Mineral rights Ritchie county

My aunt was added to my parents’ mineral lease 22 years ago in a sneaky way. She has no land ownership. Does the ownership revert back to the landowner after this much time? This land has had no development oil/gas but talking about it. My buddy says it reverts to landowner after 10 years?

Depends upon whether your state has a dormant minerals law. Do you mean she was added to the deed or to a lease? Leases are usually only for three-five years. They expire if there is no drilling.

West Virginia has no dormant mineral act which would cause the minerals to revert to the surface owners.

Now, there are a couple of exceptions, such as if the interest was leased by a Special Commissioner or the mineral deed provided for a term interest. Both are relatively rare.

(Don’t take legal advice from your buddy.)

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