The owner of real property subject to a mineral right may bring an action to terminate the mineral right pursuant to this article if the mineral right is dormant.
Article 2Termination of Dormant Mineral Right
Section § 883.210
If you own a piece of land and there's a mineral right attached to it that hasn't been used for a while (it's dormant), you can go to court to try to end that mineral right.
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Section § 883.220
This law says that a mineral right is considered 'dormant' if, for the past 20 years, none of the following has happened: No mining or drilling activities are taking place on the land or any other associated land, no property taxes are assessed or paid specifically for the mineral right, and no official documents relating to the mineral right have been recorded.
For the purpose of this article, a mineral right is dormant if all of the following conditions are satisfied for a period of 20 years immediately preceding commencement of the action to terminate the mineral right:
(a)CA Civil Law Code § 883.220(a) There is no production of the minerals and no exploration, drilling, mining, development, or other operations that affect the minerals, whether on or below the surface of the real property or on other property, whether or not unitized or pooled with the real property.
(b)CA Civil Law Code § 883.220(b) No separate property tax assessment
is made of the mineral right or, if made, no taxes are paid on the assessment.
(c)CA Civil Law Code § 883.220(c) No instrument creating, reserving, transferring, or otherwise evidencing the mineral right is recorded.
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Section § 883.230
This law explains how the owner of a mineral right can keep their claim active. Essentially, they need to record a 'notice of intent to preserve' which indicates they plan to maintain their rights over the minerals. This notice can be quite general in nature and doesn't need to specify every detail about the mineral rights or property. To ensure the mineral right doesn't become inactive or 'dormant,' the owner should record this notice within 20 years before any legal action aiming to terminate the right begins. Additionally, they can also record this notice after such an action has started, as long as it follows specific legal procedures.
(a)CA Civil Law Code § 883.230(a) An owner of a mineral right may at any time record a notice of intent to preserve the mineral right.
(b)CA Civil Law Code § 883.230(b) In lieu of the statement of the character of the interest claimed and the record location of the documents creating or evidencing the mineral rights claimed as otherwise required by paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 880.330 and in lieu of the legal description of the real property in which the interest is claimed as otherwise required by paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 880.330 and notwithstanding the provisions of Section 880.340 or
any other provision in this title, a notice of intent to preserve a mineral right may refer generally and without specificity to any or all mineral rights claimed by claimant in any real property situated in the county.
(c)CA Civil Law Code § 883.230(c) A mineral right is not dormant for the purpose of this article if:
(1)CA Civil Law Code § 883.230(c)(1) A notice of intent to preserve the mineral right is recorded within 20 years immediately preceding commencement of the action to terminate the mineral right.
(2)CA Civil Law Code § 883.230(c)(2) A notice of intent to preserve the mineral right is recorded pursuant to Section 883.250 after commencement of the action to terminate the mineral right.
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Section § 883.240
If you want to end someone's mineral rights on a property in California, you need to file a case in the superior court where the property is located. This process follows the same rules as a case to clear up any disputes about who owns a property.
(a)CA Civil Law Code § 883.240(a) An action to terminate a mineral right pursuant to this article shall be brought in the superior court of the county in which the real property subject to the mineral right is located.
(b)CA Civil Law Code § 883.240(b) The action shall be brought in the same manner and shall be subject to the same procedure as an action to quiet title pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 760.010) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to the extent applicable.
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Section § 883.250
This law allows the owner of a mineral right to dismiss a legal action to terminate their rights if they file a late notice to keep the mineral right. However, they must also pay the legal costs incurred by the property owner due to the action, which can include attorney fees and other necessary expenses related to the case.
In an action to terminate a mineral right pursuant to this article, the court shall permit the owner of the mineral right to record a late notice of intent to preserve the mineral right as a condition of dismissal of the action, upon payment into court for the benefit of the owner of the real property the litigation expenses attributable to the mineral right or portion thereof as to which the notice is recorded. As used in this section, the term “litigation expenses” means recoverable costs and expenses reasonably and necessarily incurred in preparation for the action, including a reasonable attorney’s fee.
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Section § 883.260
This law states that when a mineral right ends under this article, it's as if the right no longer exists and it can't be used or enforced. If a court officially ends the mineral right, it's treated the same as if the mineral rights were given back to the property owner.
A mineral right terminated pursuant to this article is unenforceable and is deemed to have expired. A court order terminating a mineral right pursuant to this article is equivalent for all purposes to a conveyance of the mineral right to the owner of the real property.
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Section § 883.270
This law states that the rules in this article apply to all types of mineral rights, regardless of when they were created or officially recorded, as long as it's before, on, or after January 1, 1985. It also mentions a grace period for officially recording these rights under a different section.
Subject to Section 880.370 (grace period for recording notice), this article applies to all mineral rights, whether executed or recorded before, on, or after January 1, 1985.
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