78B-6-1303 provides for filing and recording a notice of pendency of action, which gives constructive notice. Utah Code 78B-6-1303(3)
“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.”
Scope: Read only as the cross reference in 75-2-105(5)(a). General quiet title law otherwise not reviewed.
Notice by publication Not yet verified
No verified statement yet.
How the owner responds or preserves Statute
An interested person defeats the state's claim by appearing and demonstrating entitlement; no default judgment against unknown defendants.
Statute
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. Utah Code 75-2-105(5)(a)
“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”
Scope: Actions under 75-2-105(4). Section 75-1-401 was not read, so the permitted methods of notice are not stated here.
In the quiet title action, the court may not enter default judgment against unknown defendants and must hear evidence. Utah Code 78B-6-1315(3)
“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.”
Scope: Required for a 75-2-105 judgment by 75-2-105(5)(b).
Court, receivership or trust for missing owners Statute
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.
Statute
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. Utah Code 75-2-105(3)
“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”
Scope: Same as P2.
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. Utah Code 75-2-105(4)(a)
“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”
Scope: Same as P2. 75-2-105(4)(b) fixes venue in the county where the property is if brought in district court.
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. Utah Code 40-6-9(3)(b)(i)
“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.”
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.
What a title review must establish
- Did the record owner die intestate, and has anyone established a taker under chapter 75-2?
- Has an operator or payor reported an unlocated heir to the Trust Lands Administration, and has the state brought a 75-2-105 quiet title action?
- Are proceeds held in escrow under 40-6-9(3)?
Dates. 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. The rule finder does not calculate this period.
What AMR searched. 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. 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.
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.
Checked October 6, 2026. Also in the dormant mineral rule finder.
Forced pooling
Official text cited 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.
Surface damages
Core rule cited 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.
Taxes
Broad personal income tax: yes. Utah taxes a nonresident on state taxable income derived from Utah sources, which includes income from the ownership in Utah of any interest in real or tangible personal property, including real property or property rights from which gross income from mining is derived, and residents are taxed on all income received while resident unless specifically exempted. Core rule cited Source and notes.
Severance or production tax. 3 percent of value up to $13 a barrel or $1.50 per Mcf and 5 percent above that, plus a 0.2 percent conservation fee. 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.
- Utah Code 57-9-6(5) (this chapter 'may not be applied to')
“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”
- S.B. 78 (2019), amending Utah Code 75-2-105(4)
“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.”
Open questions for a specialist
This review did not settle these points. They are where a Utah title attorney or landman should look first.
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.
Common questions
Can mineral rights lapse in Utah?
A search of Utah’s official code found no dormant mineral, lapse or forfeiture statute, so an interest does not lapse through nonuse under a statute of that kind. Deeds, tax sales and title rules can still affect ownership.
Does Utah allow forced pooling?
Yes. Utah has a forced pooling statute, summarized with its citation under Forced pooling above.
Does Utah require payment for surface damage?
Yes. Utah has a statute requiring operators to compensate surface owners, summarized with its citation under Surface damages above.
What changed
The June 2026 edition listed Utah 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 Utah?" U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1, October 6, 2026. https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ do-mineral-rights-expire-in-utah
[Do Mineral Rights Expire in Utah?](https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ do-mineral-rights-expire-in-utah), 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-utah">Do Mineral Rights Expire in Utah?</ 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 Utah?},
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-utah}
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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.