State law reference
Wisconsin Dormant Mineral Act
What does the Wisconsin Dormant Mineral Act say? Wisconsin has a dormant mineral statute. A severed mineral interest lapses after 20 years without a use the statute counts, but nothing moves by itself: the mineral owner can cure by recording a statement of claim until the surface owner records a claim, and title passes only by court judgment or 3 years after the surface owner's claim if nobody sues.
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 interest statute, 20 years, curable until the surface owner records a claim. A severed fee simple interest in minerals lapses if it was not used during the previous 20 years. Use means mining, recording a conveyance of the interest, the mineral owner paying property tax on it, or recording a statement of claim. Lapse does not move title by itself: the mineral owner can cure it by recording a statement of claim until the surface owner records a claim, and title reverts to the surface owner only on a court judgment or 3 years after the surface owner's claim if no action is brought. The section does not apply where one person owns both the surface fee and the minerals, and it cannot be waived.
What has to happen
Lapse arises under sub. (3) without any filing, but it moves no title. The surface owner must record a statement of claim with the county register of deeds giving the surface owner's name and address and a description of the land (sub. (6)(a)). A surface owner claim recorded before lapse takes effect when the interest lapses and is void if no lapse occurs within 6 years of recording (sub. (6)(b)). Until the surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect, whichever is later, the mineral owner can cure the lapse by recording a statement of claim (sub. (5)). The mineral owner may then sue for a declaratory judgment in the circuit court of the county within 3 years after the surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect, whichever is later (sub. (9)(a)). Title reverts to the surface owner and merges with the surface on a judgment affirming the claim or, if no action is brought, at the end of that 3 year period (sub. (9)(c)). The section does not require the surface owner to give the mineral owner notice.
What counts as use or preserves the interest
Any minerals are mined in exploitation of the interest (sub. (2)(a))
A conveyance of mineral interests is recorded under ch. 706 (sub. (2)(b)); s. 706.01(5) defines that term as a transaction to explore for, mine, develop or extract metalliferous minerals
Any other conveyance evidencing a transaction by which the interest is created, aliened, reserved, mortgaged or assigned is recorded under ch. 706 (sub. (2)(c))
Property taxes are paid on the interest in minerals by the owner of the interest (sub. (2)(d))
The owner of the interest records a statement of claim under sub. (4) or (5) (sub. (2)(e))
After lapse, a statement of claim meeting sub. (4) recorded before the surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect, whichever is later, cures the lapse (sub. (5))
Transition only: use within 3 years after July 1, 1984 prevented lapse of an interest not used during the 20 years before that date, or used during the period from 17 to 20 years before it (sub. (3)(b) and (c))
Preservation filing
Statement of claim under s. 706.057(4): the name and address of the owner of the interest in minerals, a description of the location and boundary of the interest, and a reference to the recorded instrument that created it, recorded with the register of deeds of the county where the interest is located. The register of deeds supplies a uniform form and indexes the claim against the parcels above the interest; the claimant pays the s. 59.43(2) recording fee (sub. (7)). Recording it counts as a use and starts a new 20 years; recorded after lapse it cures the lapse if it comes before the surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect (sub. (5)).
Scope
- Interests covered
- An interest in minerals as defined in s. 706.01(7m): a fee simple interest in minerals beneath the surface that is separate from the fee simple interest in the surface and was created by an instrument transferring, granting, assigning or reserving the minerals. Excluded where the same person owns the surface fee and the interest in minerals (sub. (1)). The text does not say whether a royalty, a term interest or a lease is a fee simple interest in minerals.
- Minerals covered
- All minerals as defined in s. 706.01(8m): a naturally occurring substance recognized by standard authorities as mineral, whether metalliferous or nonmetalliferous. The definition does not name oil, gas, sand or gravel.
- Exceptions
Does not apply to an interest in minerals owned by the same person who owns the fee simple interest in the surface above it (sub. (1))
Interests outside the s. 706.01(7m) definition (not a fee simple interest in minerals, not separate from the surface fee, or not created by an instrument) are not reached
No person may waive or agree to waive the section; any waiver or agreement is void (sub. (10))
- Enactment and amendments
- Created by 1983 Wis. Act 455 (enacted May 10, 1984, published May 17, 1984), effective July 1, 1984 (Act 455 s. 7). The same act created s. 706.01(7m) and (8m) and repealed former s. 700.30, the mineral registration statute held unconstitutional in Chicago and North Western Transportation Co. v. Pedersen, 80 Wis. 2d 566 (1977). Grace period July 1, 1984 to July 1, 1987 (sub. (3)(b) and (c)). Amended by 1985 Wis. Act 29 and 1995 Wis. Act 201: compared with the 1983 text, the current subs. (5), (6) and (9) add the surface owner claim recorded before lapse and the whichever is later timing, and the fee cross reference moved from s. 59.57 to s. 59.43(2). Current text checked as in effect October 1, 2026 (through 2025 Wis. Act 247); no pending change is flagged.
Dates and what they mean
A last use date plus the statutory period gives only an illustrative anniversary: the first day the nonuse condition could be met if nothing that counts as use happened since. It is not a loss date. Try the dormant mineral rule finder.
Last use plus 20 years gives only the first day the interest can be in lapse, not a loss date. After that day the owner can still cure by recording a statement of claim until a surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect, and title moves only on a judgment or 3 years after that claim, so the transfer date depends on a surface owner filing that a calculator cannot know. Uses are broad and some leave no trace in the land records (the mineral owner paying property tax), so a single last use date is easily wrong. For an interest last used before July 1, 1967 a calculator must not show a lapse date earlier than July 1, 1987.
Deceased or unlocated owner
Partly checked What the law of Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin's lapse statute (Wis. Stat. 706.057) ends a severed mineral interest not used for 20 years, but the lapse can be cured by the mineral owner's recorded claim until the surface owner records its own claim, and title reverts only on a court judgment or 3 years after the surface claim if the mineral owner does not sue. The section requires no search and no notice to the mineral owner at any stage, and does not mention death, heirs, or unknown or unlocated owners; the Court of Appeals held in Lakeland (2021) that the lapse does not violate due process for lack of notice. No Wisconsin procedure specific to unknown or unlocated mineral owners was identified, but the code could not be searched from this network.
- Owner of record has died
- Not addressed in the provisions read. Use requires acts "by the owner" (taxes, statement of claim) or a recorded conveyance (P2, P3); whether heirs or a personal representative count as "the owner", and whether a recorded probate document is a qualifying conveyance, is not stated.
- Current owner unknown
- Not addressed in the provisions read; the section applies to every severed owner alike.
- Owner known but cannot be found
- Not addressed in the provisions read. The surface owner's claim is recorded, not served (P5), and reversion follows 3 years later if no action is brought (P7).
How the nonuse rule treats these owners Statute and court decisions
Lapse after 20 years of nonuse; the surface owner records a claim; title reverts on judgment or 3 years after the claim if the mineral owner does not sue. The court of appeals reads this as not an automatic reversion.
Statute
A severed interest in minerals lapses if it was not used during the previous 20 years. Wis. Stat. 706.057(3)(a)
“Except as provided in par. (b) or (c), an interest in minerals lapses if the interest in minerals was not used during the previous 20 years.”
Scope: Interests in minerals not owned by the surface fee owner (706.057(1)). The section does not mention death, heirs, or unknown or unlocated owners.
The surface owner claims a lapsed interest by recording a statement of claim with the register of deeds. Wis. Stat. 706.057(6)(a)
“The owner of the land under which an interest in minerals exists may claim that portion of a lapsed interest in minerals which lies beneath the owner’s land by recording a statement of claim.”
Scope: Recording only; the section requires no service or mailing of the claim to the mineral owner.
Ownership reverts to the surface owner on a judgment affirming the surface claim, or 3 years after the surface claim if no action is brought. Wis. Stat. 706.057(9)(c)
“if no action is brought under par. (a), at the end of the 3-year period after the surface owner’s claim is recorded or at the end of the 3-year period after the claim takes effect as provided under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later, the ownership of the interest in minerals reverts to the owner of the land”
Scope: All lapsed interests. Reversion occurs without any notice step stated in the section.
Court decisions
The court read 706.057 as not causing automatic reversion, because it provides a cure, a surface owner claim and a court process to determine ownership. 2021 WI App 19, ¶52
“Thus, the automatic reversion of mineral rights to the surface owner that occurred under § 700.30—and which motivated the supreme court’s decision in Chicago & North Western—does not occur under § 706.057.”
Scope: Published Court of Appeals opinion, which binds Wisconsin courts statewide unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise; the slip opinion notes a petition for review was filed and its outcome was not checked. It did not address deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.
Heirs, devisees and successors Not addressed in the provisions read
706.057 does not mention heirs, devisees, estates or death. A recorded conveyance creating, aliening, reserving, mortgaging or assigning the interest is a use (P2), but whether probate or heirship records qualify is not stated.
Statute
Use includes a recorded conveyance by which the interest is created, aliened, reserved, mortgaged or assigned. Wis. Stat. 706.057(2)(c)
“Any other conveyance evidencing a transaction by which the interest in minerals is created, aliened, reserved, mortgaged or assigned is recorded under this chapter.”
Scope: All interests under the section. Whether a probate, heirship or death record is such a "conveyance" is not stated in the section.
Search required to find the owner Not addressed in the provisions read
No search for the mineral owner is required before lapse, before the surface claim, or before reversion.
Who gets notice, and how Court decision
The section provides no notice to the mineral owner. Lakeland held the lapse does not violate due process for lack of notice.
Court decisions
The court held the 20 year lapse does not violate due process for lack of notice, following Texaco v. Short. 2021 WI App 19, ¶59
“The Court’s conclusions in Texaco compel a conclusion in this case that § 706.057(3) does not result in an unconstitutional taking of ... Lakeland’s property without just compensation, nor does the statute violate due process for lack of notice.”
Scope: Published Court of Appeals opinion, which binds Wisconsin courts statewide unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise; the slip opinion notes a petition for review was filed and its outcome was not checked. It did not address deceased, unknown or unlocated owners.
Notice by publication Not addressed in the provisions read
No publication provision appears in 706.057.
How the owner responds or preserves Statute
The owner preserves by use, including paying taxes or recording a statement of claim; cures a lapse by recording a claim before the surface owner's claim is recorded or takes effect; and may sue within 3 years after the surface claim for a declaration of ownership.
Statute
Use also includes property taxes paid by the owner and a statement of claim recorded by the owner. Wis. Stat. 706.057(2)(d), (e)
“Property taxes are paid on the interest in minerals by the owner of the interest in minerals. ... The owner of the interest in minerals records a statement of claim under sub. (4) or (5) concerning the interest in minerals.”
Scope: All interests under the section. "Owner" is not defined in the section.
A lapse is cured if the owner records a compliant statement of claim before the surface owner records a claim, or before a prerecorded surface claim takes effect. Wis. Stat. 706.057(5)
“The lapse ... is cured if the owner of the interest in minerals records a statement of claim complying with all of the requirements of sub. (4) before the surface owner records a statement of claim under sub. (6) (a) or before a statement of claim takes effect under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later.”
Scope: All lapsed interests. Silent on who may record for a deceased owner.
Within 3 years after the surface claim is recorded or takes effect, the mineral owner may sue for a declaration of ownership. Wis. Stat. 706.057(9)(a)
“The owner of an interest in minerals which is the subject of a claim under sub. (6) (a), within 3 years after the claim is recorded ... or within 3 years after the claim takes effect as provided under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later, may bring an action for a declaratory judgment”
Scope: All interests subject to a surface owner claim. Does not say how the period runs for an owner who has died or cannot be found.
Court, receivership or trust for missing owners Not yet verified
No verified statement yet.
What a title review must establish
- In each 20 year window, was minerals mined, a conveyance of the interest recorded, tax paid by the owner, or a statement of claim recorded?
- Did the mineral owner, or anyone claiming through a deceased owner, record a statement of claim before the surface owner's claim was recorded or took effect?
- When was the surface owner's claim recorded, and was an action brought within 3 years?
- If the record owner died, who now holds the interest and is any probate or heirship record on file?
Dates. Lapse if "not used during the previous 20 years" (706.057(3)(a)); transition grace "within 3 years after July 1, 1984" (3)(b), (c). A surface claim recorded before lapse "takes effect when the interest in minerals lapses" and "is void 6 years after the statement of claim is recorded" if no lapse occurs in that period (6)(b). Owner action "within 3 years after the claim is recorded" or "within 3 years after the claim takes effect", "whichever is later" (9)(a); reversion "at the end of the 3-year period" if no action (9)(c). The provisions read do not say whether death affects any period. The rule finder does not calculate this period.
What AMR searched. Read Wis. Stat. 706.057 with its LRB annotations from an Internet Archive snapshot (March 14, 2026) of docs.legis.wisconsin.gov, which was not available when AMR checked. Read Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass'n v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, from an archived copy of the official slip opinion. The official code could not be searched for "unknown", "missing", "heirs" or "unlocated" near "mineral". CourtListener was rate limited; no other Wisconsin decision was read. 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 a personal representative are "the owner of the interest in minerals" for paying taxes or recording a statement of claim under 706.057(2)(d), (e) and (5).
Outcome of the petition for review in Lakeland (2021 WI App 19).
Search Wisconsin statutes for any unknown or missing mineral owner procedure, and check pooling and unclaimed property treatment of unlocated owners.
Whether the attorney general opinion annotated to 706.057 (74 Op. Att'y Gen. 59, notice of tax deed applications to recorded mineral owners) remains followed; it is not a controlling decision.
Checked October 6, 2026. Also in the dormant mineral rule finder.
Forced pooling
No statute found No Wisconsin statute was found that lets a regulator force pool or compulsorily integrate separately owned oil and gas interests. The oil and gas subchapter (Wis. Stat. ss. 295.31 to 295.37) requires a Department of Natural Resources license for exploration and production and authorizes rules on waste, including spacing of wells and allocation of allowable production in a field or pool, but it contains no pooling or integration order power.
Searched: Read Wis. Stat. ch. 295 subch. II (ss. 295.31 to 295.37, created by 1991 Wis. Act 262) in full from the official PDF current through 2025 Wis. Act 103, and searched all of ch. 295 for pool, spacing, unitiz, integrat and correlative; also read ch. 706 provisions on mineral conveyances. A full text search of all Wisconsin statutes and of the DNR administrative code was not possible because docs.legis.wisconsin.gov was not available when AMR checked; Wisconsin has negligible oil and gas production.
Surface damages
No statute found No Wisconsin statute was found that requires oil and gas operators to notify surface owners or compensate them for surface damage. The oil and gas subchapter covers licensing, bonding, waste, environmental rules and reclamation only.
Searched: Read Wis. Stat. ch. 295 subch. II (ss. 295.31 to 295.37) in full and searched all of ch. 295 for surface owner, landowner and damage. The hits concern nonmetallic mining reclamation (subch. I) and ferrous mining (subch. III, for example the private water supply damage claims in s. 295.61(8)), not oil and gas. Ch. 706 (s. 706.057 included) has no surface damage rule. Full text search of all statutes was not possible.
Taxes
Broad personal income tax: yes. Income of nonresidents from rentals and royalties from real estate, or from operating any farm, mine or quarry, follows the situs of the property, so royalties from Wisconsin property are taxable to nonresidents, while all income of residents follows the residence of the individual. 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 Wisconsin 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.
- Wis. Stat. § 706.057(3)(a)
“Except as provided in par. (b) or (c), an interest in minerals lapses if the interest in minerals was not used during the previous 20 years.”
- Wis. Stat. § 706.057(2)(a) to (c)
“an interest in minerals is used if any of the following occur: (a) Any minerals are mined in exploitation of the interest in minerals. (b) A conveyance of mineral interests is recorded under this chapter. (c) Any other conveyance evidencing a transaction by which the interest in minerals is created, aliened, reserved, mortgaged or assigned is recorded under this chapter.”
- Wis. Stat. § 706.057(2)(d) and (e)
“(d) Property taxes are paid on the interest in minerals by the owner of the interest in minerals. (e) The owner of the interest in minerals records a statement of claim under sub. (4) or (5) concerning the interest in minerals.”
- Wis. Stat. § 706.057(4)
“The statement of claim shall contain the name and address of the owner of the interest in minerals, a description of the location and boundary of the interest in minerals and a reference to the recorded instrument which created the interest in minerals.”
- Wis. Stat. § 706.057(5)
“is cured if the owner of the interest in minerals records a statement of claim complying with all of the requirements of sub. (4) before the surface owner records a statement of claim under sub. (6) (a) or before a statement of claim takes effect under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later.”
- Wis. Stat. § 706.057(6)(b)
“a statement of claim which is recorded under par. (a) before the lapse of the interest in minerals to which the claim applies takes effect when the interest in minerals lapses.”
- Wis. Stat. § 706.057(9)(c)
“if no action is brought under par. (a), at the end of the 3-year period after the surface owner’s claim is recorded or at the end of the 3-year period after the claim takes effect as provided under sub. (6) (b) 1., whichever is later, the ownership of the interest in minerals reverts to the owner of the land”
- Wis. Stat. § 706.01(7m)
““Interest in minerals” means any fee simple interest in minerals beneath the surface of land that is: (a) Separate from the fee simple interest in the surface of the land; and (b) Created by an instrument transferring, granting, assigning or reserving the minerals.”
- Wis. Stat. § 706.01(8m)
““Mineral” means a naturally occurring substance recognized by standard authorities as mineral, whether metalliferous or nonmetalliferous.”
- 1983 Wis. Act 455, s. 7
“SECTION 7. Effective date. This act takes effect on July 1, 1984.”
- Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass’n v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, ¶38
“once an interest has been used during the requisite three-year period, it is again subject to subsec. (3)(a) and will therefore lapse if not used at least once every twenty years.”
- Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass’n v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, ¶43
“did not use their mineral rights at any time during the twenty-year period following January 12, 1987. As a result, their interests in the mineral rights lapsed on January 13, 2007.”
- Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass’n v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, ¶52
“the statute requires a surface owner to record a statement of claim with respect to any lapsed mineral rights, see § 706.057(6), and it sets forth a process by which the ownership of mineral rights may be determined after a surface owner records a statement of claim”
Open questions for a specialist
This review did not settle these points. They are where a Wisconsin title attorney or landman should look first.
Does 'mineral' in s. 706.01(8m) include oil and gas, and sand and gravel? No Wisconsin decision on the definition was found in this review; Lakeland applied the section to separate subsurface mineral rights under a parcel bought for a gravel mine without discussing it.
Does a severed royalty or other nonpossessory interest count as a 'fee simple interest in minerals' under s. 706.01(7m)?
How often are severed mineral interests separately assessed and taxed in Wisconsin, so that the tax payment use in sub. (2)(d) can occur?
Effect of Wis. Stat. s. 893.33 (limitation on actions founded on recorded instruments over 30 years old) on severed mineral titles was not checked.
The amending text of 1985 Wis. Act 29 and 1995 Wis. Act 201 was not read; the changes stated in 'effective' are inferred by comparing the 1983 act with the current text.
Search results indicate the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied review in Lakeland in 2021; not confirmed from the court docket.
Subsection (8) is absent from both the 1983 act as printed and the current text; no significance is assumed.
Common questions
Can mineral rights lapse in Wisconsin?
Yes, but not by itself (Dormant mineral interest statute, 20 years, curable until the surface owner records a claim). In Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin?
20 years. Rolling 20 years: the interest lapses if it was not used during the previous 20 years (sub. (3)(a)), so each use listed in sub. (2) starts a new 20 years. The court applied this as the day after the 20th anniversary of the last use (last use January 12, 1987, lapse January 13, 2007, Lakeland para. 43). Transition: an interest not used during the 20 years before July 1, 1984, or used during the period from 17 to 20 years before that date, did not lapse if used by July 1, 1987 (sub. (3)(b) and (c)); after such a use it is again subject to the 20 year rule (Lakeland para. 38).
How can an owner keep a Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin allow forced pooling?
A search of Wisconsin’s official code found no forced pooling statute. The scope of that search is under Forced pooling above.
Does Wisconsin require payment for surface damage?
A search of Wisconsin’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 Wisconsin 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. "Wisconsin Dormant Mineral Act." U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1, October 6, 2026. https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ wisconsin-dormant-mineral-act
[Wisconsin Dormant Mineral Act](https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ wisconsin-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/ wisconsin-dormant-mineral-act">Wisconsin Dormant Mineral Act</ a>, U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
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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.