Dormant Mineral Statue - 5301.56

In regards to Wiseman vs. Potts and the dormant mineral statue -5301.56, what must the heirs of an old mineral reservation do at present time to preserve their mineral rights, absent the surface owner filing a quite title suit or affidavit of abandonment?

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Permalink Reply by Finnbear on March 6, 2012 at 4:33pm

1) Read ORC 5301.56 and the related sections referenced in it over and over until you understand them fully. You can preserve the severed mineral interest in a few different ways according to the law but you have to understand it and how it can be applied to your specific situation first.

-OR-

2) Hire a good oil and gas attorney to take care of this for you.

Permalink Reply by john goodday on March 7, 2012 at 4:33am

Would the "look back -20 year- saving event" period be 1969 - 1989 OR would it be from time of notification or publication by the surface owner to the mineral owner? 

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on March 7, 2012 at 6:40am

That is a good question for someone like the attorneys from Vorys in Columbus who argued the Wiseman v Potts case. They would have to look at the specifics of an individual case and decide how it fits within the law. I'm not necessarily endorsing them but they have the experience with this issue so...

Permalink Reply by Marc on March 27, 2013 at 4:36pm

Vorys shouldn't be your first choice unless price is no object and you like paying more for the same thing. Vorys hasn't distinguished themselves in the area of oil or gas. I wouldn't count their opinion as more valuable than any number of more affordable and equally qualified options in your county or a neighboring one. What county do you live in?

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on March 27, 2013 at 5:39pm

Live in Wayne. Have land in Wayne, Stark, and Belmont. The post about Vorys was over a year ago. At the time, they were the only ones who had stuck their neck out very far on this issue. Things have changed considerably in the past year and we're currently working with the attorney from the Wendt v Dickerson case.

Permalink Reply by john goodday on March 7, 2012 at 8:35am

Would you think that it is a large or small percentage of lands in Ohio that are affected by Wiseman vs. Potts; 5301.56 - 1989; as amended 2006?

Tough question, I know, but what is your best guess?

 

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on March 7, 2012 at 1:17pm

Small percentage-wise when compared to all the acres in Ohio but we're talking about hundreds of thousands of acres affected.

Permalink Reply by Susan Tribett on April 5, 2012 at 11:08am

Gee John, I don't want you to be mad at me :(

Permalink Reply by Dan on March 4, 2013 at 12:33am

A couple of weeks ago a verdict was handed down in precedent-setting case involving mineral rights and the Ohio Dormant Mineral Title Act.  In Wendt v Dickerson, Nathan Vaughan of KWGD successfully argued that the Wendts own their minerals, since the ODMTA of 1989 applies in their case.  If anyone is or knows someone who is involved in a title dispute over minerals, or you want to learn more about the two different Acts in Ohio and which one applies in which cases, then click here to go to a thread in General Shale Discussions that has more information.

Permalink Reply by Dan on March 27, 2013 at 12:22am

Another verdict was just handed down that went the same way as Wendt v Dickerson.  In Walker v Noon, once again the defendant's claim to the minerals was considered null and void since he didn't have any saving acts 20 years prior to 1992.

0i7okn54zwbdoPermalink Reply by 0i7okn54zwbdo on March 27, 2013 at 3:08am

I never believed that we lived in a state where judges could arbitrarily steal assets from one person and give them to another.  This is maybe the most liberal law Ohio has ever seen and nobody seems to care.

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on March 27, 2013 at 4:07am

Judges are not arbitrarily stealing anything. It is based on the 1989 Dormant Minerals Act which basically said that if you want to indefinitely preserve a dormant mineral reservation, you need to create a separate deed for it and pay taxes on it like any other real estate. No more free rides by holding onto a mineral interest indefinitely without paying the appropriate RE taxes. Many other states use the same system. This also created a means for there to be a public record of who was saving which mineral interests and also allowed landowners with severed interests to pay RE taxes based on the REAL valuation of their land (less the severed mineral interest). A hundred acre parcel with a severed mineral interest is worth less than 100 acres next door that has the mineral interest intact with the surface. The law has been around since 1989 and if you waited until 2013 (24 years later) to do something to preserve a mineral interest, then you just might lose it. Ignorance of the law is no excuse in court.

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