State law reference
Maine Dormant Mineral Act
What does the Maine Dormant Mineral Act say? The fee simple owner of land subject to a mineral interest may bring a quiet title action, and the court shall find the interest extinguished and order title to it in the complainant if the owner, assignee or lessee made no use of it for 50 consecutive years before the complaint and filed no statement of claim within two years after notice of the complaint was served.
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
- 50 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
Extinguishment by court action after 50 years of nonuse (14 M.R.S. § 6662). The fee simple owner of land subject to a mineral interest may bring a quiet title action, and the court shall find the interest extinguished and order title to it in the complainant if the owner, assignee or lessee made no use of it for 50 consecutive years before the complaint and filed no statement of claim within two years after notice of the complaint was served. Use means paying rents or royalties, paying the mining excise tax, extracting more than exploratory quantities, or recording a statement of claim. Nothing happens automatically; extinguishment requires the suit and a court finding.
What has to happen
Quiet title action under 14 M.R.S. §§ 6651 to 6654 or 6655 to 6657, brought by the fee simple owner of the land subject to the interest, who need not show the usual 4 years of possession (§ 6662(2)). The court shall find the interest extinguished and order title in the complainant only after both conditions in § 6662(4) are met.
What counts as use or preserves the interest
Payment of rents or royalties for the option or exercise of mineral rights
Payment of the excise tax under 36 M.R.S. § 2856 (before PL 2025, c. 469: any excise tax under 36 M.R.S. §§ 2851 to 2865)
Extraction of minerals from the ground in quantities in excess of that necessary to conduct exploratory activity
Filing of a statement of claim under § 6662(3), including within two years after service of the complaint
Preservation filing
Statement of claim filed by an owner, assignee or lessee with the registrar of deeds of the county where the land lies, containing the claimant's name and address, a description of the land subject to the interest and a legal description of the mineral interest (§ 6662(3)).
Scope
- Interests covered
- Any mineral interest created by an instrument transferring, by grant, assignment, lease or otherwise, any interest in any mineral, so severed mineral estates and mineral leases.
- Minerals covered
- All naturally occurring mineral deposits, including hydrocarbons and peat, excluding sand, gravel and water.
- Exceptions
No statutory carve outs; only the fee simple owner of the land subject to the interest may sue under § 6662(2)
- Enactment and amendments
- Enacted by PL 1983, c. 189 (An Act to Extinguish Obsolete Mineral and Mining Rights), effective September 23, 1983. Subsection 1(C)(2) amended by PL 2025, c. 469, § 5 (mining excise tax act, First Special Session; general effective date September 24, 2025), which by § 44 applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.
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.
No lapse date exists. A calculator can show the earliest date a complaint could meet the 50 year test (last use plus 50 years) and that a decree needs at least two more years after service, but the interest ends only by court order.
Deceased or unlocated owner
Partly checked What the law of Maine 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.
Maine ends a severed mineral interest only by a quiet title decree in favor of the fee owner, after 50 consecutive years of nonuse and no statement of claim within two years after notice of the complaint is served. Section 6662 names only the owner, assignee or lessee and says nothing about deceased owners; the quiet title procedures it uses let the plaintiff name unknown heirs and devisees generally, require notice to unknown persons by publication or court approved posting, and allow a guardian ad litem or agent for unserved defendants. No Maine decision construing § 6662 was located.
- Owner of record has died
- Section 6662 does not mention a deceased owner. The quiet title procedures it borrows let the complaint reach unknown persons claiming as heirs, devisees or assigns of a named person, describe unknown heirs generally as the heirs or legal representatives of a named person, and provide that the action is not abated by the death of a party (P6, P8, P9). Whether heirs or devisees count as "owner, assignee or lessee" for filing a statement of claim is not stated (P3).
- Current owner unknown
- Unknown claimants may be named generally, with the plaintiff alleging under oath that they are unknown; notice to them is by publication unless the court permits posting, and the court may appoint an agent or guardian ad litem for defendants who have not been served or appeared (P5, P7, P9, P10).
- Owner known but cannot be found
- Persons out of state or who cannot be given actual service may be made defendants under the unknown claimant procedure, with notice under section 6653 operating as constructive service (P9, P12). Section 6662 itself does not distinguish an unlocated owner.
How the nonuse rule treats these owners Statute
Extinguishment is only by court decree in an action by the fee owner, on proof of 50 consecutive years of nonuse before the complaint and no statement of claim within two years after notice of the complaint is served. The action uses either Maine quiet title procedure.
Statute
The court shall find the mineral interest extinguished and title in the complainant if the owner, assignee or lessee made no use of it for 50 consecutive years before the complaint. 14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)(A)
“shall find that the mineral interest is extinguished and shall order that title to the mineral interest is in the complainant if: A. The owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest has failed to make use of the mineral interest during a period of 50 consecutive years next prior to the filing of the complaint”
Scope: Mineral interests created by instrument under 14 M.R.S. § 6662, which defines mineral to include hydrocarbons and peat but not sand, gravel and water. Statutory text only; no Maine decision construing it was located.
The fee owner of the land may bring the action under the summary quiet title sections 6651 to 6654 or the unknown claimant sections 6655 to 6657 without showing four years of possession. 14 M.R.S. § 6662(2)
“may maintain an action, as provided in sections 6651 to 6654 or sections 6655 to 6657, without the necessity of showing 4 years of possession next prior to filing of that complaint, provided that the person is the fee simple owner of the land which is subject to that interest.”
Scope: Mineral interests created by instrument under 14 M.R.S. § 6662, which defines mineral to include hydrocarbons and peat but not sand, gravel and water. Statutory text only; no Maine decision construing it was located.
Heirs, devisees and successors Statute
Section 6662 names only the owner, assignee or lessee. The incorporated quiet title procedure reaches persons claiming as heirs, devisees or assigns and is not abated by a party's death.
Statute
A statement of claim may be filed by an owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest and must give the claimant's name and address. 14 M.R.S. § 6662(3)
“An owner, assignee or lessee of a mineral interest may file a statement of claim with the registrar of deeds of the county in which the land subject to the mineral interest is located. The claim shall contain his name and address”
Scope: Mineral interests created by instrument under 14 M.R.S. § 6662, which defines mineral to include hydrocarbons and peat but not sand, gravel and water. Statutory text only; no Maine decision construing it was located. The subsection does not mention heirs, devisees or filing on behalf of another person. The claim must also describe the land and the mineral interest.
The summary procedure reaches persons unknown claiming as heirs, devisees or assigns, or otherwise through a person named in the complaint. 14 M.R.S. § 6651
“persons unknown claiming as heirs, devisees or assigns, or in any other way, by, through or under a person or persons named in the complaint, claim or may claim some right, title or interest in the premises adverse to his said estate”
Scope: General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.
The action is not abated by the death of any party. 14 M.R.S. § 6653
“The action shall not be abated by the death of any party thereto, nor by the conveyance of the premises by deed recorded after said certificate is recorded.”
Scope: General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.
Search required to find the owner Statute
No search standard is stated. The plaintiff must allege under oath that supposed claimants are unknown, and that allegation cannot be denied after the decree to defeat the title.
Statute
In the summary procedure the complaint may name persons unknown claiming as heirs, devisees or assigns of named persons, and the plaintiff must allege under oath that any such claimants are unknown. 14 M.R.S. § 6651
“If any such supposed claimants are unknown, the plaintiff or his attorney shall so allege under oath, but the truth of the allegation shall not after decree has been filed be denied for the purpose of defeating the title established thereby.”
Scope: General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.
Who gets notice, and how Statute
Known claimants are served as in other actions. Unknown, unascertained or unservable persons may be named generally, notice to them is constructive service, and the court may appoint an agent, guardian ad litem or next friend for those not served who have not appeared.
Statute
Persons who are unascertained, unknown, out of state or cannot be served may be made defendants, and unknown persons may be described generally as the heirs or legal representatives of a named person. 14 M.R.S. § 6655
“persons who are unascertained, not in being, unknown or out of the State, or who cannot be actually served with process and made personally amenable to the decree of the court, such persons may be made defendants and, if they are unascertained, not in being or unknown, they may be described generally as the heirs or legal representatives of A.B.”
Scope: General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.
If defendants have not received actual service and have not appeared, the court may appoint an agent, guardian ad litem or next friend for them, at the plaintiff's cost. 14 M.R.S. § 6656
“the court finds that there are or may be defendants who have not been actually served with process and who have not appeared in the action, it may of its own motion, or on the representation of any party, appoint an agent, guardian ad litem or next friend for any such defendant”
Scope: General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.
Under the unknown claimant procedure, notice under section 6656 is constructive service on all defendants and the action is in rem against the land. 14 M.R.S. § 6656
“Service in such action shall be as provided in section 6653. Notice given under this section shall be constructive service on all the defendants.”
Scope: General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.
Notice by publication Statute
Notice to unascertained, unborn or unknown persons is by publication as in other actions requiring publication, unless the court on motion permits posting in place of all or part of it; in the summary procedure the decree requires a finding that publication was given as ordered.
Statute
Known claimants are served as in other actions, and notice to unascertained or unknown persons is by publication unless the court permits posting instead. 14 M.R.S. § 6653
“Service in such action shall be made as in other actions on all supposed known claimants residing either in the State or outside the State, and notice to persons who are unascertained, not in being or unknown shall be given by publication as in other actions where publication is required, unless the court on motion permits posting”
Scope: General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located. Section 6656 applies the same service rule to actions under sections 6655 to 6657.
In the summary procedure the decree issues only if the court finds the allegations true and that notice by publication was given as ordered. 14 M.R.S. § 6654
“If the court upon hearing finds that the allegations of the complaint are true and that notice by publication has been given as ordered, it shall make and enter a decree”
Scope: General quiet title procedure in 14 M.R.S. chapter 723 that § 6662(2) makes available for the mineral action. Not mineral specific. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.
How the owner responds or preserves Statute
The owner, assignee or lessee preserves the interest by filing a statement of claim with the registry of deeds, which is itself a use; filing within two years after notice of the complaint is served defeats extinguishment.
Statute
Extinguishment also requires that two years pass after notice of the complaint is served without the owner, assignee or lessee filing a statement of claim. 14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)(B)
“Two years have passed since notice of the complaint under subsection 2 was served and the owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest has not filed a statement of claim under subsection 3 during that period.”
Scope: Mineral interests created by instrument under 14 M.R.S. § 6662, which defines mineral to include hydrocarbons and peat but not sand, gravel and water. Statutory text only; no Maine decision construing it was located.
A statement of claim may be filed by an owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest and must give the claimant's name and address. 14 M.R.S. § 6662(3)
“An owner, assignee or lessee of a mineral interest may file a statement of claim with the registrar of deeds of the county in which the land subject to the mineral interest is located. The claim shall contain his name and address”
Scope: Mineral interests created by instrument under 14 M.R.S. § 6662, which defines mineral to include hydrocarbons and peat but not sand, gravel and water. Statutory text only; no Maine decision construing it was located. The subsection does not mention heirs, devisees or filing on behalf of another person. The claim must also describe the land and the mineral interest.
Court, receivership or trust for missing owners Not yet verified
No verified statement yet.
What a title review must establish
- Has a complaint under 14 M.R.S. § 6662 been filed and a decree entered and recorded?
- Has any owner, assignee or lessee recorded a statement of claim, and when, relative to service of notice of the complaint?
- Who holds the interest now by descent or devise, and did any of them file a statement of claim in their own name?
- Did the plaintiff allege under oath that the claimants were unknown?
- Was notice published, or posted by court order, and did the court find it given as ordered?
- Was an agent or guardian ad litem appointed for unserved defendants who did not appear?
Dates. Nonuse: "a period of 50 consecutive years next prior to the filing of the complaint" (6662(4)(A)). Claim window: "Two years have passed since notice of the complaint under subsection 2 was served" (6662(4)(B)). In the summary procedure the decree is recorded "within 30 days after it is finally granted" (6654). Nothing is computed here. The rule finder does not calculate this period.
What AMR searched. Read: 14 M.R.S. § 6662 and §§ 6651 to 6657 (Title 14, chapter 723, Proceedings to Quiet Title) on legislature.maine.gov, read directly; the page states data extracted October 20, 2025 and § 6662 shows the PL 2025, c. 469 amendment. CourtListener search, Maine Supreme Judicial Court filter, for 6662 with mineral returned no decision. Not reviewed: probate law, partition, Maine Rules of Civil Procedure on service by publication referred to in § 6653, and a whole code search for unknown owner, receiver or escrow terms near mineral, oil or gas. 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 heirs or devisees of a deceased owner of record may file a statement of claim as "owner" under § 6662(3), and whether a filing by one co-owner preserves the others; the text does not say.
Which Maine rule governs the form of publication "as in other actions where publication is required" under § 6653; not read.
Whether any Maine decision applies § 6662; none was located on CourtListener.
Whether the PL 2025, c. 469 amendment changed anything beyond the use of the interest definition in § 6662(1)(C).
Checked October 6, 2026. Also in the dormant mineral rule finder.
Forced pooling
No statute found No current compulsory pooling statute was found. Maine's former oil and gas conservation law, including 10 M.R.S. § 2158 (Integration of interests in spacing units, PL 1969, c. 301), was repealed by PL 1977, c. 360, § 2. Since 2019, 38 M.R.S. § 570-BB bars oil and gas exploration, development and production in, on or under the waters of the State.
Searched: 10 M.R.S. chapter 401 (all sections shown repealed) and 38 M.R.S. § 570-BB read on the official site. No full text search of the Maine Revised Statutes was run for this release.
Surface damages
No statute found No statute requiring oil and gas operators to notify or compensate surface owners was found; Maine has no current oil and gas conservation law and bans oil and gas activity in State waters.
Searched: Same official pages as for pooling, plus 33 M.R.S. chapter list and 14 M.R.S. § 6662. Not searched in full text.
Taxes
Broad personal income tax: yes. Nonresidents owe Maine tax on income derived from or connected with Maine sources, which includes items attributable to the ownership or disposition of any interest in real or tangible personal property in Maine, and residents are taxed on their Maine taxable income. 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 Maine 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.
- 14 M.R.S. § 6662(4)
“shall find that the mineral interest is extinguished and shall order that title to the mineral interest is in the complainant if: A. The owner, assignee or lessee of the mineral interest has failed to make use of the mineral interest during a period of 50 consecutive years next prior to the filing of the complaint”
- PL 1983, c. 189
“AN ACT to Extinguish Obsolete Mineral and Mining Rights. ... Effective September 23, 1983.”
- PL 2025, c. 469, §§ 5 and 44
“(2) Payment of any the excise tax under Title 36, sections 2851 to 2865 section 2856; ... This Act applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026”
Open questions for a specialist
This review did not settle these points. They are where a Maine title attorney or landman should look first.
No Maine decision applying § 6662 was located; case law was not searched for this release.
Whether property tax paid on a separately assessed mineral interest, or operations by a surface lessee, count as use; the statutory list does not include them.
Whether excise tax payments made under the pre 2026 sections still count as use for periods before PL 2025, c. 469 applies.
The official pages were extracted October 20, 2025; laws of the 2026 session were not checked.
Common questions
Can mineral rights lapse in Maine?
Yes, but not by itself (Extinguishment by court action after 50 years of nonuse (14 M.R.S. § 6662)). In Maine 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 Maine?
50 years. 50 consecutive years without use next prior to the filing of the complaint (§ 6662(4)(A)), followed by two years after service of notice of the complaint during which no statement of claim is filed (§ 6662(4)(B)). Any use, including recording a statement of claim, starts a new 50 year period.
How can an owner keep a Maine 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 Maine allow forced pooling?
A search of Maine’s official code found no forced pooling statute. The scope of that search is under Forced pooling above.
Does Maine require payment for surface damage?
A search of Maine’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 Maine 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. "Maine Dormant Mineral Act." U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1, October 6, 2026. https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ maine-dormant-mineral-act
[Maine Dormant Mineral Act](https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ maine-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/ maine-dormant-mineral-act">Maine Dormant Mineral Act</ a>, U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
@misc{amr_atlas_me_2026101,
author = {{American Mineral Registry}},
title = {Maine Dormant Mineral Act},
howpublished = {U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1},
date = {2026-10-06},
url = {https://americanmineralregistry.com/research/states/maine-dormant-mineral-act}
} TY - ELEC AU - American Mineral Registry TI - Maine Dormant Mineral Act T2 - U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas ET - 2026.10.1 DA - 2026/10/ 06 UR - https:/ / americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ maine-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.