Wednesday, December 23, 2020
On December 17, the Supreme Court of Ohio held in
Gerrity v. Chervenak that the circumstances of each respective case will control the efforts a surface owner must take before resorting to notice by publication under the Dormant Mineral Act (DMA).
In
Gerrity, Timothy Gerrity sought a judgment quieting title and declaring him the owner of the mineral estate underlying a 108-acre property in Guernsey County. John Chervenak—trustee of the Chervenak Family Trust, owner of the surface estate—claimed that the mineral estate belonged to the trust because it had been deemed abandoned under the DMA. Mr. Gerrity, conversely, claimed that Mr. Chervenak’s use of the DMA was ineffective because he failed to comply with the Act’s notice requirements. The Guernsey County Court of Common Pleas awarded summary judgment to Mr. Chervenak, and the Fifth District Court of Appeals affirmed that decision.