Indiana's 20-year Dormant Mineral Act allows surface owners to reclaim long-unused mineral rights. What heirs and absentee mineral owners need to know to preserve their interests before they lapse.
Get Your Free Mineral ValuationTL;DR The Indiana Dormant Mineral Interests Act (Indiana Code §32-23-10) allows surface owners to reclaim mineral rights that have been unused for 20 or more consecutive years. Heirs and absentee mineral owners can permanently lose their interests if the 20-year clock runs out without a qualifying use — production, royalty receipt, leasing, separately assessed taxes, or a recorded statement of claim. Filing a one-time statement of claim at the county recorder is the simplest preservation method.
The Indiana Dormant Mineral Interests Act (Indiana Code §32-23-10) allows the surface owner of land to reclaim mineral rights that have been unused for 20 or more consecutive years. The statute was enacted to clear title to long-abandoned mineral interests and to allow surface owners to lease, develop, or sell their land without the burden of fragmented absentee mineral ownership.
For mineral owners and heirs — particularly those who inherited Indiana mineral interests from parents or grandparents and may not have been actively managing them — the statute can result in permanent loss of the mineral interest if the 20-year clock runs out without a qualifying use or recording.
Under the statute, a mineral interest is "used" within the 20-year period if any of the following has occurred:
Minerals were actually produced from the property
Royalty or rental payments were received under an oil and gas lease covering the interest
The mineral interest was leased
Taxes were separately assessed and paid on the mineral interest
A statement of claim was filed with the county recorder where the interest is located
If none of these has occurred for 20 consecutive years, the surface owner may file a notice of lapse and reclaim the mineral interest through a statutory process.
Heirs and absentee owners who want to keep their Indiana mineral rights have several options:
File a statement of claim with the county recorder where the property is located. This is the simplest preservation method — a one-time filing that reaffirms ownership.
Lease the mineral interest to an operator. Even a held-by-production lease counts as use.
Receive royalty or rental income on the interest. Income from production qualifies as use.
Pay separately assessed taxes on the mineral interest if applicable.
A qualified Indiana oil and gas attorney can advise on the right preservation method for a specific situation. Heirs who are uncertain about the status of their interest should act sooner rather than later — once a notice of lapse is filed and processed, recovering the interest is significantly more difficult.
If you have inherited Indiana mineral rights and prefer not to manage the preservation process, selling is a valid alternative. Buckhead Energy buys Indiana mineral interests across the Illinois Basin producing counties — Posey, Gibson, Knox, Daviess, Pike, Sullivan, Greene, Vigo, Warrick, and others. A sale conveys the interest before the 20-year clock becomes a concern, and Buckhead handles all title and recording work as part of the closing.