Summary
The Supreme Court of Ohio held that the 2006 version of Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act applies to Walker’s post-2006 claim concerning severed mineral rights. Relying on Corban v. Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C. and Dodd v. Croskey, the court concluded that Noon’s timely claim to preserve the mineral interests prevented them from being deemed abandoned and vested in the surface owner. The court reversed the judgment of the Seventh District Court of Appeals.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the 1989 or 2006 version of Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act, R.C. 5301.56, governs a claim asserted after 2006 alleging that a severed mineral interest automatically vested in the surface owner before the 2006 amendments.
- Whether the mineral-interest holder’s timely claim to preserve under R.C. 5301.56(H) was sufficient to prevent the mineral interests from being deemed abandoned and vested in the surface owner.
Holdings
- The 2006 version of Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act applies to claims asserted after 2006 alleging that oil, gas, or other mineral rights automatically vested in the surface owner before the 2006 amendments.
- A mineral-interest holder’s timely claim to preserve filed under R.C. 5301.56(H) is sufficient to prevent the mineral interests from being deemed abandoned and vested in the surface owner.
Key quotations
“We hold that pursuant to Corban, 149 Ohio St.3d 512, 2016-Ohio-5796, 76 N.E.3d 1089, the 2006 version of the Dormant Mineral Act applies in this case.” (¶ 22)
“And pursuant to Dodd, 143 Ohio St.3d 293, 2015-Ohio-2362, 37 N.E.3d 147, we hold that Noon’s claim to preserve, which was timely filed with the county recorder’s office, was sufficient to preclude the mineral estate from being deemed abandoned and vested in the owner of the surface estate.” (¶ 22)
Factual background
John Noon acquired real property in Noble County and reserved the coal, oil, gas, and other mineral rights when he conveyed the surface estate in 1965. Later deeds in 1970 and 1977 referenced and restated the mineral reservation, but Walker’s 2009 deeds did not specifically reference the 1965 deed. In 2011 and 2012, Walker initiated the statutory abandonment process under Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act and filed a declaratory-judgment action. Noon timely filed an affidavit and claim to preserve the mineral interests after receiving Walker’s notice.
Procedural history
Walker filed a declaratory-judgment action seeking to quiet title to mineral interests reserved by John Noon. The trial court granted summary judgment for Walker, and the Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed. After Noon died while the appeal was pending, Patricia J. Shondrick-Nau was substituted as appellant. The Supreme Court of Ohio accepted the discretionary appeal and reversed.